The Velvet Underground and Nico

The music and imagery of The Velvet Underground is very grungy and Avant-Garde, it was very unique and stood apart from other music happening at the time. The chords are basic, the mixes are poor and the vocals are out of tune, but still this group found a way to obtain a cult following even this many years later. A large part to do with this is the fact that Andy Warhol the famous artist who took an interest in the band introducing them to Nico a German vocalist, and having them join his group the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, and group that did Art, Music, and Film. The content of the music is much darker than the more upbeat and tree hugging peaceful music of the time. It was about the grit of the streets, sex, drugs and other not so commercial topics.

The group consisted of and was co-founded by Lou Reed, perhaps the most famous of the group to this day, from NYC. Co-founder John Cale, a welsh classically trained musician who was known for playing an 18 hour piano set, who played viola and other various instruments in the group. Sterling Morrison who knew Reed from University and played guitar in the band his influence was more jazzy which added a unique element to the sound. Maureen “Moe” Tucker played the drums, she did so in an unusual but simple way with very little cymbals and more of a tribal bass drum heavy sound. Andy Warhol designed the cover which is probably also a big factor in making The Velvet Underground and Nico a cult classic.

The album lacked a strong single as well and even though it had notable songs like “I’m waiting for the Man” it did not claim huge commercial success until later years. In fact the group and Andy Warhol, who served as the albums producer, had a hard time getting the album picked up by a label originally.