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Classic Rock AUGUST 2024 - by Everett True

JOHN CALE: REISSUES

Former Velvets man's first three solo ventures, with mixed results.

During the mid-'70s, post-Velvet Underground, John Cale occupied a strange middle ground somewhere between the beautiful folk psychedelia of the Canterbury scene, the warped esoteric humour of Kevin Coyne, and the all-out sonic attack of the Velvets themselves... with some Eno thrown in, of course.

Ship Of Fools combines Cale's three albums released on Island Records between October '74 and November '75. Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen Of Troy are, in the main, dazzling. As Let It Rock rightly said about Fear, "at least five songs on this album stand equal to the best songs of the '70s". Cale may have been less fêted than some of his contemporaries, but his direct, subtly nuanced approach to songwriting, and his gorgeous Welsh-American accent, are near unparalleled - the equal to Kevin Ayers or Brian Eno's debut album Here Come The Warm Jets, perhaps, but few else.

Eno was a major presence on Fear, as was fellow 'executive producer' Phil Manzanera. The pair contribute a stunning two-man experimental guitar solo on the pulsating Gun, and helped keep Cale away from the booze and coke. Emily, meanwhile, is a sweet, gospel-tinged minimal ballad with a white-noise synth solo from Eno. Richard Thompson also contributes.

Follow-up Slow Dazzle is rockier, more conventional (Dirty Ass Rock'n'Roll, as one song title puts it), but with enough moments to set the music apart. The cover of Elvis's Heartbreak Hotel sounds nothing like. Guts opens with the line: 'The bugger in the short sleeves fucked my wife.' Mr Wilson is dedicated to Beach Boy Brian Wilson, and supplies a pastiche of his signature vocal harmonies. Despite the presence of the chilling The Jeweller, however, where Cale speaks in a monotone over washes of sound, this album is a disappointment next to its predecessor. As journalist Richard Williams put it, some of the songs could have been on an Elton John album. Not that there's anything wrong with Reg, of course.

Helen Of Troy is similarly flawed. Finished in three days after Cale had just finished producing Patti Smith's Horses, and featuring an inspired version of Pablo Picasso, released before The Modern Lovers' version (Cale also produced their debut album), it has its moments - a deranged Leaving It Up To You, for one - but falls down on more codified songs (Mary Lou, the title track).

The Island Records albums are being reissued as a three-CD box set, plus seven bonus tracks. Fear is being reissued alone on beautiful 180g vinyl. Maybe best to purchase both.