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Doug Yule | |
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 Yule in 2009 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Douglas Alan Yule |
| Born | February 25, 1947 Mineola, New York, U.S. |
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| Formerly of | The Velvet Underground |
Douglas Alan Yule (born February 25, 1947) is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of the Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973, serving as the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist.
Doug Yule was born in Mineola, Long Island, New York, and grew up in Great Neck [1] with five sisters and a younger brother. As a child he took piano and baritone horn lessons. He later said in an interview that he would have preferred violin lessons, but the violin had to be rented and the baritone horn was available free of charge. [2]
In high school he played the tuba, as well as the guitar and the banjo, and sang in the church choir. [3]
In 1965–66 he attended Boston University, where he studied acting. [4] In Boston he met Walter Powers and Willie Alexander of the Grass Menagerie. In 1966–67, he played with the Grass Menagerie and other bands in New York, California, and Boston. [5]
Yule first met the Velvet Underground at his River Street apartment in Boston, which he rented from their road manager, Hans Onsager, and where the band would sometimes stay when they played in the city. Yule's improving guitar technique caught the ear of Sterling Morrison. [6]
When John Cale left the Velvet Underground at the behest of Lou Reed in 1968, Yule joined the band (then consisting of Reed, Morrison and Maureen "Moe" Tucker) as Cale's replacement. Yule made his first studio appearance on their third album, The Velvet Underground (1969), playing bass and organ. As well as singing lead vocals on the ballad "Candy Says", which opens the album, he harmonizes with Reed on "Jesus" and co-sings the chorus of the album's penultimate track, "The Murder Mystery", with Maureen Tucker.[ citation needed ]
His contribution to the LP was considerable, and his vocals would later come in handy on the road. When Reed's voice became strained from touring, Yule would sing lead on several songs. While Cale had been a more experimental bass player, Yule was considered more technically proficient on the instrument[ by whom? ][ citation needed ] and his distinct melodic style suited Reed's desire to move the band into a more mainstream direction. [7]
Yule's role became even more prominent on the band's fourth album, Loaded (1970), singing lead vocals on "Who Loves the Sun", "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" , and playing six instruments, including keyboard and drums.[ citation needed ]
Yule's brother Billy also joined in on the sessions as a drummer when regular drummer Maureen Tucker was pregnant and therefore absent for most of the recording. His lead vocals can also be heard on the song "Ride Into the Sun", which was featured on the Fully Loaded CD reissue of Loaded that was released in 1997.[ citation needed ]
Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground during their summer residency at the New York club Max's Kansas City in August 1970. With band manager Steve Sesnick looking to fill pending bookings, and with the upcoming release of Loaded in November of that year, Yule, Tucker and Morrison decided to continue performing as the Velvet Underground to promote the album. Yule took over lead vocals and switched his main instrument from bass to guitar, and Walter Powers was recruited as the Velvets' new bass guitarist. Following the release of Loaded in Europe in the spring of 1971, Morrison left the group in August to resume his academic studies in Texas, and was replaced by Willie Alexander on keyboards. Alexander, Powers and Tucker left the Velvets in late 1972 after being forced out by manager Steve Sesnick prior to a handful of European shows to promote Loaded in Europe. With no original band members left, and with a group of quickly assembled musicians, Yule played the final shows as the Velvet Underground in 1972. With Ian Paice of Deep Purple and some session musicians, Yule recorded the album Squeeze in late 1972. It was released in February 1973, and is in essence a Doug Yule solo album, though presented as a Velvet Underground album due to band manager Steve Sesnick's contractual agreement with Polydor, and due to the success of Live at Max's Kansas City , which had received positive reviews the previous year. After two final shows in early 1973 (billed by the promoter as "The Velvet Underground", against Yule's wishes), the band was officially retired.
In 1974 Reed contacted Yule to contribute a melodic bass track on his solo album Sally Can't Dance (1974), [5] on the song "Billy", which closes the album, and Yule joined Reed's band for the subsequent US and European tour as his guitar player. Following the tour the band dissolved, but Yule was called back by Reed in 1975 to record several guitar and bass tracks for his upcoming album Coney Island Baby , the 30th anniversary re-issue of which includes the bonus tracks that feature Yule on bass and guitar.[ citation needed ]
In early 1976 Yule played guitar on Night Lights (1976) by Elliott Murphy, and joined the band American Flyer later that year as their drummer and background singer.[ citation needed ]
American Flyer was an active country rock band from 1976 to 1978, and the band also featured the guitarist Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat & Tears. After securing a major-label contract with United Artists, and managing to interest George Martin enough to bring him on board as their producer, American Flyer's debut album American Flyer debuted at #87 on the Billboard Top 200, and they even scored a minor hit with their single "Let Me Down Easy" which debuted at #80 in 1976. [8]
Despite the promise showed on their first album, their follow-up album Spirit of a Woman failed to chart as high, and did not carry the momentum the label expected, and the band decided to fold. [9] [8] After American Flyer disbanded, Yule retired from doing music full-time, and became a cabinetmaker and a luthier of violins.[ citation needed ]
When the Velvet Underground reformed in early 1993, Sterling Morrison had campaigned for Yule's involvement, but Lou Reed and John Cale ultimately overruled him, thus leaving Yule off the band's six-week reunion tour of Europe, and the subsequent live album Live MCMXCIII . Following the continual interest in the Velvet Underground, and partly due to the publicity of the band's released box set Peel Slowly and See in 1995, Yule, who had by then moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, returned to public life, again giving interviews to journalists and various fanzines about his time in the Velvet Underground. [5] He also wrote an obituary for Sterling Morrison, who had died in 1995. [10]
Yule was not included along with the original line-up for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame when the Velvet Underground were inducted in 1996. However, Yule remains a member of the Velvet business partnership, and continued to give the occasional interview about his time in the group. After having taken up the violin, Yule began to record music again in 1997.[ citation needed ]
A song called "Beginning To Get It" appeared on the benefit compilation A Place to Call Home in 1998. [8] He played some concerts in 2000, while the live album Live in Seattle was released in Japan in 2002. He featured on Tucker's live album Moe Rocks Terrastock .[ citation needed ]
On August 31, 2006, Yule performed for the first time in public in New York City in over 30 years with Mark Gardener of Ride at Pianos. On December 8, 2009, he appeared with Reed and Tucker at the New York Public Library, to commemorate the publishing of The Velvet Underground – New York Art, a collection of rare photographs of the band's first performance in New York City to Andy Warhol's cover designs. They conducted a Q&A with a sold-out live audience, and David Fricke acted as moderator to the event.[ citation needed ]
The Velvet Underground is the third studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released in March 1969 by MGM Records, it was their first record with multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule, who replaced previous member John Cale. Recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Los Angeles, California, the album's sound—consisting largely of ballads and straightforward rock songs—marked a notable shift in style from the band's previous recordings. Lead vocalist Lou Reed intentionally did this as a result of their abrasive previous studio album White Light/White Heat (1968). Reed wanted other band members to sing on the album; Yule contributed lead vocals to the opening track “Candy Says” and the closing track "After Hours" is sung by drummer Maureen Tucker.
Loaded is the fourth studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground, released in November 1970 by Atlantic Records subsidiary Cotillion. It was the final album recorded featuring the band’s remaining original members, including the lead singer and primary songwriter Lou Reed, who left the band shortly before the album's release, and the guitarist Sterling Morrison, who left the band in 1971 along with the drummer Maureen Tucker. For this reason, it is often considered by fans to be the last "true" Velvet Underground album. The multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule remained and released the album Squeeze in 1973 before the band's dissolution the same year.
Peel Slowly and See is a five-disc box set of material by the Velvet Underground. It was released in September 1995 by Polydor.
Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is an American musician and singer-songwriter, best known as the drummer of the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground. After the band disbanded in the early 1970s, she left the music industry for a while, though her music career restarted in the 1980s, and continued into the 1990s. She has released four solo albums, where she played most of the instruments herself, with frequent guest appearances by her former Velvet Underground bandmates and others, and has periodically toured. Tucker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 as a member of the Velvet Underground.
Holmes Sterling Morrison Jr. was an American guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of the rock band the Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.
The Very Best of The Velvet Underground is a compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in Europe on March 31, 2003, by Polydor, the record label that oversees the band's Universal Music Group back catalog.
Squeeze is the fifth and final studio album released under the Velvet Underground band name, recorded in the autumn of 1972 and released in February 1973 by Polydor Records. The album features Doug Yule from the Lou Reed-era lineup of the group, who wrote and recorded the album almost entirely by himself. Yule had joined the Velvet Underground in October 1968, prior to the band recording their self-titled third album, and Yule had also contributed significantly to the fourth album, Loaded. Following the departures of the remaining founding members, Yule was positioned as the de facto leader of the band. Longtime drummer Maureen Tucker was slated to appear on Squeeze by Yule, but she was dismissed by the band's manager, Steve Sesnick.
1969: The Velvet Underground Live is a live album by the Velvet Underground. It was originally released as a double album in September 1974 by Mercury Records. The September 1988 CD re-release was issued as two separate single CD volumes, with one extra track per disc. Since many of the band's studio albums were out of print in the United States from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, 1969 was one of the more popular albums by the band, and is a fan favorite. Spin magazine's Alternative Record Guide included it in the top 100 alternative albums of all time in 1995.
Gold is a two-CD compilation album by the Velvet Underground. It was released for the North American market on June 14, 2005, by Polydor, the record label that oversees the band's Universal Music Group back catalogue.
Another View is an outtakes compilation album by the Velvet Underground. It was released in 1986 by Verve Records and is composed of material recorded between 1967 and 1969.
VU is a 1985 album by the American musical group the Velvet Underground, a compilation album of outtakes recorded 1968–69. It was released in February 1985 by Verve Records.
Final V.U. 1971–1973 is a box set by the Velvet Underground, comprising live recordings from after founding members Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison had left the group. It was released by Japanese record company Captain Trip Records in August 2001.
The Best of The Velvet Underground: Words and Music of Lou Reed is a compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in October 1989 by Verve Records.
20th Century Masters – The Millennium Collection: The Best of The Velvet Underground is a compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was initially released for the North American market by Polydor in October 2000 as part of their "20th Century Masters" series of budget compilations celebrating the turn of the century. The album was subsequently released with varying titles and covers in Europe.
Walter Powers III is an American bass guitarist. He was a member of the Velvet Underground from late 1970 until late 1971.
"Sweet Jane" is a song by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Appearing on their fourth studio album Loaded (1970), the song was written by band leader and primary songwriter Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances after he left the band.
William Yule is an American musician, best known for his brief stint as a temporary drummer for the Velvet Underground during their famous summer engagement 1970 at Max's Kansas City, sitting in for Maureen Tucker while she was on maternity leave.
The discography of the American rock band The Velvet Underground consists of five studio albums, six live albums, 14 compilation albums, six box sets and eleven singles.
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. It originally comprised the singer and guitarist Lou Reed, the Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, the guitarist Sterling Morrison and the drummer Angus MacLise. In 1965, MacLise was replaced by Moe Tucker, who played on most of the band's recordings. Though their integration of rock and the avant-garde resulted in little commercial success, they are now widely regarded as one of the most influential bands in rock, underground, experimental, and alternative music. Their provocative subject matter, musical experiments, and nihilistic attitude was also instrumental in the development of punk rock, new wave and several other genres.
Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground featuring Nico is a compilation album of the Velvet Underground released by MGM Records in 1971 that features selections from the band's first three studio albums. Originally released as a double LP, the cover artwork and inside gatefold sleeve feature imitations of Andy Warhol's paintings of Coca-Cola bottles, but are credited to other artists on the back sleeve of the album. The album was released in the UK to capitalise on the interest from Warhol's Pork.
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