John Cale
November 27, 2005
Open Letter to Amoeba Records:
Dear Amoeba,
Thanks so much for having free shows. I especially want to thank
you for having John Cale perform on Saturday November 26th. I would have gone to see his show at the Cafe DuNord, but the tickets
were $20. I would have gladly paid that steep price for such a
legend as Mr. Cale whom I have admired since his days witht he Velvet
Underground, his production work on Nick Drake’s albums and for Cale’s
Paris 1919 record, which I feel is his best solo work. Oh yeah, the
stuff he did with Nico was awesome too.
Even though I know the 5 songs Mr. Cale performed at your wonderfully
huge record store were done for the benefit of his new release black Acetate, I couldn’t help but think that I had seen enough.
Sure I could have heard him play the beautful tune Andalucia, but I’m
not sure it would have satisfied me. You see, I can’t stand his
new song Perfect. Did EMI put a gun to Cale’s head for him to record
this? I hope they did because the song truly stinks and worst of all, he made a video, a really silly video.
I still love Cale and what he has contributed to musicians like myself
that have been influenced by his authentic approach to the artistry of
composition, but is it true that artists can only create one really
good piece while the rest of their life’s work is only an attempt to
recapture their past glory?
Sincerely,
4F
