John Cale

John Cale是一名無(wú)法用三言兩語(yǔ)匆匆?guī)н^(guò)的傳奇人物。
出生于威爾斯的礦工家庭，Cale從小即在母親的嚴(yán)厲監(jiān)督下學(xué)習(xí)樂(lè)器。當(dāng)別的男孩于外頭踢足球時(shí)，Cale已坐在房里練習(xí)鋼琴與管風(fēng)琴。十三歲時(shí)加入當(dāng)?shù)氐那嗄旯芟覙?lè)團(tuán)擔(dān)任小提琴手，可他的興趣卻不限于此。隨著邁入青春期，他逐漸對(duì)大西洋彼岸的敲打詩(shī)人、現(xiàn)代音樂(lè)與搖滾樂(lè)產(chǎn)生濃厚興趣。
結(jié)束倫敦Goldsmiths College的音樂(lè)課程，Cale飛往美國(guó)，于波士頓近郊的Berkshire Music Center繼續(xù)深造。學(xué)期結(jié)束后他前往紐約，立刻被六零年代初期繁茂興盛的紐約文化場(chǎng)景深深吸引，從此定居此地。他結(jié)識(shí)了現(xiàn)代音樂(lè)大師John Cage與Aaron Copland，前者甚至邀請(qǐng)他參與一項(xiàng)名為Vexations的表演。這是一首長(zhǎng)約八十秒的鋼琴曲，而在Cage的編排下，不同音樂(lè)家持續(xù)演奏了長(zhǎng)達(dá)十八個(gè)小時(shí)。
成為專職樂(lè)手前，Cale于紐約的Orientalia書店工作，因此結(jié)識(shí)了更多詩(shī)人與藝術(shù)家。他也鼓起勇氣造訪了自己的偶像LaMonte Young（美國(guó)現(xiàn)代音樂(lè)巨匠），此舉不但使Cale順利加入LaMonte Young的樂(lè)隊(duì)，也讓他有機(jī)會(huì)接觸到更多相同領(lǐng)域的優(yōu)秀份子，同時(shí)打入了狂喜逸樂(lè)的紐約下東城嗑藥場(chǎng)景。然而真正改變John Cale人生的是1965年。
一名來(lái)自Pickwick Records的制作人Terry Phillips將Cale引薦給當(dāng)時(shí)仍默默無(wú)名的Lou Reed，原因是Phillips覺(jué)得Cale留了一頭長(zhǎng)發(fā)，"看起來(lái)就很像搞搖滾樂(lè)的"。起先Cale并不將這個(gè)機(jī)緣看成一次機(jī)會(huì)，只是應(yīng)Lou Reed之邀，伙同其他朋友幫他伴奏。然而當(dāng)Cale有機(jī)會(huì)接觸到更多Lou Reed的創(chuàng)作，他才被歌曲里滿溢的神經(jīng)質(zhì)、詩(shī)意與原創(chuàng)精神所打動(dòng)。從某些層面來(lái)看，兩人追求的其實(shí)是極為相似的藝術(shù)境界。于是他們窩在Cale的公寓里寫歌，并一同施打海洛因。隨后Lou Reed的朋友Sterling Morrison加入他們，Maureen Tucker也接受征召成為鼓手（取代了Angus MacLise），搖滾史上另類音樂(lè)的原型樂(lè)隊(duì)Velvet Underground正式成軍。
他們?cè)贑ale的公寓里錄下了Heroin與Venus in Furs等曲子，同時(shí)持續(xù)搞砸各地的表演。他們的音樂(lè)在六零年代聽(tīng)來(lái)，活像下個(gè)世紀(jì)傳回來(lái)的反響。光怪陸離且復(fù)雜難懂，傳統(tǒng)的搖滾公式套在他們身上完全不管用。他們的表演幾乎都以票房凄慘收?qǐng)?，Velvet Underground走在距離時(shí)代太遠(yuǎn)的前端位置，識(shí)貨的人少之又少。其中一人恰巧名為Andy Warhol。
Warhol于Café Bizarre首次欣賞了Velvet Underground演出，馬上認(rèn)定這就是他一直尋找的”搖滾”樂(lè)隊(duì)。自此將他們帶入自己的工作室Factory，兩組人馬緊密結(jié)合；加上其他電影明星、藝術(shù)家與毒蟲的相濡以沫，一連串翻天覆地的藝術(shù)革命遂一發(fā)不可收拾。六零年代后半部的紐約地下場(chǎng)景，不論電影、音樂(lè)或文化，幾乎都與這群人脫不了關(guān)系。
Cale在Velvet Underground里負(fù)責(zé)貝斯、中提琴與鋼琴的演奏，偶而擔(dān)任演唱。雖然樂(lè)隊(duì)的詞曲創(chuàng)作幾由Lou Reed一手包辦，其他成員少有參與余地，Cale卻在樂(lè)隊(duì)的前兩張專輯The Velvet Underground & Nico與White Light/White Heat里擔(dān)任音樂(lè)走向的調(diào)配師。他將整組樂(lè)隊(duì)的音樂(lè)走勢(shì)往同一個(gè)方向集中，使之更趨向未拋光的粗糙本質(zhì)。這些音樂(lè)雖看似簡(jiǎn)單，實(shí)則充滿各式深?yuàn)W難解的趣味。這也是為何Cale于1968年離團(tuán)后，Velvet Underground的后兩張專輯少了更多的實(shí)驗(yàn)況味，成為安全保守的作品。（這是相對(duì)于自己的比較。比起同期樂(lè)隊(duì)，The Velvet Underground與Loaded仍是走在前面）
by Richie Unterberger
While John Cale is one of the most famous and, in his own way, influential underground rock musicians, he is also one of the hardest to pin down stylistically. Much has been made of his schooling in classical and avant-garde music, yet much of what hes recorded has been decidedly song-oriented, dovetailing close to the mainstream at times. Terming him a forefather of punk and new wave isnt exactly accurate either. Those investigating his work for the first time under that premise may be surprised at how consciously accessible much of his output is, at times approaching (but not quite attaining) a fairly normal rock sound. There is always a tension between the experimental and the accessible in Cales solo recordings, meaning that he usually finds himself (not unwillingly) caught between the cracks: too weird for commercial success, and yet not really weird or daring enough to place him among the top rank of rocks innovators.
Any assessment of Cales solo contributions also tends to be overshadowed by his other considerable achievements. Before launching his solo career, he was, with Lou Reed, a primary creative force behind the Velvet Underground, as bassist, viola player, keyboardist, and occasional co-songwriter (the exact nature of his compositional contributions is still a matter of heated debate among the group). He was without question one of the most influential producers of pre-punk, punk, and new wave, overseeing important recordings by the Stooges, Nico, Patti Smith, the Modern Lovers, and Squeeze. Ultimately he may be better remembered for his work in the Velvets, and as a producer, than for his own large discography.
The son of a Welsh coal miner (his father) and schoolteacher (his mother), Cale was a child prodigy of sorts, performing an original composition on the BBC before he entered his teens. In the early 60s, he drifted toward the avant-garde, gaining a scholarship (with help from Aaron Copland and Leonard Bernstein) to study music in the United States. Moving to New York in 1963, he participated in an 18-hour piano recital with John Cage (pictures of Cale performing at the event made the New York Times). More important, he became a member of LaMonte Youngs minimalist ensemble, the Dream Syndicate, whose use of repetitious drones would influence the arrangements of his next group, the Velvet Underground.
Cale founded the Velvets with Reed and guitarist Sterling Morrison in the mid-60s. John met Lou when the latter was a struggling songwriter for the rock & roll exploitation label Pickwick Records. He tested the rock waters as part of the Primitives (with Reed and fellow Dream Syndicate member Tony Conrad), who did a few live shows to promote a silly novelty that Reed had written and recorded at Pickwick, The Ostrich. What Cale and Reed shared was an ambition to bring the sensibilities of the avant-garde to rock music.
They succeeded in doing so over the next three years with the Velvet Underground. While Reed was the most important member of the band as the lead singer and primary songwriter, Cale was just as crucial in devising the bands sound. It was Cale who was responsible for the most experimental elements of their first two albums, The Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat (1967), especially with his droning viola parts on Venus in Furs, Heroin, and Black Angels Death Song; his pounding piano on Im Waiting for the Man and All Tomorrows Parties; his deadpan narration of The Gift; and the white-noise organ of Sister Ray.
Yet Cale was ousted from the band in an apparent power play by Lou Reed in the summer of 1968. Accounts still vary as to whether he was fired and/or quit, but its been suggested that Reeds ego found Cales talents threatening to his leadership of the band. Sterling Morrison has said that Reed told him and Velvets drummer Maureen Tucker that if Cale didnt leave, he would leave instead; the pair reluctantly opted to side with Reed. The Velvets would continue to make great music for a couple of years, but their experimental edge was considerably blunted by Cales absence.
Cale in any case was soon busy producing ex-Velvets singer Nicos baroque-gothic The Marble Index (1969) and the Stooges self-titled debut album (also 1969). Though about as different as two projects could be, both were extremely influential (though initially extremely low-selling) cult items that helped lay the ground for punk and new wave about five years later.
In 1970, Cale began his proper solo career with one of his best albums, Vintage Violence. Those expecting a slab of radicalism were in for a surprise; the material was the work of a low-key, accessible singer/songwriter, working in the mold of the Band rather than the Velvets. Listeners wouldnt have to wait long for something a bit more radical; his next album, Church of Anthrax, was a collaboration with minimalist composer Terry Riley that was almost entirely instrumental.
In some respects, these two records defined the poles of Cales solo career. Even at his most accessible, his music had a moody, even morbid edge that precluded much radio airplay. Even at its most experimental, it was never as avant-garde as, say, LaMonte Young. Cale would reserve his most experimental outings for collaborations with Riley, Brian Eno, and, much further down the road, Lou Reed.
On his own, he was more concerned with crafting songs, delivered in his lilting if thin Welsh burr, and inventively arranged. It was in his arrangements that his musical training and avant-garde background were most evident, in its eclecticism (even drawing from country-rock and guest shots from Lowell George at times) and touches of classical music. Sometimes hed take out his viola, but generally he focused on the more traditional instruments of guitar and keyboards.
Cale has covered a wide territory on his solo albums without ever quite making his mark as a major artist. His songs and concepts are interesting, but ultimately he does not have the striking traditional rock talents of someone like, say, his old rival Lou Reed. The hooks arent that sharp, the lyrics — often dealing with the psychological and social dilemmas of late 20th-century life, in somewhat arty terms — not as gripping.
Toward the end of the late 70s especially, his approach became harder-rocking and a bit vicious, especially in concert, where he would adopt a number of flamboyant costumes and theatrical poses that verged on the confrontational (especially in a notorious incident in which he killed a chicken on-stage). Generally he was most successful in a more subdued and brooding mode, as on Vintage Violence or, much later, Music for a New Society (1982). His discography is so large and variable that the two-CD career retrospective, Seducing Down the Door, might be the best place to start for those with enough interest to buy more than one or two Cale records.
Cale never abandoned his production activities, and indeed a few of the albums with his credits are destined to endure as more important statements than anything hes done on his own. His sessions with Jonathan Richman and the Modern Lovers (from the early 70s, but not released until a few years later) anticipated punk and new wave. Patti Smiths Horses (1975) was one of the best and most influential recordings of the 1970s. There were also other albums with Nico, and records with Squeeze, Sham 69, and others; for a couple years in the early 70s, he was even a staff producer at Warners, handling unlikely clients like Jennifer Warnes.
After the mid-80s, Cale slowed (but did not curtail) work on his own releases. His most high-profile outings since then have been collaborations. Wrong Way Up (1990) matched him with Brian Eno. Songs for Drella (1990), which got a lot more media ink, reunited him at long last with Reed, with whom he had feuded on and off for a couple of decades; the album was a song-cycle tribute to their recently deceased mentor and ex-Velvet Underground manager, Andy Warhol. Well-received both on record and in performance, it may have been one of the factors that finally caused the pair to bury the hatchet and re-form the Velvet Underground for a 1993 live European tour (and live album). These events were not as successful with the critics; more disturbingly, Reed and Cale were on the outs yet again by the end of the tour, with feuds over direction, leadership, and songwriting credits apparently resurfacing with a vengeance.
Prospects for an American Velvet Underground tour never came to realization, Cale and Reed vowing never to work with each other again. The death of Sterling Morrison in 1995 ended any reunion hopes, although it did apparently serve to reconcile Reed and Cale, who played together when the Velvet Underground were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Cale in any case didnt need Reed to keep busy (or vice versa). In the 1990s, he continued to record as a soloist and a soundtrack composer. One of his most ambitious collaboration was The Last Day on Earth (1994), a song cycle and theatrical production written and performed with cult singer/songwriter Bobby Neuwirth. In 1998, Cale released Nico, a tribute to his Velvet Underground bandmate.