The one Velvet Underground song that Frank Zappa actually liked
Never afraid to spout their caustic takes on the music world, both Frank Zappa and The Velvet Underground took early potshots at each other during the depths of the 1960s counterculture.
Both fiercely pursuing a confounding take on the surrounding rock and pop, and similarly versed in esoteric literature and creative influence, Zappa’s The Mothers of Invention and Lou Reed’s former day job should have sparked mutual admiration in their steadfast attacks on artistic convention. They were part of the Verve Records family, shared Bob Dylan studio man Tom Wilson as a producer, and harboured a cynicism toward the era’s flower power idyll.
Well, beyond the surface, there were stark differences. Zappa was no hippy, indebted to the intellectual rigour of the Beat generation and aligning with the freak movement’s political radicalism and libertarian streak, lambasting chic pretence, and adopting a zero tolerance on recreational drugs. Naturally, The Velvet Underground ticked all of Zappa’s pet hates, the shadowy New Yorkers hiding behind ice-cool black and shades, spinning decadent tales about heroin and draped in an artfully calculated trendy shroud cultivated by Svengali Andy Warhol.
Heads bashed in earnest when The Velvet Underground headlined Los Angeles’ The Trip in May 1966. With Zappa’s Mothers supporting, reportedly, their freak captain exclaimed to the crowd, “These guys really suck!”, dripping with his characteristic sarcasm. Colourful provocation and the band’s cartoon absurdism got right up Reed’s nose. Doing little to dispel the perceptions of their aloof humourlessness, Reed took to the stage and allegedly quipped: “[Zappa] is the single most untalented person I heard in my life…He’s a two-bit, pretentious academic, and he can’t play rock ‘n’ roll, because he’s a loser. And that’s why he dresses funny. He’s not happy with himself, and I think he’s right.”
Grumblings were had within The Velvets, perceiving the Mothers to enjoy marketing priorities from Verve’s MGM label bigwigs, rumours even abounding that Zappa’s 1966 Freak Out! debut pushed The Velvet Underground & Nico back for release the following year.
Snipes persisted, albeit with a wry tongue-in-cheek, the original LP issue of 1968’s We’re Only in It for the Money featured engineer Gary Kellgreen flashing the line “I get to work with The Velvet Underground, which is as shitty a group as Frank Zappa’s group,” and Reed croons the line “Well there’s even some evil mothers / They’re gonna tell you that everything is just dirt,” on 1970’s ‘Sweet Jane’.
Yet, quietly and without fanfare, hatchets seemed to be buried soon enough. Back in 1980, Zappa found himself a guest on BBC Radio 1’s Star Special show, offering the former Mothers frontman the chance to curate a two-hour selection of his much-loved tunes. Across avant-garde classical, heavy metal, and new wave punk picks, Zappa plumped for The Velvet Underground’s frosty ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’, sung by the German artist Nico. While offering little commentary on the spin, Zappa was never a man to flatter or charm, playing the eerie cut out of undoubted sincere appreciation.
Reed let bygones be bygones too, taking the stage in 1995, two years after Zappa’s death from prostate cancer, to induct the visionary Mothers maestro to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “It’s very rare in life to know someone who affects things, changes in a positive way,” Reed revealed. “Frank Zappa was such a person, and of the many regrets I have in life, not knowing him better is one of them.” He added with further high praise, “Frank was a force for reason and honesty in a business deficient in those areas.”
