European Son
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| “European Son” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Velvet Underground | ||
| Album | The Velvet Underground and Nico | |
| Released | March 1967 | |
| Recorded | April 1966, Scepter Studios, New York City | |
| Genre | Avant-garde rock and roll | |
| Length | 7:46 | |
| Label | Verve Records | |
| Composer | Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker | |
| Producer | Andy Warhol | |
| The Velvet Underground and Nico track listing | ||
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"European Son" is a song written and performed by the American rock and roll band The Velvet Underground. It appears as the final track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground and Nico. It's also the album's longest song at more than seven and a half minutes.
"European Son" is dedicated by the band to Delmore Schwartz, a literary mentor of singer Lou Reed's. Wanting to dedicate a song to Schwartz, "European Son" was chosen because it had the least amount of lyrics (rock-and-roll lyrics being something Schwartz abhorred).[1] The song is sometimes referred to as "European Son to Delmore Schwartz".[2]
The song could be seen as a precursor to the band's next album White Light/White Heat and certainly to the song "Sister Ray", a seventeen-minute-long rock improvisation.
[edit] Recording
The song begins with two stanzas of lyrics sung by Lou Reed, then a loud crash is heard (caused by John Cale hitting a stack of plates with a metal chair)[1] after the first minute or so. Afterward, the song becomes improvisational for six minutes. It makes particular use of distortion and feedback. The song's manner of dissonant ensemble improvisation can be compared to the free jazz of Ornette Coleman and Albert Ayler.
[edit] Trivia
A slowdowned version of the songs bassline appears on Moby Octopad by Yo La Tengo
[edit] References
- ^ a b Harvard, Joe [2004] (2007). The Velvet Underground and Nico, 33⅓. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group, 132 / 136. ISBN 0-8264-1550-4.
- ^ (2005) in Clinton Heylin: All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966-1971, first edition, United States: De Capo Press, 200, 251. ISBN 0-306-81477-3.
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