John Cale S/D

He either sounds drunk or miserably hungover during that whole period, so probably hard or unpleasant to recall. Any links to that 2013/Unreleased Songs thing? Really love this period.

Not seeing it listed now, but I saw him in 79 or 80, Birmingham AL, with Deerfrance, George Scott---think there were two full-time guitarists (Cale played it occasionally)? Maybe transitional, as the excellent new xpost PSF piece mentions: they did material from Sabotage Live, also "Pablo Picasso", "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues", and several others from the s/t LP, which I ordered from a Voice ad of mid-80s (don't remember how it sounded, but I prob cut it some slack for durty nostalgia's sake). He seemed right at home, even got doggie beggin' paws for my photog buddy during the smog-ripping "Walking The Dog", playing percussion on his hardhat (which he was wearing) while Deerfrance did her thing, kicked back with boots up on the keyboard, playing white noise guitar for a while, also the piano itself re "Waiting For My Man"---maybe he was drunk, but no prob that night.

Thanks again for all the compliments on the article, really means a lot. The link I posted earlier has nearly every 79 era show available as streaming mp3s. Here's some of the better ones:

New Yorker Theatre, Toronto, Feb 19th 1977:

http://ia600203.us.archive.org/10/items/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1977-02-19TorontoOntarioCanada.html

CBGBs, Dec 31st 78:

http://ia601408.us.archive.org/7/items/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1978-12-31CGGBsNYC.html

The Edge, Toronto, March 21st 1979:

http://ia600502.us.archive.org/16/items/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-03-21TheEdgeTorontoCanada.html

Palladium, Dallas, April 21st 1979:

http://www.archive.org/serve/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX.mp3

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-04-21PalladiumDallasTX.html

Whisky A-Go-Go, April 30th 1979:

http://ia902707.us.archive.org/19/items/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA.mp3?cnt=0

Setlist: http://tela.sugarmegs.org/_asxtela/asxcards/JohnCale1979-04-30WhiskAGoGoLosAngelesCA.html

There's lots more on that site if you browse around.

I had to refrain from going into even more detail about individual tapes in the article, but all the Toronto shows (near and dear to my heart being from Hamilton, just outside T.O.) from that period are nuts in the best way, as is the Dallas show from 79.

Great, thanks so much!! Wondering also about that tela post of a presumably somewhat musical encounter with Lester Bangs( I like LB's "Let It Blurt", the single on Cale's Spy label).

excellent PSF article btw, thanks

i'll upload that unreleased comp when i can ...

here it is: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/166501611517/john-cale-unreleased-songs-unreleased-cale-here

thanks!

Thanks!

Awesome, thanks

nice child's christmas in wales cover on that blog too!

eyewitness testimony:
John Cale, who turned 75 in March, used his two programs at the Brooklyn Academy of Music last week to look back at half a century and to stare unblinkingly into the future.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/19/arts/music/john-cale-velvet-underground-bam-live.html?smid=tw-nytimesarts&smtyp=cur

https://www.bam.org/media/9577216/john-cale-b-2000x762.jpg

I was up in NY and went to the Friday program-- Cale and indie-rockers doing an out of order 50th anniversary tribute to The Velvet Underground & Nico album, plus a few more songs. Cale sounded good instrumentally and on vocals, although he barely talked between songs and never introduced bandmembers or guests. I was underwhelmed with the band that included Deantoni Parks from Mars Volta on drums. Guitarist Kurt Vile added appropriately noisy stringwork on “Run Run Run,” and singer Caroline Polachek who was in a group called Chairlift was impressive on “Sunday Morning.” Not so good were Sky Ferreria (she sounded nervous and did a rushed,alternate melody for "I'll Be Your Mirror"...Will Hermes in his Rolling Stone review was underwhelmed too).
Animal Collective, and MGMT did not seem like they belonged up there, and Tunde from TV on the Radio did not wow on his vocals on "Heroin." There was a string section on some songs, nice old-school and psychedelic backing visuals, and a closing rendition of “Sister Ray” with everyone onstage adding to the cacophony.

#kurtvile & #chairlift singer #carolinepolachek sounded good. Better than #mgmt & #animalcollective . Everyone was onstage for closing #sisterray .

haha what's with the hashtags?

sounds like a nice evening all in all

Oops, mistakenly cut and pasted something from my Instagram. I was happy seeing Cale sing and play despite the flaws. A friend, on the other hand, grumbled that the flaws ruined it for him-- He wanted a better band and guests, plus Cale to talk in detail between songs about their history and to acknowledge the audience and the guests with more than just hand gestures. Last year I saw part of an outdoors at Lincoln Center tribute to Lou Reed that Yo La Tengo, Don Fleming , Lenny Kaye and others who seemed much better choices to play VU music. Other than Vile and Polachek, most of the guests with Cale did not seem like the right choices (nervously reading music and altering VU instrumentation and melodies in ways that did not work).

with Yo La Tengo not "that"

His show of solo material on Saturday was largely wonderful. I kind of knew the VU stuff would be problematic, and decided to skip it. I've heard their songs enough in my life. The new Cale songs, full of samples and noise, largely eclipsed the scattered straight classics that he played. I enjoyed Fear is a Man's Best Briend, but it still sounded like an exercise in nostalgia, where the new tracks were often pretty amazing. Cale walks with some difficulty, but sings and plays strongly. There was something going on with color stains on the musicians' clothing that was hard to follow. But yes, without having seen the first two shows, I'm very happy that I picked the third. Very little talk. He ended with 3 new songs, all of which were extremely good, and the concert ended on a high note. Version of Hedda Gabler was something I won't forget, nor new song Hatred.

Hope the solo material shows up on youtube. I saw most of the Lincoln Center VU/Lou tribute streaming live and free somewhere---we discussed it on some other thread---and yeah it was great, cool, powerful, expert, even witty (one of my faves was the Three Mile Island version of "Disco Mystic," with Day-Glo Afro wig girls singing the title and waving protest signs emblazoned with it). Laurie pitched in a couple times too, on her violin, and I suspect she curated (not usually big on that word, but deserved here).

Has she ever worked with Cale?

good q, don't think so.

Laurie Anderson and Hal Willner curated the Lincoln Center Tribute to Lou thing together, and production of the outdoor event was handled by Don Fleming (per Will Hermes review of that Aug. 2016 event in Rolling Stone).

Not sure how Cale ended up with the folks he performed with at Brooklyn Academy of Music over the weekend

Avey Tare of Animal Collective's sister does his live visuals. May be a connection there.

heard something about cale playing on an upcoming Animal Collective release too.

I recently found myself having a conversation with a young person who was a real music enthusiast and the conversation came around to VU and I said that I am a John Cale partisan and he was like really? More than Lou? And then I asked if he had ever heard JC's solo stuff and he hadn't. How envious I was of him at that moment! He gets to discover so many great songs and albums and JC's sense of humor and romantic side and angry side and everything that is great about John Cale.

Since then, I have gone on a major JC bender and it feels so good. Oh, and the conversation happened to be on John Cale's birthday, this past Saturday!! He is the best. I want to play a set of JC solo covers like reeeeeal bad :)

nice! John Cale is definitely the best. He's on instagram now, too! https://www.instagram.com/therealjohncale/

ooh! followed immediately
i really would like to play a set of covers -- i've never seen anyone else do that and i would enjoy both hearing it and playing it. i'm already prepared! come at me, interested parties.

you + me + cordoba?

i'd be interested if i was anywhere nearby. john cale songs are fun to learn — mostly pretty simple, but with a bunch of cool twists. child's christmas in wales is a blast to figure out on piano.

speaking of cale covers, i had forgotten about this one til last week:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfFkg-rDlFY

I don't know of a cover set having been done, but related to that, this site seems to do a reasonably good job at keeping track of cover versions of Cale songs.

i retain a deep love for the soft boys' cover of cale's cover of heartbreak hotel

Wait, David Sylvian covered "Hanky Panky Nohow"? I'll believe it when I hear it.

Has there really been no notable covers of "Dying on the Vine"? Shame, that.

I've played, "Child's Christmas", "Buffalo Ballet", "Gun" and "Heartbreak Hotel" live, fwiw.

Yes, his songs are gratifying simple and easy to learn. For the most part.

more people in the 70s should've been covering Cale ... like why didn't Sandy Denny sing "Buffalo Ballet" or something?

his lyrics are so good too -- i don't feel apprehensive about singing most of them, at least the songs i like the best. aside from neil young, i can't think of a single other old man whose songs feel as comfortable for me to sing, not only because the lyrics are frequently abstract, unexpected, lighthearted AND heavy, and not dripping with misogyny but also probably from many years of practice lol

i doubt i have what it takes to get the job done, but i would love to organize a john cale tribute album!! has there been one of those?

good question, I don't think so!

strange but yeah, i don't know if there has been a cale tribute album. seems like something that would've happened circa 1998.

ha, totally

Sally Timms did a good "Half Past France," as best I recall (mid-90s). Yall post your covers!

may have posted this before, but here's one my buddy and i did a little while back -- it came out OK!

https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/19004648939/childs-christmas-in-wales-john-cale-john

I'm just gonna rep once more for the outstanding collection of unreleased Cale songs that Tyler has hosted on his blog - tracklisting upthread.

Awright Tyler Songster!

Oh yeah---recently on Little Feat - S&D, C/D

How did you wind up getting Lowell George, Bill Payne and Richie Hayward of Little Feat to play on Paris 1919 ?
I loved that album Dixie Chicken. That tone on [George’s] guitar was very sweet. It was the grooves that he had. And after playing me an early cut of that record, Ted Templeman at Warner Bros. said to me: “Why don’t you use Little Feat as a backup band for Paris ?” He organized it.
one of lots of good tidbits here: https://relix.com/articles/detail/the-shifty-adventures-of-john-cale/
Somewhere else JC mentioned that Wilton Felder, who played bass w the Feats on this occasion (in a studio line-up billed as Penguin), read or at least had the Bible on his music stand during the sessions.
Interesting take on post-VU Sterling too.

I felt like such a nerd or geek for finally clawing at the Reprise/Rhino UK reissue of Paris 1919, with all those alt versions---well the prev. unreleased "Burnt-Out Affair" may have tipped the scales---tried to cancel the order, but sure glad I failed. "Affair" is a somewhat countryoid gothic waltz, closer to Vintage Violence musically, as Matthew Spektor's occasionally too-hip booklet notes point out, though he's also right that the lyrics (and vocal) fit right into this album proper; he even hears it as a kind secret key track, at least the way it shifted, maybe sharpened the focus of the whole project.
Dunno if he's right about that one song, but for me, all of these basic combo and solo versions bring the songs closer, with JC's voice first among equals: "Child's Christmas" with insistent acoustic strumming and I never knew he could play organ like this; here's a family of two (well more counting the voice and the people, places, things he's singing about). Drone Mix of "Hanky Panky No How" has folk-based viola, maybe with a little violin added to the chorus. "Endless Plain of Fortune" the combo coming off well in very non-Little Feat x Jazz Crusaders mode, "Andalucia" a finger-picking picnic, with just the right slide and bass notes, more closet-folkie Velvets than ever. "Macbeth" still rawks hawtly, with and without vocals (inst. is one of the hidden tracks). Sinister grooving strings on one alt mix of title track prove to be children of his piano on another, also lovely voice & keys alone on "Half Past France" and "Antarctica Starts Here."
The orchestrations sometimes seem like they're going to overload my decidedly sub-audiophile headphones and boombox---they don't, but it's good to have the other versions too.

Don, when is your book coming out?

wait what book?

No pressure;)

Ha, thanks again James!