Album: Paris 1919
Artist: John Cale
Born: Garnant, Carmathenshire
Released: March 1973
Genre: Baroque
Influenced: Television, Nick Cave, Morrissey, Tindersticks, Yo La Tengo
John Cale and Lou Reed both kept themselves very busy after the break-up of the Velvet Underground and it's something of a small coincidence that both released their most successful solo albums within a period of just 4 months or so. Cale's production credits with the likes of Nico, Stooges, Nick Drake, Modern Lovers and Patti Smith, to name but a few in the early 70s, are all the more astonishing given he was creating and recording his own music at the same time. I saw Cale talk at the Green Man festival, where he put the success of Paris 1919 down to an "appetite for nostalgia". He also talked about his classical training in the Welsh Youth Orchestra and experiments in the avant-garde while a Goldsmiths student, giving the sense of how he managed to enrich the pop idiom with a much wider musical perspective. In the early 70s, Cale alternated between wearing his classical (Church of Anthrax, Academy In Peril) and singer-songwriter (Vintage Violence) hats, but what marks Paris 1919 out from all his earlier work is the willingness to explore personal themes and a more baroque pop sound. UCLA Symphony Orchestra provide the strings and Little Feat the stomping rock.
Child's Christmas In Wales, with its Dylan Thomas references, is the most obviously autobiographical song, summoning up a Welsh festive scene ("good neighbours were we all"), though Cale's lyrics are never straightforward. Hanky Panky Nohow seems to be telling us to put our trust in nature and not religion, one of many examples on this album of Cale burying serious themes below the surface of a melodic tune. Endless Plain Of Fortune has a grand symphonic sound, and is one of my favourite tracks on the record, but again the lyrics are hard to interpret; various characters (Field Marshal, Martha, Segovia) and places (Transvaal) are mentioned, and the corrupting power of pursuing material wealth is one of many themes explored ("it's gold that eats the heart away / and leaves the bones to dry"). Andalucia is really evocative and showcases Cale's wonderful singing on Paris 1919, whereas Macbeth – almost an attempt by Cale at glam rock – doesn't really work for me. The title track that kicks off side 2 is unquestionably one of the album's highlights, full of post-WWI historical references and orchestral flourishes, while Graham Greene is more light-hearted and Half Past France full of homesick yearning. Antarctica Starts Here is another highlight, the "paranoid great movie queen" being Gloria Swanson's character in Sunset Boulevard, who Cale sings about in hushed tones as he details how the ageing film star loses all sense of reality. I struggle to enjoy much of Cale's work, because it can be cold, cerebral and impenetrable, but there's a warmth and personality about this record that helps me connect with his music, and that has nothing to do with nostalgia. The songs are just great.
John Cale and Lou Reed both kept themselves very busy after the break-up of the Velvet Underground and it's something of a small coincidence that both released their most successful solo albums within a period of just 4 months or so. Cale's production credits with the likes of Nico, Stooges, Nick Drake, Modern Lovers and Patti Smith, to name but a few in the early 70s, are all the more astonishing given he was creating and recording his own music at the same time. I saw Cale talk at the Green Man festival, where he put the success of Paris 1919 down to an "appetite for nostalgia". He also talked about his classical training in the Welsh Youth Orchestra and experiments in the avant-garde while a Goldsmiths student, giving the sense of how he managed to enrich the pop idiom with a much wider musical perspective. In the early 70s, Cale alternated between wearing his classical (Church of Anthrax, Academy In Peril) and singer-songwriter (Vintage Violence) hats, but what marks Paris 1919 out from all his earlier work is the willingness to explore personal themes and a more baroque pop sound. UCLA Symphony Orchestra provide the strings and Little Feat the stomping rock.
Child's Christmas In Wales, with its Dylan Thomas references, is the most obviously autobiographical song, summoning up a Welsh festive scene ("good neighbours were we all"), though Cale's lyrics are never straightforward. Hanky Panky Nohow seems to be telling us to put our trust in nature and not religion, one of many examples on this album of Cale burying serious themes below the surface of a melodic tune. Endless Plain Of Fortune has a grand symphonic sound, and is one of my favourite tracks on the record, but again the lyrics are hard to interpret; various characters (Field Marshal, Martha, Segovia) and places (Transvaal) are mentioned, and the corrupting power of pursuing material wealth is one of many themes explored ("it's gold that eats the heart away / and leaves the bones to dry"). Andalucia is really evocative and showcases Cale's wonderful singing on Paris 1919, whereas Macbeth – almost an attempt by Cale at glam rock – doesn't really work for me. The title track that kicks off side 2 is unquestionably one of the album's highlights, full of post-WWI historical references and orchestral flourishes, while Graham Greene is more light-hearted and Half Past France full of homesick yearning. Antarctica Starts Here is another highlight, the "paranoid great movie queen" being Gloria Swanson's character in Sunset Boulevard, who Cale sings about in hushed tones as he details how the ageing film star loses all sense of reality. I struggle to enjoy much of Cale's work, because it can be cold, cerebral and impenetrable, but there's a warmth and personality about this record that helps me connect with his music, and that has nothing to do with nostalgia. The songs are just great.
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