Music Banter - View Single Post - John Cale

4ZZZ · 11-10-2008, 07:23 AM

Vintage Violence. 1970.

Cale was 2 years out from The Velvet Underground when he released this his first solo album. Considering that he was considered the experimentalist within VU this album may have been a shock to the hardcore fans of his avant garde bent.
Hello There starts with a piano based pop song with blues elements and a lyric that proved that Cale was not only a composer of good tunes but a good word smith. This is apparently a lyric about his VU departure. Oh and Spain gets a mention.
Gideon's Bible follows and is again catchy pop with the hook and the lyric and the male chorus doing a few ooohs! in the background and even the trusty viola adds a bit of fill. China gets a mention this time.
Adelaide follows and we have a boppy little song with a male basso in the back occasionally, harmonica and it is a complete shock to the rock/avant-garde system. What is this all about ex Velvet Underground member? This is pop with a sing song Cale singing "Oh, Adelaide, Adelaide, I want you tonight Adelaide, Adelaide, I want you tonight". Adelaide gets the obvious mention and he wants to go back there. I have never been to the place but have been told it has lots of Churches and some great wineries a bit of a drive out but that does not seem to be what the song is about.
Big White Cloud is well..........an Elton John circa 1974 song in disguise. Ahead of his time is Cale. Nowhere gets a mention.
Cleo. This is pop pap with cheesy hand claps and the background vocals that make one think of The Partridge Family. Nowhere gets a mention.
Please is bit more of the Frank Sinatra style of ballad though it does at times have a country feel about it. Maybe I meant Glen Campbell as I think he would have enjoyed singing this one. Trinidad gets a mention.
Charlemagne is another meandering pop song and there is another hint of country. Is it the slide guitar? I think so. Mississippi and San Sebastian get the mention.
Bring It On Up. More Country style pop, a drinking song and no mention of anywhere in particular.
Amsterdam. A slower style ballad that starts with just a strumming guitar and not Cales best ever vocal. Somewhere called Amsterdam gets a mention. Apparently the journey to this place done her well.
Ghost Story. This remind's me of something that The Walker Brothers may have sung. A 60's pop song but then this is 1970 so what am I talking about. Catchy and summery with a wonderful organ, a great lyric and the last minute of the song gets a bit more complicated. The best song so far and Liverpool, Detroit and Holland get a mention.
Fairweather Friend follows and is a Garland Jeffries song. Purely a Rock N Roll song and a French emissary gets a mention just to keep the travelogue going.
The copy of this album that I have has 2 bonus tracks, another version of Fairweather Friend and a song called Wall. Wall is completely out of place. This is 6 minutes of a viola drone that is what some would have expected from the most avant-garde member of VU on his first solo album. The only problem is that this was from the 2001 re-release. Also being an instrumental there is absolutely no mention of anywhere on this planet. My imagination does take me to the bandstand on The Esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England on a winters day though. Not really sure why

.

So what did I think of this album? I don't particularly dislike it per se but it just seems so inoffensive (or is that offensive?) depending on how one wants to view it. On a personal level after the wonderful VU I would have expected something more daring from my hero. Be that as it may I think that Cale the composer was testing his ability to write pop songs with West Coast roots and at times it failed in the presentation but so what! The next few albums were also basically pop albums anyway and though a touch hit or miss at times, he went on to produce many brilliant songs on all of them. The other thing to take out of this album is that he is damn fine lyricist and within those lyrics has always mentioned many destinations around the world and I think that that is not such a bad thing for those of us with an imagination. I just have not found a lyric of his anywhere that mentions sunny Bognor, though he has not mentioned Bangor in the land of his birth so I should not complain to much.

11-10-2008, 07:23 AM	#20 (permalink)
4ZZZ Forever young Join Date: Sep 2008 Location: Brisbane Posts: 608	Vintage Violence. 1970. Cale was 2 years out from The Velvet Underground when he released this his first solo album. Considering that he was considered the experimentalist within VU this album may have been a shock to the hardcore fans of his avant garde bent. Hello There starts with a piano based pop song with blues elements and a lyric that proved that Cale was not only a composer of good tunes but a good word smith. This is apparently a lyric about his VU departure. Oh and Spain gets a mention. Gideon's Bible follows and is again catchy pop with the hook and the lyric and the male chorus doing a few ooohs! in the background and even the trusty viola adds a bit of fill. China gets a mention this time. Adelaide follows and we have a boppy little song with a male basso in the back occasionally, harmonica and it is a complete shock to the rock/avant-garde system. What is this all about ex Velvet Underground member? This is pop with a sing song Cale singing "Oh, Adelaide, Adelaide, I want you tonight Adelaide, Adelaide, I want you tonight". Adelaide gets the obvious mention and he wants to go back there. I have never been to the place but have been told it has lots of Churches and some great wineries a bit of a drive out but that does not seem to be what the song is about. Big White Cloud is well..........an Elton John circa 1974 song in disguise. Ahead of his time is Cale. Nowhere gets a mention. Cleo. This is pop pap with cheesy hand claps and the background vocals that make one think of The Partridge Family. Nowhere gets a mention. Please is bit more of the Frank Sinatra style of ballad though it does at times have a country feel about it. Maybe I meant Glen Campbell as I think he would have enjoyed singing this one. Trinidad gets a mention. Charlemagne is another meandering pop song and there is another hint of country. Is it the slide guitar? I think so. Mississippi and San Sebastian get the mention. Bring It On Up. More Country style pop, a drinking song and no mention of anywhere in particular. Amsterdam. A slower style ballad that starts with just a strumming guitar and not Cales best ever vocal. Somewhere called Amsterdam gets a mention. Apparently the journey to this place done her well. Ghost Story. This remind's me of something that The Walker Brothers may have sung. A 60's pop song but then this is 1970 so what am I talking about. Catchy and summery with a wonderful organ, a great lyric and the last minute of the song gets a bit more complicated. The best song so far and Liverpool, Detroit and Holland get a mention. Fairweather Friend follows and is a Garland Jeffries song. Purely a Rock N Roll song and a French emissary gets a mention just to keep the travelogue going. The copy of this album that I have has 2 bonus tracks, another version of Fairweather Friend and a song called Wall. Wall is completely out of place. This is 6 minutes of a viola drone that is what some would have expected from the most avant-garde member of VU on his first solo album. The only problem is that this was from the 2001 re-release. Also being an instrumental there is absolutely no mention of anywhere on this planet. My imagination does take me to the bandstand on The Esplanade in Bognor Regis, West Sussex, England on a winters day though. Not really sure why. So what did I think of this album? I don't particularly dislike it per se but it just seems so inoffensive (or is that offensive?) depending on how one wants to view it. On a personal level after the wonderful VU I would have expected something more daring from my hero. Be that as it may I think that Cale the composer was testing his ability to write pop songs with West Coast roots and at times it failed in the presentation but so what! The next few albums were also basically pop albums anyway and though a touch hit or miss at times, he went on to produce many brilliant songs on all of them. The other thing to take out of this album is that he is damn fine lyricist and within those lyrics has always mentioned many destinations around the world and I think that that is not such a bad thing for those of us with an imagination. I just have not found a lyric of his anywhere that mentions sunny Bognor, though he has not mentioned Bangor in the land of his birth so I should not complain to much.