Album: Songs For Drella

Song Title

Time

Smalltown

Open House

Style It Takes

Work

Trouble With Classicists

Starlight

Faces and Names

Images

Slip Away (A Warning)

10)

It Wasn't Me

11)

I Believe

12)

Nobody But You

13)

Dream, A

14)

Forever Changed

15)

Hello It's Me

Album: Songs For Drella

Song Title

Time

Smalltown

Open House

Style It Takes

Work

Trouble With Classicists

Starlight

Faces and Names

Images

Slip Away (A Warning)

10)

It Wasn't Me

11)

I Believe

12)

Nobody But You

13)

Dream, A

14)

Forever Changed

15)

Hello It's Me

Tracks

1. Small Town

2. Open Hours

3. Style It Takes

4. Work

5. Trouble With Classicists

6. Starlight

7. Faces And Names

8. Images

9. Slip Away (A Warning)

10. It Wasn't Me

11. I Believe

12. Nobody But You

13. Forever Changed

14. Hello It's Me

Performer Notes

Lou Reed and John Cale originally performed this tribute to Andy Warhol at The Brooklyn Academy Of Music.
Personnel: Lou Reed (vocals, guitar); John Cale (vocals, viola, keyboards).
Engineers include: Jeremy Darby, Michael Rathe, Lou Reed, John Cale, Mike Scalcione.
Recorded at Sigma Sound, New York, New York between December 1989 and January 1990.
Andy Warhol may not have created the Velvet Underground as both he and some history books like to claim, but he certainly used his cachet to put them on the map back in the days of peace and love, when the band's dark vision was a cultural anomaly. After his passing, the erstwhile Velvet think tank of Reed and Cale reconvened for the first time since WHITE LIGHT WHITE HEAT to write, perform and record SONGS FOR DRELLA, a conceptual suite of songs that paid tribute to the life and work of Warhol, the man for whom the term "pop art" was created. No other musicians were included here, as the focus was squarely on the pair's lyrics. Skeletal guitar and keyboard accompaniment proved to be enough for these tunes, which merged artsong with Reed and Cale's distinctive avant-rock style. While occasionally clunky, the songs are effectively moving, providing a fitting tribute to Warhol, a unique, unconventional artist (a tag also easily applied to SONGS FOR DRELLA's principals).

Professional Reviews

Rolling Stone (5/17/90) - 4 Stars - Excellent "...a shining tense merger of visions. Reed's edgy guitar, fullness of heart and clipped, journalistic poetry bring into sculptural relief Cale's elegant keyboards and brainy lyricism."

Q - 4 Stars - Excellent - Included in Q's list of the Fifty Best Albums of 1990.

Q (4/97, p.150) - 4 Stars (out of 5) - "...during this project, all the spheres connected."

The Wire (6/00, p.40) - "...Deeply affectionate and often profoundly affecting [Warhol] tribute for guitar, keyboards and viola..."

Down Beat - 4.5 Stars - Very Good Plus

Reflex - "Go buy this record now"