Monday, February 13, 2017

Grammys: Velvet Underground - Lifetime Achievement Award

Last night, the Velvet Underground received a Grammy for Lifetime Achievement.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Never in a million years would a young guitarist named John Cale believe that he would one day be honored with a lifetime achievement award for his work with the seminal 1970s art rock punk band the Velvet Underground.

...Cale, on the red carpet with his former wife and VU fashion designer Betsey Johnson, explained the way the band felt in the 1970s when mainstream success seemed unthinkable, "We just hated everyone until eventually we didn't."

I won't call this "Fake News," but it is wrong.

The band's first album was released fifty years ago, in 1967. Other albums were released in 1968 and 1969. The last album to include founding member Lou Reed was released in 1970.

I wouldn't call the Velvet Underground "the seminal 1970s art rock punk band." Certainly, their influence reached into the 1970s and beyond, but the original band was history after 1970.


Here's video of John Cale at the Grammys.












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