JOHN CALE – SLOW DAZZLE LP – Nr MINT/EXC+ A1 UK 1975 VELVET UNDERGROUND

John Cale – Slow Dazzle
(Island Records  1975  ILPS9317)
Matrix No’s: A1/B4 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Very Good condition
– wear to corners/edges & ringwear
Inner Sleeve has a 3 inch split in the bottom

Vinyl in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality apart from some light pops/crackles)

John Davies Cale, OBE (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his five-decade career, Cale has worked in various styles across rock, drone, classical, avant-garde and electronic music.

He studied music at Goldsmiths College, University of London, before relocating to New York City’s downtown music scene in 1963, where he performed as part of the Theatre of Eternal Music and formed the Velvet Underground. Since leaving the band in 1968, Cale has released 16 solo studio albums, including the widely acclaimed Music for a New Society. Cale has also acquired a reputation as an adventurous producer, working on the debut albums of several innovative artists, including the Stooges and Patti Smith.

Slow Dazzle is the fifth solo studio album by Welsh musician John Cale, released on 25 March 1975, his second album for record label Island.

“Mr. Wilson” is about seminal American musician Brian Wilson; the Beach Boys founding member has been a strong influence on Cale’s work over the years. The song reflects the strong, divisive personal struggles in Wilson’s life. The music’s tone fluctuates from paranoid and unhappy to warm and pleasant moment by moment.

“Heartbreak Hotel” is a cover of the Elvis Presley song (written by Mae Boren Axton and Tommy Durden) with fundamental elements of the track changed such the singing taking in “chilling” screams and dark synthesizer elements added to the background.

The track “Guts” opens with the line “The bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife”. This refers to rock musician Kevin Ayers sleeping with Cale’s wife before the concert that’s captured on the June 1, 1974 album; John Cale related the details in his autobiography, with Victor Bockris, What’s Welsh for Zen, that was published in 1998.

“The Jeweler” is a spoken word piece under an instrumental backdrop that recalls, at least in its poetic and freeform structure, the track “The Gift” from the Velvet Underground’s album White Light/White Heat. While Cale speaks in a calm, monotone voice, “The Jeweler” features a drone-like set of unsettling sounds that appear to build and build without reaching a conclusion. The non-vocal side of the track is somewhat reminiscent of contemporary 1970s-era horror film scoring.

Track 2, “Taking It All Away”, was misprinted on all Island Record CD releases of the album as “Talking It All Away”.

The cover photography was by Keith Morris. It is also the second consecutive album to feature both Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music.

Track listing

All tracks composed by John Cale, except where indicated.

Side A

1. “Mr. Wilson” – 3:17
2. “Taking It All Away” – 2:59
3. “Dirty-Ass Rock ‘n’ Roll” – 4:44
4. “Darling I Need You” – 3:38
5. “Rollaroll” – 3:59

Side B

6. “Heartbreak Hotel” (Mae Boren Axton, Tommy Durden, Elvis Presley) – 3:14
7. “Ski Patrol” – 2:12
8. “I’m Not the Loving Kind” – 3:12
9. “Guts” – 3:27
10. “The Jeweller” – 5:07

Personnel

• John Cale – piano, organ, clavinet, vocals, production, cover, writing
• Gerry Conway – drums
• Pat Donaldson – bass
• Timi Donald – drums
• Brian Eno – synthesizer
• Phil Manzanera – guitar
• Geoff Muldaur – harmony vocals on “Guts” and “Darling I Need You”
• Chris Spedding – guitar
• Chris Thomas – violin, electric piano

Technical

• John Wood – executive producer
• A. Secunda executive producer on “Heartbreak Hotel”
• Vic Gamm, John Wood – engineers
• Michael Wade – design
• Keith Morris – photography