The Velvet Underground & Nico Entry
Velvet Underground & Nico is a rock group, which was
essentially formed by Lou Reed. It all started when Reed met a John Cale, who
had just moved to America to study classical music. Reed and Cale met through
working on mutural project and soon became very close because of their similar
interests. Velvet Underground style is experimental rock and this was all
inspired by Cale’s avant-garde experimental background. Cale would take the bands material from
what may have been considered noised to a sonic masterpiece. A big part of
their sound also had to do with Reed’s comforting song stories along with his
unique guitar effects and Stone Age percussion.
As mentioned briefly above Reed and Cale were the primary
songwriters of the group. Born in Welsh, as a child Cade played both the Piano
and Violin. He was well on his way
to being a great musician and was even featured playing an original composition
on BBC. In 1960 Cale studied classical music at London’s Goldsmith’s College,
where he would discover his lover for avant-garde. He would later earn a
Leonard Bernstein scholarship, which came after catching the attention of
American composer Aaron Copland. Lou Reed on the other hand was already working
within the industry when he and Cale met. Reed was a songwriter working with
Pickwick Records and recruited Cale as a musician.
Two things that set this album apart from other albums of
this era are:
The use of experimental characteristics in a rock genre: At
that time this is not something that was commonly being done. For the most part
much people weren’t mixing genres but Cale tried it and I think this has a lot
to do with why this music is so influential today.
The fact that they took the risks and failed then but are a
big part of music today: Velvet Underground may have had a few flops due to
people not liking the music that they were creating. Though it seems crazy
looking back, that was human nature we are always quick to dislike what we’re
not used to. However this did not stop the band they pushed the envelope and
took the risk. Now they are one of the most influential bands from that era.
As an industry professional Velvet Underground & Nico
has a huge impact on me. My reasons for saying this are because they are about
pushing the envelope and being cutting edge. That’s what it takes to survive in
this industry and the fact that they were doing it from back then is amazing.
What’s Going On
Marvin Gaye born on April 2nd 1939 in Washington
DC was an entertainer/songwriter who is know for his wide vocal range and
powerful music. Gaye had the image of an artist who speaks for the people; all
of his songs had a purpose and came from the heart. There we a lot of thing
that influenced what Gaye talked about, these were things directly related to
him and things happening around him. Some of these things were his singing
friend Tammi Terrell dying from a brain tumor, the shootings of Martin Luther
King and Bobby Kennedy, his brothers war experiences and the violence occurring
in Detroit at that time. All the music was written around real life situation
and I think this is why people connected so easily.
The social and national concerns that influenced the lyrical
content for What’s Going On were things like Nelson Mandela being held, the
crazy things happening with the war, the violence occurring in America, losing
people like Dr. Martin Luther King & Bobby Kennedy and losing close
friends.
In recording and releasing What’s Going On Gaye was faced
with a lot of problems, some of these came by surprise. First was that it took
many mixes to get the song down but Gaye was positive since everything negative
had worked out on this record. However, what caught Gaye by surprise was when
Berry Gordy refused to release the record because he didn’t like it. Marvin
believing in the song so much said until Gordy released the song he would cut
no more records.
Two characteristics that set What’s Going On apart from
everything that was out at that time was the songwriting and the studio
musicians. The songwriting was different from anything else because of how deep
it was and what they were talking about. Gaye always addressed world issues and
pored his heart out on every song. Most songs of that time were about having
fun and un-realistic love stories. Gaye knew how to write songs with substance
and make them sound beautiful. Next were the studio musicians, though commonly
done today Gaye brought in friends to handle his backgrounds and this was very
unique for the time. These friends were members of the Detroit Lions and they
were doing chanting.
To me as an industry professional this song has a huge
impression on me because it shows me that you can have quality lyrics and still
sell millions of records. It also shows me that I should never hold back
creativity because it may be the standard of tomorrow.
Peer Comment
Briana Hopkins- Pet Sounds Post
The first thing that I noticed when I read Briana’s post was
how well it was summarized but yet still covered almost everything important.
However I must admit that some key elements were left out. For example when
talking about Brian Wilson she talked about him being the producer but didn’t
mention anything before that. One of my favorite elements of her post was in
the first paragraph when she referred back to the Bob Evans show that point
that she brought about their “tension” was very important and it was something that
I even missed. Overall I liked the post I just feel like at certain point she
could have given a bit more information.
Hey DonTae,
ReplyDeletereading your post on Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On?" was refreshing as the tone you took translated the message very well. I did not make the connection between Gaye and Mandela, and that changed a lot of how I hear that song now. Along with that, I also did not account the shooting of Bobby Kennedy. Both of these tragedies, together with the more obvious ones, now stick out so much in the song to me. It's easy to see now how and why someone could write a song as deep and heartfelt as his. Great post, and great read.