Maps of Music

Squeeze (1972)

Where the lyrics of Squeeze take you, and where it was really made.

The album is credited to the Velvet Underground, but Doug Yule was the only band member who performed on it.

Key places

Recorded in London, autumn 1972 (1972)

Recording site Wild Bunch Studios (London) — The album was recorded in London in the fall of 1972, with help from Ian Paice of Deep Purple on drums. The point is set at city level. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Squeeze: fifth and final studio album by the Velvet Underground
• Released February 1973 by Polydor Records
• Recorded in autumn 1972; Doug Yule was the only remaining member
• Yule wrote and recorded the album almost entirely by himself
• Eleven songs, all written by Yule
• Released nominally as a Velvet Underground album

Background

• Yule joined in October 1968, replacing founding member John Cale
• He contributed vocals and all bass and organ duties to the third album
• Lou Reed left in August 1970, before Loaded was released
• Sterling Morrison left in August 1971, after a show in Austin, Texas
• Maureen Tucker, the longtime drummer, was dismissed by manager Steve Sesnick
• The band toured the UK and the Netherlands in October and November 1971 to support Loaded
• Atlantic issued the 1970 archive recording Live at Max's Kansas City instead of a second new album
• Sesnick secured a deal with Polydor UK and sent Willie Alexander, Walter Powers and Tucker back to the United States

Recording

• Yule performed nearly all parts, with Ian Paice of Deep Purple on drums
• Occasional saxophone and backing vocals were added
• Recording took place in London in autumn 1972

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in New York City in 1964; took the name The Velvet Underground in November 1965, from a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior.
• Classic lineup: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker.
• Andy Warhol became the band's manager in 1966 and they were the house band at The Factory.

Members

• Lou Reed (singer, guitarist) and John Cale (multi-instrumentalist, Welsh) were the core partnership.
• Sterling Morrison (guitar) and Moe Tucker (drums) completed the classic four-piece.
• Doug Yule replaced Cale in 1968 and later led the band's final lineups.

Career

• Performed with Warhol's multimedia show Exploding Plastic Inevitable from 1966 to 1967.
• Debut The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) sold poorly at release but is now widely hailed as one of the greatest albums.
• Ranked 19th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Nick Logan of the New Musical Express dismissed the record as a "Velvets-in-name-only album"
• The album did not chart and fell into obscurity soon after release

Reappraisal

• David Fricke's liner notes for Peel Slowly and See dismissed it as "an embarrassment to the VU discography"
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that it co-opts the band's achievement but is listenable
• Classic Rock ranked it 28th in its 50 Worst Albums of All Time list in March 2012
• Steven Shehori, writing for The Huffington Post in 2011, called it a quintessential listening experience once separated from its back-story
• Chris Difford of Squeeze said the band's name came from the album title and that he enjoys it in retrospect

Records

• No singles were released from the album
• The album did not chart
• Re-issued in France during the 1970s and early 1980s
• Kismet Records released a CD and new LP in 2012, not officially licensed from Polydor
• Luna covered "Friends" on A Sentimental Education, released September 2017

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Ian Paice of Deep Purple played drums on the album
• Yule later said recording with a single guitar or piano was dead compared with a group playing together
• Maureen Tucker was reportedly not involved in recording, apparently for cost-cutting reasons
• Chris Difford of Squeeze said the British band took its name from this album's title
• Luna's 2017 covers album included a version of "Friends"

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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