“Art statements”: How John Cale perfected the cult classic debut album
John Cale is one of the great unsung heroes of 20th-century rock and alternative music. While his own material rarely troubled the singles charts, and his solo work paled in comparison to that created by fellow Velvet Underground founder Lou Reed, the Welsh songwriter still had a colossal impact on the vast landscape of rock through his extensive production work. Producers rarely get the credit they deserve, but Cale, in particular, has worked on some of music’s most iconic debut records alongside everybody from Patti Smith to Happy Mondays.
Crafting a debut album is by no means an easy task; a band’s debut record could make or break them within the industry. However, for most artists, it is important to find the right balance between timeless artistry and commercial appeal. This is where John Cale differed from others: commercial success very rarely, if ever, crossed his mind as something to strive for. From the moment that he first formed The Velvet Underground in 1964, Cale dedicated himself to the tireless pursuit of musical experimentation and discovery.
Indeed, if you look at The Velvet Underground’s debut, The Velvet Underground and Nico, it is clear that the hit parade was not considered when constructing the album. Neither the pioneering noise rock of ‘The Black Angel’s Death Song’ nor the seven-minute exploration of heroin addiction on the aptly named ‘Heroin’ evoked an album which was made with radio play in mind. Nevertheless, the record became hugely influential in the development of alternative rock, inspiring everybody from David Bowie to Arctic Monkeys.
The experimental essence of that first Velvet Underground album carried through into much of Cale’s production work. Some of his earliest duties involved producing solo records by the Velvets’ former collaborator Nico, including Facing The Wind, which arguably paved the way for goth rock. After leaving the New York band in 1968, Cale went on to produce various artists, often gifting them with timeless debut albums.
Notably, Cale produced The Stooges’ stunning proto-punk debut album, which—once again—proved to be hugely influential in later years despite being largely ignored upon its initial release. It is a similar story with Patti Smith’s Horses in 1975, another underappreciated release produced by Cale that went on to become one of the most iconic rock records of the 20th century. The producer seemed to replicate this theme on debut records by The Modern Lovers, Squeeze, and, later, the Happy Mondays.
So, what is the secret behind the production of these groundbreaking releases? Cale once shared, “I think those albums were more art statements than anything else, and I think there’s more room for doing that on a first record, when a band isn’t sure of themselves.” When a band is a little more open to trying new things, Cale found it easy to push them in a certain direction, moulding records like Horses or The Stooges into the albums he thought they should be rather than what the artist might have desired.
He also noted how commercialism often stifles these artistic statements. “What takes over with bands is the business side: I mean, they really want success,” he said. “No matter what life extension properties you give their music by giving them an artistic level or sheen, invariably they’re not as impressed by that than if the damn thing’s in the charts!”
While not many of Cale’s production efforts made it to the charts, a great deal of them have been awarded a kind of legendary reputation that leaves no need for mainstream success. After all, albums like The Modern Lovers or Squeeze were never going to be hit records anyway, so Cale constructed them in such a way that they would outlive vacuous, chart-focused music.
