What's Welsh for Zen: The Autobiography of John Cale (Paperback)

~ John Cale (Author), Victor Bockris (Author) "I was born on 9 March 1942 in Garnant, between Swansea and Carmarthen, South Wales..." (more)
Key Phrases: reunion tour, youth orchestra, New York, Velvet Underground, Lou Reed (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Cale's story is remarkable and unmatched in rock history." -- Melody Maker

"Painfully illuminating reading...Beautifully written and imaginatively designed." -- Wired

Product Description

John Cale has been a key figure in rock music for decades. Born in 1942 in a small Welsh mining village, he was playing classical piano on BBC radio at the age of eight, and by ten he had discovered rock and roll on Radio Luxembourg. He studied music at Goldsmith's College in London and in 1963 moved to New York City, under the tutelage of Aaron Copland. Cale was quickly drawn into the heart of the artistic avant-garde via Lamonte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music and Andy Warhol's Factory, and then, together with Lou Reed, founded one of the most influential rock bands of all time, the Velvet Underground. Having left the band in 1968 after disagreements with Reed, Cale has pursued his career as a solo pianist, record producer, and composer on the international rock circuit for decades.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 272 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (February 19, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582340684
• ISBN-13: 978-1582340685
• Product Dimensions: 11.7 x 8.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #696,837 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Artists Formerly Known As The Velvet Underground, February 29, 2000

By	Kent Rees (NYC, NY) - See all my reviews

This is a great read. John Cale has long been an underappreciated genius, and hopefully this book will amend that somewhat. The ancedotal nature is facinating, particularly the insight into how John developed his unique sound which he then applied to the Velvets.

But what impressed me the most was his personal candor and his willingness to treat his own life as an ongoing work in progress. He makes grandiose statements about the nature of his art, yes, but has the scars to back them up.

The layout of the book shows the same willingness to explore; it reminded me of a great Graphic Novel from the minds of Marvel Comics, starring the honest, misunderstood champion of Cale versus the flamboyant, angry, aggressive dark lord, Louis Reed.

Read this book, and know that the reason the Velvets became one of the most influential bands of all time is that they made Art that was greater than the sum of it's parts, for better or worse...and what wisdom that granted Cale is still being unraveled today.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of jealousy, drug use and entertaining candor, August 4, 2002

By	H. Neill Jameson (somers point, nj United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

After finishing this book in the wee hours of this morning I've come to the conclusion that Cale must be appreciated for his solitary genius in the fields of art and expression but also must be taken with a grain of salt. The entire book seems to be a thinly veiled attack at Lou Reed whom Cale seems overwhelmingly jealous of (thou others would tend to disgree) Plus it shows him as a very difficult individual to get along with (ie his many wives, his broken colaborative relationships with Reed and Brian Eno) I also found it amusing how he brought it other commentators only to attack Reed and make Cale out to be a saint. Overall this is a very well written book filled with sardonic wit and dry humor with an excellent view into the VU, The Factory days, and the progression of one man's struggles through himself and art. Cale is not blameless in his trangressions but I think he sees this...

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, February 20, 2000

By A Customer

As a Velvet Underground fan, as well as a huge fan of John Cale's solo work, I found this book to be an extraordinary read. The stories that he tells are fantastic, many of them nearly unbelievable. The stories behind some of my favorite songs were interesting, but I think that Mr. Cale has lead an interesting enough life, that even a non-fan would be intruiged. My only complaint is that it is brutally obvious that certain sections were written by Bockris (and poorly edited) because there are glaring errors (for example, the text refers to a title track on the album <i>Slow Dazzle</i>, which did not have a title track, and the back blurb--in the British version anyway--refers to Cale as a violinist, while any Cale fan can tell you plays the viola, not the violin).