John Cale - A few albums

Gavin B. · 05-21-2009, 07:13 AM

John Cale is my favorite musician and I never understood why he's never reached a wider audience. It's great to read reviews of Cale's work by someone who understands his huge signficance as artist.

A good album for new listeners is Songs for a Rainy Season which may be the best live album I've ever heard. It's just Cale playing solo and the album showcases his strengths as a songwritter, vocalist and pianst.

I saw Cale live for the first time when he released Honi Soit which is his most lividly uncomfortable album besides Fear. It's a lost jewel in the Cale catalog. I also admire the fact that Cale remained a friend and musical associate of Nico's long after everyone else had written her off as a hopeless junkie. I saw Nico perform in 1980 a few years prior to her death in 1988 and despite her legendary heroin excesses, she could still walk on a stage and mezmerize an audience.

My favorite Cale song is Dying on the Vine. Cale has said that Dying on the Vine is the one song he couldn't escape.. It's an autobiographical song in which Cale is ruthlessly self critical about his own decandent lifestyle. Notice Nick Cave at the other piano in this lineup in the video below.

4ZZZ · 12-07-2009, 08:10 AM

Bump. I remembered this thread after coming into possession of a couple of new Cale albums and I also picked up a DVD at a very nice price. I rarely read so much music criticism nowadays as I am less prone to care what people think about music that I like. Be that as it may I am rather proud of this thread as I wrote some nice words and thought that I would add my latest finds.

I am not sure if Almauro contributes any more but thanks for the request. I will try and secure the album and let you know what I think. Also the same to Gavin B. Gavin B I have come across a DVD of Songs for a Rainy Season that on a couple of plays so far I am loving. I intend to give it a few more plays over the next week or two and will post a review.

I will have to also play both 1985's Artificial Intelligence and 1991 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues a few more times before commenting. I have also found a Peel Sessions, an album called John Cale and Strings Concert 92 Art Munich Project though these are not listened to as yet.

Any works of Cale that I own or have heard are reviewed on this thread or mentioned in this post. All others I have not heard. If anyone comes across links in their blog travels and would be so kind as to direct me via PM, I will be most grateful.

TheCellarTapes · 12-07-2009, 08:23 AM

Excellent thread 4ZZZ,

Ive had a good re listen to Paris 1919 off the back of it, have to say I think this album is very underrated in the grand scheme of things, its tremendous.

Schizotypic · 12-07-2009, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheCellarTapes

Excellent thread 4ZZZ,

Ive had a good re listen to Paris 1919 off the back of it, have to say I think this album is very underrated in the grand scheme of things, its tremendous.

^I just found your old The Cramps thread and couldn't believe I ever missed it. The same goes for you 4zzz, fantastic thread! I've really never gotten into much John Cale, but I've wanted to for a while. I did, however, end-up with Songs For Drella, which I thought was a pretty good album.

Bulldog · 12-10-2009, 09:06 AM

Good to see this thread bumped/back in action again. I've been on many a musical adventure over the last year but, despite my post on page 1, I kinda forgot to go on that hunt for John Cale albums that I mentioned. In fact, I think it's been at least four or five years since I last heard a single song of his. As such, I've enjoyed glancing over your reviews again, particularly the Paris 1919 one - it was the only Cale album I ever had which I've long since lost my copy of, and one I have very vague memories of that your review brought back.

Anyway, what I'm trying to say is you've done a great job with this here thread 4ZZZ. Looking forward to the next update.

Gavin B. · 12-14-2009, 04:33 AM

Excuse the corny video footage I've embedded below, but this Cale version of Hallelujah is brilliant. Cale has recorded at least two other versions of this song....one is at a slower dirge-like tempo and on another session he added a string section.

This version I've embedded is my favorite rendition because of the sparse beauty of Cale's plaintive voice and his forceful but ornate piano playing. Cale's gifts as a piano player are underappreciated. Cale has been singing the once obscure Cohen song for nearly three decades... long before the current crop of vocalists discovered the lyrical magic of the song.

The song's composer Leonard Cohen's version of Hallelujah is a guarded and modest understatement compared to Jeff Buckley's effusive and spine tingling version which comes close to being a histrionic overstatement. I also have a recording of an Imogen Heap's acapella version of Hallelujah. Imogen's version is haunting but she cuts the song short after singing only two verses and it sounds like an unfinished project.

There's probably 100 other covers of Hallelujah out there, but the Cohen, Buckley, Heap and Cale versions are the real standouts. You'd have to be a masochist to suffer through versions of Hallelujah by a legion of singers like kd lang, Il Divo, Allison Crowe, Rufus Wainwright, Damien Rice, Bon Jovi, Amanda Jenssen (American Idol), Regina Spektor, the Roches, the Silent Monks and the rest of the usual musical suspects, just to prove to me that a better version of the song exists. Be my guest... It's seems that everybody and their uncle is doing a cover version of Hallelujah these days. Stay tuned for a Celine Dion version.

Buckley's version is dazzling and a formidable interpretation of Hallelujah . Many people mistakenly think Buckley (not Cohen) wrote the song because of the widespread recognition of his version of the song on the album Grace. A lot fewer people have heard Cale's version which trumps even the glories of celebrated Buckley version. I heard the Cale version long before Buckley version was recorded. Early on, I was under the spell of the Buckley version and Buckley's rendering almost eclipsed my devotion the Cale version. However there was a point in time when I returned to playing the Cale version and rediscovered my undying passion for his version. The Cale recording of Hallelujah is the one I'd run to rescue, if my house were burning down in the middle of the night.

Buckley's pristine voice was capable of leaping octaves over, under and around Cale's vocal range, but it's Cale who really owns the song like no one else. Buckley's version draws the listener's attention to the beauty and range of his singing voice while Cale's version directs the attention of the listener to the beauty of Cohen's lyric and music. And as Frank Sinatra once said, a good vocalist showcases the song, not his voice.

Cale's rendition is one the most soulful renditions of a song I've ever heard.

almauro · 12-27-2009, 05:11 PM

yo, gavin b....have a listen. Index of /John Cale/Sabotage Live CBGB's 1979. I'll have it up for the next couple of days.

05-21-2009, 07:13 AM	#1 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	John Cale is my favorite musician and I never understood why he's never reached a wider audience. It's great to read reviews of Cale's work by someone who understands his huge signficance as artist. A good album for new listeners is Songs for a Rainy Season which may be the best live album I've ever heard. It's just Cale playing solo and the album showcases his strengths as a songwritter, vocalist and pianst. I saw Cale live for the first time when he released Honi Soit which is his most lividly uncomfortable album besides Fear. It's a lost jewel in the Cale catalog. I also admire the fact that Cale remained a friend and musical associate of Nico's long after everyone else had written her off as a hopeless junkie. I saw Nico perform in 1980 a few years prior to her death in 1988 and despite her legendary heroin excesses, she could still walk on a stage and mezmerize an audience. My favorite Cale song is Dying on the Vine. Cale has said that Dying on the Vine is the one song he couldn't escape.. It's an autobiographical song in which Cale is ruthlessly self critical about his own decandent lifestyle. Notice Nick Cave at the other piano in this lineup in the video below. __________________ There are two types of music: the first type is the blues and the second type is all the other stuff. Townes Van Zandt Last edited by Gavin B.; 05-21-2009 at 07:21 AM.

12-07-2009, 08:10 AM	#2 (permalink)
4ZZZ Forever young Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Brisbane Posts: 608	Bump. I remembered this thread after coming into possession of a couple of new Cale albums and I also picked up a DVD at a very nice price. I rarely read so much music criticism nowadays as I am less prone to care what people think about music that I like. Be that as it may I am rather proud of this thread as I wrote some nice words and thought that I would add my latest finds. I am not sure if Almauro contributes any more but thanks for the request. I will try and secure the album and let you know what I think. Also the same to Gavin B. Gavin B I have come across a DVD of Songs for a Rainy Season that on a couple of plays so far I am loving. I intend to give it a few more plays over the next week or two and will post a review. I will have to also play both 1985's Artificial Intelligence and 1991 Even Cowgirls Get The Blues a few more times before commenting. I have also found a Peel Sessions, an album called John Cale and Strings Concert 92 Art Munich Project though these are not listened to as yet. Any works of Cale that I own or have heard are reviewed on this thread or mentioned in this post. All others I have not heard. If anyone comes across links in their blog travels and would be so kind as to direct me via PM, I will be most grateful. __________________ Terra Music Est Non A Vitium.

12-14-2009, 04:33 AM	#6 (permalink)
Gavin B. Model Worker Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,248	Excuse the corny video footage I've embedded below, but this Cale version of Hallelujah is brilliant. Cale has recorded at least two other versions of this song....one is at a slower dirge-like tempo and on another session he added a string section. This version I've embedded is my favorite rendition because of the sparse beauty of Cale's plaintive voice and his forceful but ornate piano playing. Cale's gifts as a piano player are underappreciated. Cale has been singing the once obscure Cohen song for nearly three decades... long before the current crop of vocalists discovered the lyrical magic of the song. The song's composer Leonard Cohen's version of Hallelujah is a guarded and modest understatement compared to Jeff Buckley's effusive and spine tingling version which comes close to being a histrionic overstatement. I also have a recording of an Imogen Heap's acapella version of Hallelujah. Imogen's version is haunting but she cuts the song short after singing only two verses and it sounds like an unfinished project. There's probably 100 other covers of Hallelujah out there, but the Cohen, Buckley, Heap and Cale versions are the real standouts. You'd have to be a masochist to suffer through versions of Hallelujah by a legion of singers like kd lang, Il Divo, Allison Crowe, Rufus Wainwright, Damien Rice, Bon Jovi, Amanda Jenssen (American Idol), Regina Spektor, the Roches, the Silent Monks and the rest of the usual musical suspects, just to prove to me that a better version of the song exists. Be my guest... It's seems that everybody and their uncle is doing a cover version of Hallelujah these days. Stay tuned for a Celine Dion version. Buckley's version is dazzling and a formidable interpretation of Hallelujah . Many people mistakenly think Buckley (not Cohen) wrote the song because of the widespread recognition of his version of the song on the album Grace. A lot fewer people have heard Cale's version which trumps even the glories of celebrated Buckley version. I heard the Cale version long before Buckley version was recorded. Early on, I was under the spell of the Buckley version and Buckley's rendering almost eclipsed my devotion the Cale version. However there was a point in time when I returned to playing the Cale version and rediscovered my undying passion for his version. The Cale recording of Hallelujah is the one I'd run to rescue, if my house were burning down in the middle of the night. Buckley's pristine voice was capable of leaping octaves over, under and around Cale's vocal range, but it's Cale who really owns the song like no one else. Buckley's version draws the listener's attention to the beauty and range of his singing voice while Cale's version directs the attention of the listener to the beauty of Cohen's lyric and music. And as Frank Sinatra once said, a good vocalist showcases the song, not his voice. Cale's rendition is one the most soulful renditions of a song I've ever heard. Last edited by Gavin B.; 12-14-2009 at 10:19 AM.

12-27-2009, 05:11 PM	#7 (permalink)
almauro Way Out There Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 850	yo, gavin b....have a listen. Index of /John Cale/Sabotage Live CBGB's 1979. I'll have it up for the next couple of days. __________________ rock n music blog

12-07-2009, 08:23 AM	#3 (permalink)
TheCellarTapes Music Addict Join Date: Dec 2008 Posts: 490	Excellent thread 4ZZZ, Ive had a good re listen to Paris 1919 off the back of it, have to say I think this album is very underrated in the grand scheme of things, its tremendous.

12-10-2009, 09:06 AM	#5 (permalink)
Bulldog why bother? Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: UK Posts: 4,840	Good to see this thread bumped/back in action again. I've been on many a musical adventure over the last year but, despite my post on page 1, I kinda forgot to go on that hunt for John Cale albums that I mentioned. In fact, I think it's been at least four or five years since I last heard a single song of his. As such, I've enjoyed glancing over your reviews again, particularly the Paris 1919 one - it was the only Cale album I ever had which I've long since lost my copy of, and one I have very vague memories of that your review brought back. Anyway, what I'm trying to say is you've done a great job with this here thread 4ZZZ. Looking forward to the next update.