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Robin Lynam

John Cale

Paris 1919

(Rhino)

Certainly the most durable of John Cale's early solo offerings, Paris 1919 wasn't exactly what most people were expecting from him.

Conspicuously absent were the clanging guitars and screeching viola of the Velvet Underground, and the pop melodies seemed

to have little to do with the contemporary classical work on which he had mostly focused since leaving that seminal band.

This collection of pop-rock tunes is accessible almost to the point

at which it could be described as easy listening.

The melodies were probably intended to provide an ironic contrast to the lyrics, which, conversely, are obscure to the point of incomprehensibility, dark and bright by turns, and densely literary in their allusions.

The opening track takes its title from Dylan Thomas, the album's standout rocker is called Macbeth, and another has a character 'having tea with Graham Greene'.

Cale had paid attention to George Martin as well as Terry Riley, which shows in the contributions  of the strings, and had engaged the services of crack session players.

Other previously unissued alternative takes presented here offer a more interesting contrast to the versions on the original release than is often the case, particularly  a gentler, organ-led version of  A Child's Christmas in Wales.

Every track from the original album appears here twice (Macbeth thrice) in somewhat different guises, and one song from the sessions, Burned Out Affair, makes its first appearance on this disc.

A likeable album with sinister undertones, it deserves this respectful and illuminating reissue.



FROM THE VAULT: 1973