The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground was one of the most influential rock bands of all time. They had that grungy rock image and an almost punkish style to their music. One thing that set them apart was the mixing of music, art and films, giving somewhat of a pop art feel to the band. John Cale came to America in 1963 to study under the Bernstein Scholarship. John played the guitar for the band and he also has worked with La Monte Young which is a notable  and well known composer. John was also a composer himself as well as producer and singer-song writer. John along with Lou Reed were very important to The Velvet Underground. Lou was also a guitarist, photographer, vocalist and principal song writer for the band. Lou and John were the backbone of The Velvet Underground. Andy Wharhol was the ultimate backing force behind this group. Andy promoted and produced the band. Andy was well known in the art world and it was Andy's vision to merge that arts, music and film. This is one key factor that set them apart from the commercial bands that were playing at that time frame. The Velvet Underground had a lot of characteristics  that set them apart from everybody else. One, as I mentioned before, was how they merged music, art and film and another was how their music itself. On their White Light/White Heat album they had a song titled: Sister Ray that was 17 minutes and they recorded it in one take. Something like this was just unheard of in that time period and it completely stood out from the industry standard recordings from the other bands in the music industry at that time. When I, as a student of music, listen to them today I can completely see how they were misunderstood and were ahead of their time. They were under appreciated and misunderstood. I'm not really a fan of their music but even not being a fan I can see how this music was and is an inspiration still to this day. All I have left to say about The Velvet Underground is two words: Classic Material!