'Paris 1919'

[Quaco]

I think what makes Paris 1919 such a strange record is the people behind it though, it seems scarcely believable that the backing band for such a beautifully melodic, at times baroque, record would feature members of Little Feat.

This and the fact they backed Bill Wyman on the Monkey Grip album are going to turn me into a Little Feat fan yet...

[Magilla]

Yeah, that run of albums from Vintage Violence to Paris 1919 is fantastic...

With the exception of Sabotage and Honi Soit, the run up to and including Music For A New Society is quite outstanding. Helen Of Troy is especially under-rated.

[Bungo the Mungo]

Yeah, that run of albums from Vintage Violence to Paris 1919 is fantastic...

With the exception of Sabotage and Honi Soit, the run up to and including Music For A New Society is quite outstanding. Helen Of Troy is especially under-rated.

I tried with Helen of Troy and Slow Dazzle and thought they were distinctly underwhelming. You haven't got the sweet melodies of Paris 1919, and on the other hand his band isn't taut and spunky enough to do anything gutsy enough to engage. His voice changed quite a lot - and then back again, I think.

[zoomboogity]

I've been doing a vinyl-to-CDR project on my favorite Cale music for the car. (The "project" part involves doing what I can to remove the pop and clicks from my 30-year-old vinyl. Time-consuming, but doing one song per day makes it more tolerable.) I've only now noticed how brief Paris 1919 is - it's barely 31 minutes long. Doesn't feel that short, and it wouldn't have the same impact were it any longer.

I also noticed how few songs from Helen Of Troy I really like. (Supposedly it's actually a bunch of demos that Island released without Cale's permission before he had the time to polish them up.) My favorites are the ballads (I Keep A Close Watch, Coral Moon, China Sea), but the "edgier" stuff like Engine and Save Us is just laughable. As for Slow Dazzle... well, Guts is a good song. The few songs I remember liking from Honi Soit can't compete with the "big reverb drum" '80s sound. Still love the first half of Church Of Anthrax, though.

Mondegreen alert: a bunch of my friends saw Cale on his Sabotage tour. Not having heard the album yet, one of them thought that when Cale and the band were yelling "Sabotage!" over and over, they were really saying "Sell the Dodge!" He wondered if this was some pre-post-ironic statement on angry punkers or something - "what's the problem, dude, just sell the fucking car, don't start kicking your fretless bass over it." Kids those days...

[Guy E]

I think what makes Paris 1919 such a strange record is the people behind it though, it seems scarcely believable that the backing band for such a beautifully melodic, at times baroque, record would feature members of Little Feat.

It’s not so unbelievable if you’ve ever heard the first Little Feat album.

Later Little Feat albums might lead you to think that it’s unbelievable.

[king feeb]

I tried with Helen of Troy and Slow Dazzle and thought they were distinctly underwhelming. You haven't got the sweet melodies of Paris 1919, and on the other hand his band isn't taut and spunky enough to do anything gutsy enough to engage. His voice changed quite a lot - and then back again, I think.

While I'd never place them on the same level as Paris 1919 or Fear, I'm surprised that you don't like these better. Slow Dazzle, especially, has a lot of atmosphere and some topnotch songs. But its charms are more modest and subtle than those two earlier ones, so it takes a bit of effort to get to the core. I find it a rather perplexing disc, but that's undoubtedly part of why I like it. Some of the album, like "Ski Patrol", is head-scratchingly perverse and fascinating (what possessed Cale to write a paean to paramedics on skis?). I always considered the album to be underrated, but standing in the shadow of Fear, as it does, probably does Slow Dazzle no favors.

I think what makes Paris 1919 such a strange record is the people behind it though, it seems scarcely believable that the backing band for such a beautifully melodic, at times baroque, record would feature members of Little Feat.

It’s not so unbelievable if you’ve ever heard the first Little Feat album.

Later Little Feat albums might lead you to think that it’s unbelievable.

...or the pre-Little Feat stuff like The Factory: real good, off-kilter 60s psychedelic folkrock.

[Leg of lamb]

Minor voice of dissent here: I find it really too sweet for my tooth and very whimsical. I like it but I'm shocked at the free pass it gets from some people who would be shitting down throats if it was Belle and Sebastian.

[BARON CORNY DOG]

Minor voice of dissent here: I find it really too sweet for my tooth and very whimsical. I like it but I'm shocked at the free pass it gets from some people who would be shitting down throats if it was Belle and Sebastian.

Vintage Violence is better, isn't it.

[di Maio]

Minor voice of dissent here: I find it really too sweet for my tooth and very whimsical. I like it but I'm shocked at the free pass it gets from some people who would be shitting down throats if it was Belle and Sebastian.

But whimsical is ALL that Belle and Sebastian record. John Cale has recorded some MESSED UP STUFF!

[Leg of lamb]

Besides, my favourite lit-influenced Cale is actually the arrangement of 'Do Not Go Gentle' that he did. Here's a slightly naff one from the 80s, with a children's choir and all manner of foolishness. Nevertheless, lovely arrangement...



Eight years ago, my dad made a film about the Thomas poem and Cale did an absolutely fantastic unadorned performance for him - just him on the piano. I wish I could find it on youtube.

[mission]

Eight years ago, my dad made a film about the Thomas poem and Cale did an absolutely fantastic unadorned performance for him - just him on the piano. I wish I could find it on youtube.

Eight years ago my dad necked a whole heap of piss, whinged like a tit, smashed some shit up and blamed it all on "the silly fucking cunts who have no idea."

I feel we may be starting from different places.

Nevertheless, I would love to see this film. I wooed my wife by reading to her of the adventures of Mae Rose Cottage - seventeen and never kissed - and treasure the Caedmon LP I have of Dylan reading his more famous verse.

[Leg of lamb]

Eight years ago my dad necked a whole heap of piss, whinged like a tit, smashed some shit up and blamed it all on "the silly fucking cunts who have no idea."

I feel we may be starting from different places.

Nevertheless, I would love to see this film. I wooed my wife by reading to her of the adventures of Mae Rose Cottage - seventeen and never kissed - and treasure the Caedmon LP I have of Dylan reading his more famous verse.

Smooth shit! I wish I could see you in the right direction with the 'Do Not Go Gentle' film, but it was just an hour-long thing made for BBC 4 all those years ago. Quality stuff but unlikely to pop up very often.