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Desert Island Discs on 6 Music: John Cale

John Cale

02/06/2011

BBC Radio 6 Music - Desert Island Discs on 6 Music, John Cale

Sue Lawley's castaway is Velvet Underground founder John Cale.

Sue Lawley's castaway is founder of Velvet Underground John Cale. 

John Cale was brought up in a strict South Wales household. His maternal grandmother insisted that Welsh was the only language to be spoken in the house even though his father spoke only English. His childhood was solitary - he was an only child and his mother encouraged him to spend hours each day practising his piano playing, and he later took up the viola. He went on to have viola lessons at the Royal Academy of Music while also studying music at Goldsmiths' Teacher Training College in London. 

He was talent-spotted by Aaron Copland and awarded a musical scholarship to study in America, where he was part of the contemporary avant-garde music scene there, working with John Cage and LaMonte Young, until he met Lou Reed and the two formed Velvet Underground. Their first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, remains their best known. Andy Warhol is credited as producer, it features Nico on vocals and the cover is the famous Warhol banana. He went on to produce some of the most influential artists of the time and has made New York his home - although Wales continues to exert some draw over him. He continues to write music and tour.

Cale's favourite track is She Belongs To Me by Bob Dylan and his luxury is a coffee machine with coffee beans.

First broadcast 2004. Produced by Leanne Buckle.

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