The Cale/Reed-led line-up of the band recorded only two albums - 1967's The Velvet Underground And Nico (known as the 'Banana Album') and the following year's White Light/White Heat - before arguments between the two caused the former to quit. Eventually they came to the attention of Andy Warhol, who became their manager. In 1964, he met Lou Reed at a party and the pair resolved to form a band.
There he became attracted to the avant garde, taking part in John Cage's marathon piano experiments and joining LaMonte Young's drone ensemble the Dream Syndicate. Displaying a talent for piano and viola, he'd moved to London in the early '60s to study at Goldsmiths College, subsequently earning a Stateside scholarship. The story of how the young John Cale, from Garnant, South Wales, ended up travelling to New York and becoming a core member of one of the key groups in rock history is a fascinating one. As a producer, he's birthed landmark albums by the likes of the Stooges, Patti Smith and the Happy Mondays, as well as maintaining a parallel solo career that has veered from avant garde to balladeering rock. A founder member of the Velvet Underground, the band that launched a hundred thousand other bands, the 64-year-old Welshman has cut an almost Zelig-like figure in the music business over the past four decades.
Photo: Richard EcclestoneĪs a solo artist, producer and member of the Velvet Underground, John Cale has had a hand in some of the most influential records ever made.įew musicians-cum-producers can claim to have had quite as diverse or influential a career as John Cale.
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