Sunday, June 22, 2025

Song Book: John Cale

His name is Cale, but you can call him John.

He never wrote a song called Cocaine, and he never wrote a song called After Midnight

He rose to fame as a member of The Velvet Underground where his writings were often overshadowed by the obvious giant.

Nevertheless, he has made music with numerous artists, producing albums for The Stooges, Nico, Siouxsie & The Banshees, The Modern Lovers, Happy Mondays, Squeeze, Jennifer, Chunky Novi & Ernie, Modern Guy and a lot more.

For this songbook we selected only Non-Velvet songs, but occasional collaborations with Eno or Riley were allowed.

 

Thus wrote our regular visitor and commentator Richard!

Earlier this month he contacted Jonder with the proposal of doing a John Cale Song Book, which after some checking seemed like a great idea as it turns out that his songs have been covered by loads of bands and artists, but no attempt was ever made to gather some of these for a Tribute or Cale Covered album!

As I started the Song Book series we decided it would make sense (if that’s the right word!) that I would work this out with him and make a selection out of the 80+ songs he’d shared with us!

Not an easy task, but the results (spread across 2 CDs) speak for themselves.


Artists include:  

Rob de Nijs, Hackney Five-O, Chris Spedding, Mathilde Santing, Yo La Tengo, SF Seals, Sally Timms, Peter Whitehead, Alejandro Escovedo, My Friend The Chocolate Cake, Roddy Frame, CCC, Extra Virgin Mary, The Teardrop Explodes, The Heliocentrics, Okkervil River, Mark Lanegan, AJ Lambert, Alex Rex
Ja, Panik, Genya Ravan, The Dolphins, Dom Dummaste, David J, Barkmarket, Sol Invictus, Sugar Ray, The Wave Pictures, Dar Nahmias, The Ladybug Transistor, Experimental Products, Cheap Time, Aisha Orazbayeva, Dark Blue, Superchunk, Ratso, Chicken Snake, Allá

12 comments:

  1. Link: https://mega.nz/file/HV8w1Sqa#qHQOYB-es0hd6DUgLGuK0I070vhTEzfeTq1Yfjb1GKM
    Question: what's your favorite John Cale song/cover/story???

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    1. Favorite song, anything off of Honi Soit, though especially Dead or Alive. --Muzak McMusics

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    2. Thank you. We still need that cover of Dead or Alive...

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  2. Since you're doing John Cale covers, guess I'll nominate my favorite cover by John Cale, "Pablo Picasso". In fact, the entire Guts album is top-notch: "Dirty-ass Rock 'n' Roll"; "Helen of Troy"; another great cover by Cale, "Heartbreak Hotel". Well, you can't really go wrong with Guts. Phil Manzanera, Chris Spedding, Fred Smith, Phil Collins, Andy Macay, Eno, Geoff Muldaur, the list goes on & on.

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  3. Thank you, it was a joy helping making this.

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    1. Same same Richard, this won't be our last!

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    2. Thank you very much for this collection. But story? Well then:

      Long ago, probably in the mid-1980s, I went to see John Cale at McCabe's in Santa Monica, California.

      When the artist wandered in, he was accompanied by some deadbeat-looking guy, presumably from right off the street outside the store. The two of them started inspecting certain of the instruments displayed on the wall. Each selected an acoustic guitar, took a seat in the performance area (it wasn't exactly a stage), and more or less faced the audience.

      Cale began tuning "his" guitar, its price tag still dangling from the neck. My heart sank when I realized he was so plastered as to be turning the WRONG PEG for the string he was plucking. Then he and his associate began to noodle away in a decidedly casual manner. They could not have been said to be jamming, let alone duetting, nor did they betray any signs of gearing up to play a song. They were just making noises independently, albeit during one and the same stretch of time.

      I can't for the life of me recall what happened to the colleague, or at what stage the tuneless noodling gave way to magical performance. All I know is that by the time Cale shifted to piano, his playing had somehow become . . . masterful. That was the first I'd ever heard of his "Heartbreak Hotel," and the rendition struck me as miraculous -- I'd even say transcendent.

      Years later, I saw in some magazine an old photo of Cale with Lou Reed, each in possession of an acoustic guitar. The former must have been attempting to tune, for the latter was looking at him with an expression of horror.

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    3. That's a great John Cale story. Thank you Crab Devil, Richard and Koen!

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    4. Great story indeed, thanks Crab Devil!
      My own Cale stories are average at most, first time I saw him in concert at Paradiso, Amsterdam in the early 80's was fantastic, half solo, the other half with a band, no complaints.
      The 2nd concert a year or 2 later at the same venue was a disaster personally, a few minutes before Cale started playing, one of my teeth decided it was the perfect time to start becoming a pain in the ... mouth!
      Any type of concert in combination with a massive toothache is hopeless, just a waste of time.
      My friends though said that Cale & band gave a great show, yeah sure...

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  4. I came here from Nothin' Sez Somethin'... Thank you for putting this compilation together and sharing it! Longtime Cale fan here, I couldn't narrow it to a song, and although I love the Island albums and Paris 1919, my favourite Cale moments are on Wrong Way Up, Songs For Drella, The Marble Index, and Walking on Locusts. ;0)
    Cheers from soggy NS!

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    1. Always glad to get crosstown traffic from our friend Nathan Nothin' -- we hope you'll find more to enjoy here, and that you will check back in again!

      I myself enjoy the downtown New Yawk vibe of Sabotage/Live at CBGB's!

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