The Velvet Underground and Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico fashioned their brand of rock songs with repetitious beats, guitar riffs and crafted melodies with controversial lyrics.  Droning violin tones were another essential ingredient in their brand of rock.  Their sound was commercial yet avant-garde, raw yet real, as was their public image.  They influenced every band and likely inspired the starting of many bands after them with their experimental, edgy yet accessible sound.

John Cale started the Velvet Underground in 1965 with Lou Reed.  Cale is a Welch singer, musician and songwriter.  He is best known for his electric viola work in the Velvet Underground and has written and produced many solo albums after the band disbanded.  Lou Reed was the lead singer, guitarist, and the primary songwriter for Velvet Underground.  Reed, known as the New York Poet Lauriat, wrote about experimental subjects not previously recorded like sex and drug culture.    

Andy Warhol was a leader in the visual arts movement during the 60’s known as pop art.  His career spanned from successful illustrator to pop art icon.  He created his art in several different mediums, painting, film, drawings, audio and many more.  In 1965 he took in the Velvet Underground as sort of a house band then became their manager, promoter and producer.  The Velvet Underground performed as part of Warhol’s multi media roadshow Exploding Plastic Inevitable.  They toured the US and Canada for the duration of the exhibit from 1965 through 1967.  Warhol insisted that the band take on a collaborative singer/model by the name of Nico.  Warhol produced their next album The Velvet Underground & Nico, which featured Nico on several songs and it was that album that would live on to influence countless fans in the 1960’s and beyond.  

The Velvet Underground did not have a traditional rock band lineup.  Their instrumentation consisted of guitar; bass, viola and a partial drum set.  Their sound was droning, repetitious and experimental.  Their lyrics were experimental as well as they wrote of life experiences not yet expressed in lyrical form.  The fact that the album had little commercial success did not hinder its status as one of the most influential albums of the 60’s and arguably of all time.  I believe its influence stems form the raw and experimental nature of the songs as well as overall production.  Another example of how unique qualities can equal success in more ways than one.    

I can say that I am not a Velvet Underground fan however; I am impressed with the band’s ability to stick to their guns with their lyrics and music.  I think the experimentation is visionary and not to be discounted as it may often be in the industry.  If artists stopped trying new things, there would be no growth in the music and/or artistic community, only stagnation.  I intend to encourage experimentation in my professional production career.