The Velvet Underground: Last News

Bob Dylan and Lou Reed.Earlier today, it was confirmed that the Top Gun and Batman Forever star had died from pneumonia at the age of 65. He passed away on Tuesday (April 1), having been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2014, although he did later make a full recovery.He was also known for his distinctive portrayals of Jim Morrison in Oliver Stone’s The Doors and Shane Black’s Kiss Kiss Bang Bang.In the light of the news, fans of the Hollywood star have been reminiscing about some of his most idiosyncratic encounters with stars of the music world.Kilmer had been aware that Dylan was a fan of his 1993 Western film Tombstone, and on a visit to New York, he called a mutual friend to ask about the possibility of meeting up with him. “And the next call I got – I thought it was going to be my friend, but it wasn’t, it was Bob,” Kilmer once recalled.Once Bob Dylan came over to hang.

Charli XCX has declared her love for the 1967 album ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’, calling it “the apex of fine art”.She namechecked the debut album by the influential New York City underground rock band in her acceptance speech at Variety’s Hitmakers Awards on Saturday (December 7), where she picked up the Hitmaker of the Year prize.As well as naming some of her other musical inspirations – Lana Del Rey, Caroline Polachek, Jack Antonoff – she singled out the seminal LP and its famous Andy Warhol-designed sleeve as a big contributor to her aesthetic.“In March 1967, The Velvet Underground released their album ‘The Velvet Underground And Nico’,” she said. “It debuted on the Billboard 200 at Number 199. And a few weeks later, it rose to its peak position of 195.

the Velvet Underground has died at the age of 86.His death was confirmed by his archivist, Michael Chaiken, who told the New York Times that Morrissey died from pneumonia in a New York hospital on Monday (October 28).Best known for films including Flesh (1968), Trash (1970) and Women In Revolt (1971), Morrissey was an instrumental figure in Warhol’s Factory studio after being contracted to run it upon meeting Warhol in 1965. He became known for making low-budget films about drug addicts and hustlers using a cast of models, socialites, artists, drag queens and others that would eventually be known as Warhol’s “superstars”.

Liam Fray has shared his memory of meeting Lou Reed and revealed that the late rock icon was a fan of the Courteeners’ song ‘Bide Your Time’.The singer was appearing on BBC Radio 2’s Tracks Of My Years with Vernon Kay when he shared the anecdote about The Velvet Underground frontman, which you can see in the clip below.“I was lucky enough to meet Lou, the man himself,” Fray said. “Yeah, it’s mad. I was on holiday.

John Cale has announced details of a UK and European tour, set to kick off next year. Find a list of new dates below, as well as the newly-shared music video for his single ‘Davies And Wales’.Announced today (August 19), the news of the tour arrives on the heels of The Velvet Underground founder and Welsh musician sharing his most recent studio album, ‘POPtical Illusion’ in June.

Lou Reed‘s songwriting work for Pickwick Records in the mid-1960s is being compiled into a single album – find out more below.Before founding The Velvet Underground, Reed worked as a songwriter for Pickwick Records. Now, the songs that he penned during his stint at the company in the mid-1960s have been compiled for a new album: ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65’.The compilation album is due for release on September 27 via Light in the Attic, in partnership with Laurie Anderson and the Lou Reed Archive. You can now pre-order the album in various packages.

John Cale has shared his dynamic new single ‘Shark-Shark’, along with an intriguing music video – watch it down below.The Welsh musician’s new song will be part of his upcoming record ‘POPtical Illusion‘, which is scheduled for June 14 via Double Six/Domino (pre-order/pre-save here).The Velvet Underground founder said of his new song: “Sometimes you write a song purely for a mood. ‘Shark-Shark’ has two versions – both a nod to finding humour in music.

John Cale has announced his new album ‘POPtical Illusion’ and shared its first single, ‘How We See The Light’ – listen to it below.The Velvet Underground founder and Welsh musician will release his next record on June 14 via Double Six/Domino, produced by Cale and longtime partner Nita Scott in Los Angeles. Pre-order/pre-save here.A press release says that “Cale has often said that something shifted inside his mind during the pandemic, realizing that, nearing 80, he was living and working through something that many of his past contemporaries weren’t”.It continued: “He wanted to document it. He wrote more than 80 songs in a period of a little over a year, collectively surveying the range of human experience in the process – humour bled into frustration, regret gave way to forgiveness, sadness tangled with surrealism.”The statement also mentioned that Cale, a “hip-hop zealot”, was inspired by how the genre “wields technology to create multi-dimensional textures or build surprising melodies.

Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich has blamed “ignorance” for the reaction to ‘Lulu’, their 2011 collaborative album recorded with Lou Reed.The album earned mixed reviews upon its release and has continued to be one of the most divisive records of Metallica’s career, while Reed once claimed it was so unpopular that Metallica fans threatened to shoot him for making it.Ulrich previously reflected on the experience of working with the Velvet Underground legend as a positive one, maintaining that he “wouldn’t change a thing” about the record.Ulrich has now once again reflected on the response to the album, asking (via Loudwire) in Reed’s posthumously released new book, The Art Of The Straight Line: My Tai Chi: “What the fuck is it about ‘Lulu’ that it got that kind of reaction?”He continued: “I can’t quite figure it out, but years later, it’s aged extremely well. It sounds like a motherfucker still.

The Velvet Underground‘s ‘Loaded’ has been announced.‘Loaded (Fully Re-loaded Edition)’ is a new vinyl box set that includes nearly all of the music from its expansive 2015 CD reissue but comes with nine LPs boasting stereo, mono and “full-length” mixes of the original album.Demos, studio outtakes and live recordings also feature in the box set and several tracks will be available on vinyl for the first time.The £250 box set is available to pre-order here exclusively via Dig! ahead of its March 24 release. It’s limited to just 1,970 copies.‘Loaded (Fully Re-loaded Edition)’comes in a deluxe, foil-wrapped slipcase containing the vinyl, a poster of the album’s cover art, and an illustrated booklet with liner notes by Lenny Kaye that appeared in ‘Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition’.In addition to the nine LPs, the set also comes with four 7″s that reproduce the official singles and B-sides released from ‘Loaded’.The songs ‘Rock & Roll’ and ‘Who Loves The Sun’ both come in the generic record sleeves used at the time by Cotillion, the band’s label.

Lou Reed‘s earliest known demo of The Velvet Underground‘s ‘Heroin’ has been released.The 1965 take of the track, which you can listen to below, was put to tape by the late legendary singer-songwriter nearly two years before its release on his former band’s landmark debut album ‘The Velvet Underground & Nico’.It is the latest taste of the forthcoming ‘Words & Music, May 1965’, an archival collection which is set to be released on August 26 via Light In The Attic on what would have been the late singer-songwriter’s 80th birthday.The rare demo finds Reed accompanying himself on guitar and structurally, it is the same as the album version but it is more than three minutes shorter.It follows an early demo of ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’, which was shared last month.The songs on the album were written by Reed and recorded to tape by his future Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale. Reed posted the tape to himself as a “poor man’s copyright” and it remained sealed in its original envelope for nearly 50 years.Elsewhere on the tracklist are previously unreleased demos including ‘Buttercup Song’, ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ and ‘Stockpile’.

Johnny Depp and Jeff Beck have shared a new cover of The Velvet Underground – listen to their version of ‘Venus In Furs’ below.The pair are set to release a collaborative album called ’18’ next month. The album was recorded over the past three years and is due out on July 15.Depp made headlines last month (May 29) when he was a surprise guest at Beck’s show in Sheffield.

Lou Reed album will share never-before-heard material and early versions of some of the star’s most iconic songs.‘Words & Music, May 1965’ is set to be released on August 26 via Light In The Attic in partnership with Reed’s partner Laurie Anderson, in tandem with celebrations for what would be the musician’s 80th birthday.The songs on the album were written by Reed and recorded to tape by his future Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale. Reed posted the tape to himself as a “poor man’s copyright” and it remained sealed in its original envelope for nearly 50 years.The record will include the earliest known recordings of iconic tracks including ‘Heroin’, ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ and ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’.

Lou Reed and John Cale’s ‘Songs For Drella’ album has been found – and it’s coming to streaming.Lachman believed that the original negatives were long lost until he unearthed them while researching Todd Haynes’ 2021 documentary film The Velvet Underground.Now, Songs For Drella will be available to stream exclusively on MUBI in the UK and Ireland from April 17. The concert film shows former The Velvet Underground bandmates Reed and Cale perform songs from their song cycle tribute album to their former manager, Andy Warhol, who died three years prior to the joint album’s release in 1990.Lachman – known for his chief photography roles on several of Haynes’ films including Far From Heaven and Carol as well his own directorial work (Ken Park, In The Hearts Of Africa) – is noted in press material as producing an “intimate” and “minimalist” film portrait.“Lachman’s camerawork reflects the elemental, stripped-down qualities of the album, with close-ups beautifully conveying the deep, fractious history between Reed and Cale,” reads part of the concert film’s description.‘”Drella’” was a nickname used for legendary pop artist Warhol by Reed and Cale (the name is a synthesis of Dracula and Cinderella).

John Cale has announced that he’ll be heading to the UK this summer for his first full run of tour dates in almost a decade.The last time the Velvet Underground multi-instrumentalist hit the road this side of the pond was for his ‘Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood’ European tour back in October 2012.The Welsh musician’s tour will begin in Liverpool at the Royal Philharmonic Hall on July 15, before calling at Whitley Bay, York, Bexhill, Cambridge and the London Palladium, before closing out the run at Birmingham Town Hall on July 25.According to a press release, Cale will “perform songs from throughout his career, which is now in its sixth decade, and has earned him an international reputation as a musical pioneer”.“TOUR News! Hello UK I’m heading your way in July! My first extended run of UK dates in several year,” Cale said, sharing the dates on Twitter.TOUR News! Hello UK I'm heading your way in July! My first extended run of UK dates in several years. Tickets on sale Friday from https://t.co/evSuIopxNn pic.twitter.com/Yy1Ef0mELW— John Cale (@therealjohncale) February 24, 2022Tickets go on sale on Wednesday (March 2) at 10am.

Nick Cave has shared a story involving Nick Drake and the time he met Velvet Underground singer Nico.Writing on his frequently updated Red Hand Files website, the singer-songwriter was asked a pair of questions by two different fans which he proceeded to tie up into one answer.“I’ve always felt some sort of relation between you and Nick Drake,” a fan called Raghav from India wrote. “If you haven’t heard of him he was an artist from England who wrote only about 60 songs about love, regret, happiness and some emotions I can’t really describe.