What's Welsh for zen? : The life of John Cale - Hardcover

Cale, John; Bockris, Victor

3.93

306 ratings by Goodreads

9780747536680: What's Welsh for zen? : The life of John Cale

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0747536686 ISBN 13: 9780747536680

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC, 1999

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A biography of John Cale, who whilst under the tutelage of Aaron Copland in New York, fell in with the artistic avant-garde and went on to form the Velvet Underground with Lou Reed. After leaving the band in 1968, Cale went on to pursue a career as a solo pianist, record producer and composer.

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Review:

John Cale has been a presence on the New York art-punk-rock scene for more than 30 years. He is a classically trained rock musician, avant-garde composer, arranger, producer, film scorer and occasional fashion model, but he is best known as a founding member of the influential 1960s group The Velvet Underground. This searingly honest autobiography from one of the originals of rock music depicts the crazed and inspired times of this 56-year-old Welsh musician.

No ordinary tale of sex and drugs and rock'n'roll, Cale's story tells of a career working with such disparate artists as John Cage, Nico, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Squeeze, Brian Eno and Andy Warhol, and is sprinkled with revealing quotes from other survivors of the Factory era. Lou Reed is also a major player. The co-founder of the Velvets and Cale's sometimes collaborator, confidant and nemesis, Reed haunts this book from its opening lines. This book seems to be a form of therapy for Cale as he legitimises personal grievances, unpeels his emotions and reconciles the ghosts and demons that frustrate and drive him.

The essence of What's Welsh for Zen? is the question of style versus content and the book itself has a state-of-the-art design with the text presented in unusual formats combined with a huge selection of photographs, drawings, documents, letters and lyrics. --Jane Evans

About the Author:

John Cale has led an extraordinary, often hilarious life at the cutting edge. A volatile personality, an innovative thinker and an expressive storyteller, he has wrestled with drugs, alcohol, and fame, yet is now at the peak of health and artistic achievement. He lives in New York City.Victor Bockris, a veteran chronicler of the Beats and the Factory, has worked closely with Cale to produce what will undoubtedly become one of the most vivid and revealing insights into the heart of the rock world.

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