VU Photo Thread

For discussion of all aspects of the New York legends.
gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 09 Aug 2020 16:23

I think this is pretty special. Cale enrolled at Tangelwood, one of just 40 overseas students July 1963


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Sheila Klein
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by Sheila Klein » 10 Aug 2020 00:52

That's neat, where did you find it?

threechordwonder
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by threechordwonder » 10 Aug 2020 21:29

gazatthebop wrote:
09 Aug 2020 16:23
I think this is pretty special. Cale enrolled at Tangelwood, one of just 40 overseas students July 1963
Does anyone know if Cale actually attended the summer school? He played in the performance of Satie's Vexations later that year, but I'm just wondering if he encountered Michael Gibbs in his composition studies. I don't recall Cale ever mentioning the name, but Gibbs moved to England and recorded several jazz albums (and sometimes had a guy called Jack Bruce playing bass). Maybe it's a lost connection or maybe it never happened.

It's a good find though.

gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 11 Aug 2020 22:44

Yes Cale attended the summer school in July and August 1963 in Boston before moving to NYC.
It's a common misconception he studied viola and piano, he didnt. He was there on an orchestral composition course.
At the end of the course Cale performed a piece at the gala concert, this is where he smashed the axe into a wooden table to get the sound of a sinking ship. He tried getting the sound with his viola but it was ruining the varnish. The song Cale played he gave a Welsh title to, which roughly translates to "All that came before is shit". Having been stifled at the summer school (his compositions were deemed too violent) he was out to have the last laugh and he did.

gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 11 Aug 2020 22:49

Cale New York 1968

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gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 11 Aug 2020 22:54

threechordwonder wrote:
10 Aug 2020 21:29
gazatthebop wrote:
09 Aug 2020 16:23
I think this is pretty special. Cale enrolled at Tangelwood, one of just 40 overseas students July 1963
Does anyone know if Cale actually attended the summer school? He played in the performance of Satie's Vexations later that year, but I'm just wondering if he encountered Michael Gibbs in his composition studies. I don't recall Cale ever mentioning the name, but Gibbs moved to England and recorded several jazz albums (and sometimes had a guy called Jack Bruce playing bass). Maybe it's a lost connection or maybe it never happened.

It's a good find though.
Gibbs was in Boston 4-5 years before Cale

threechordwonder
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by threechordwonder » 12 Aug 2020 11:29

gazatthebop wrote:
11 Aug 2020 22:54
Gibbs was in Boston 4-5 years before Cale
Indeed he was. I ask because Gibbs appears in the student list just below Cale.

gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 12 Aug 2020 13:40

When Cale played his gala piece it was subtitled "music for four hands". Someone was playing piano whilst Cale worked the strings from inside the piano, where he was also hiding an axe. That other pianist has not been identified and could be him

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iaredatsun
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by iaredatsun » 12 Aug 2020 13:41

gazatthebop wrote:
11 Aug 2020 22:49
Cale New York 1968

Image
Nice find. I'd like to have seen them live at this time. It looks like another small indicator that Cale's sense of self and public image was growing to the point where his departure from the VU was inevitable.
underground, overground

gazatthebop
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Re: VU Photo Thread

Post by gazatthebop » 12 Aug 2020 14:01

Cale having more musical ability plus Betsey Johnson, with Lou around the odds were stacked against him. Shame he didn't have more confidence

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