I searched long and hard for a video where someone says his name and couldn't find anything, so I just went with my gut. But yes my pronounciation of his name may be incorrect.
@@avidodd26The guy who made the video? Which he showed by gracefully thanking the viewer for pointing it out..constructive criticism is helpful in most cases. Just because you're a nihilist doesn't mean everyone else is. 😜(not an insult btw)
One thing omitted regarding Angus MacLise's brief return to drum at a gig when Reed had hepatitis, was that while they were jamming in rehearsal, the basic instrumental structure for what would become 'Sister Ray' came together. (This is from the booklet that came with the Velvet Underground boxset from 1995.)
In 1977 Angus and Hetty were in London, where they contributed to International Times. I was the music editor and worked next to them, writing about the new 'punk' scene, which Angus seemed to like the idea of. I had no idea of his background. Quiet, charming, and gracious.
Thanks so much for this video. I’m 62 and have loved the Velvets since I was 15, but I’ve never heard of this fascinating man and his involvement in the band. This has brightened my day!
I'm a bit older, but was 'punk' as possible from around '70 to '79. First, the 'Detroit Sound', and then the Velvets and Lou Reed, were my intro and mainstays, and hold a permanent place in my heart. :)
Great video! You mention Tony Conrad as "a friend of John Cale" which is true - but also, Tony Conrad was a member of The Theater of Eternal Music (also sometimes known as "The Dream Syndicate," but not to be confused with another, later band of the same name) and was really as much of a creative visionary in that group as La Monte Young. He went on to make great music with the German group Faust and also many other musical projects over the decades. A brilliant, terribly underrated artist who passed away in 2016.
In the early 1970s I studied with Tony Conrad at the University of Buffalo Media Studies "wing". He was on-loan from Antioch, University of Ohio at Yellow Springs. At the time, he was "exploring" what he called "The Flicker Effect": the rapid alternation of black-and-white "Pattern Geometries" on film -- an "interesting field", figure-ground experiment which; ancillary to its espoused intention; could provoke epileptic-like seizures in a small percentage of the test subjects. Ultimately VERY interesting ...and dangerous. I had more than one conversation with Tony -- always a challenge -- wherein we discussed Film as an Art form and, variously, the Fate of the Revolution -- Mercurial, to say the least, and patently unique to his Person/Persona. His influence resonated, and continues to resonate sympathetically in my Art -- the Hallmark of a true Artist and instructor. ✋
@@GAMakin That relates to a discussion on Art that I came across a while ago. It was in relation to Voice of Fire, a very large and very expensive painting that had been purchased by the Canadian federal government. It’s 5.4 metres (18 feet) tall and 2.4 metres (about 8 feet) wide. It was originally commissioned for the 1967 Centennial celebrations. Since it’s an abstract painting consisting of 3 vertical stripes, it was bound to cause some controversy. The stripes are of equal width. The centre vertical stripe is red, while the two outer stripes are black. Two people were discussing the painting, with the usual “Is this Art?” topic. One person was an artist. He explained that No, what’s hanging on the wall is not the Art. The Art is in the viewer’s head. The piece hanging on the wall is the ignitor. When the viewer looks at it, if the Art is effective, it opens the mind to many possibilities. It’s unlikely to produce this effect after a single glance, unless it’s a “fast discharge” type. Many works of art are “slow discharge”, which require a little (or a lot of, or repeated) time to produce their effects/work their magic. One is not better than the other. Both types are equally valid, but the slow discharge type requires you to spend some time with the piece, maybe looking contemplative all the while. Yes, everything that requires looking at can produce Posers, who may be more interested in looking cool than in understanding what the Artist is or was trying to say. Take your time, see if the piece seems to be saying something to you. Maybe you’ll learn something, maybe you won’t. Sometimes the effort is the important part.
Conrad's "Four Violins" opened the door to that species of drone-y music for me. At first, i thought it was obnoxious, then, somehow, i was able to discern the harmonic overtone series and the millions of potential melodies cracked open. Each tone is actually an expanse of tones (fundamental, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) multiplied by 4, gives you a lot of harmonic and melodic material to "choose your own [melodic] adventure."
Angus MacLise reminds me a lot of Syd Barrett of early Pink Floyd fame minus the psychosis. Both were enigmatic founders of highly influential avant-garde experimental rock groups. Perfectly understandable why the Velvet Underground couldn't continue as a band with MacLise even with his unique style of 'genius'. Same eventual fate as Syd. Very sad and unfortunate but such were the stories of more than a few notable individuals in the musical arts during the '60s..
I thought about that as well. I would argue that Syd Barrett was the nucleus around wich the rest of the band orbited and after he left they became a totally different (and arguably worse) band. I don’t think Angus MacLise was playing that role for the Velvets, although it is tempting to imagine the trajectory the band would have taken if he never left.
He's wearing a スカジャン(Yokosuka Jumper) in that first picture! It was a common souvenir a lot of GI's stationed in Japan had made on their way home from the War.
He isn’t forgotten as NY avant garde composer. His brief tenure as the Velvet memeber is rather obscure though. There are still die hard followers, who are into 60s minimalism. Coil dedicated their album to MacLise. The sad part is that Poor Richard’s gig with him is the bad audience recording and insufferable La Monte didn’t allow to release the performances with MacLise.
Moe Tucker got pregnant so they brought in a session drummer, but he played in time and then they realised Moe Tuckers unique quirky beat couldn’t be replicated, that’s my velvet knowledge, signing out.
Great video! ❤ I knew this guy's name because I adore the band's music, but I never read into it as much as I would like to, to be honest, so big thank you for narrating the story. Also, thanks for mentioning the Bardo Matrix, because it also seemed like a somewhat familiar name, so I checked, and it took me on an hour-long internet rabbit hole tour, because I liked the art so much 🙃 Those people and times are something truly unique. Nice job, seriously ❤
Thank you , as a young man , in the 1980s , The velvet underground and Nico album haunted me with its otherworldly sound , today , it still stands the test of time , i was able to hear what heroin sounds like ............
I was in icu, where I came out with a near death experience. I came out thinking I knew it all.. Then I saw this video. I was hospitalized in Chicago...
Thanks for this...Excellent. It must take unbelievable courage and integrity to try to live life being guided so strongly by spiritual enquiry and such unconventional beliefs. It is reassuring and beautiful to me that these "soul warriors" exist and thrive enough to create and sometimes seed the world with ideas and art. Thanks again for a wonderful story told wonderfully.
Though if we want to be serious about these things rather than immature, self-indulgent dilettantes, spiritual integrity intrinsically involves not being a drug addict. Spiritual integrity involves having the discipline to deny oneself things harmful to oneself and one’s spiritual integrity! And that of course goes for all of us in our lives!
@stalkek I get what you mean and liked your comment. But I disagree entirely. I didn't know this person, or have much additional context beyond what I learned in the video. But from what I did gather, it would seem that he evolved and maintained certain personal spiritual and moral convictions and ethics over an extended period of time, and (apparently) in defiance of difficult opposition and in stead of the comfort and convenience of popular cultural convention and potential financial and material reward... To me, those are some of the defining characteristics of integrity. I think I understand your point that drug addiction and spiritual enlightenment are incompatible. I presume this follows from the belief that anyone so ignorant, selfish and/or confused, so chemically-altered and addled, and so basically self-unaware, etc., can't build or maintain spiritual integrity. Hey, you're probably right... Buuuuut I wouldn't be quick to ascribe a general rule like that (or, hell, ANY kind of rule, for that matter) to something as complex and so individual and so deeply personal as this. Personally, for me, I find the damn thing difficult enough to investigate, analyze, describe, and potentially attain -- even just for me, let alone talking about anybody else -- that I find it kind of arbitrary and maybe useless to try to pin down what is a mostly shifting target. But thanks for your considered reply. I respect your point of view.
I would think a person who is well balanced in all things regarding life and our world, can take drugs that are part of this world. If I walk in a garden and take a poppy pod to chew on, then I do not automatically become excluded from being good to myself and others. My perception of me stays the same, only the ignorant persons around me change their views. If a person is happy taking drugs and dying at 40, let them. As long as they dont hurt others in the process. If for me, or you, living til 40 seems too short, we might need to make some decisions other ways.
Thanks for your efforts🦝🌘🪄 Fantastic video. Subscribed. Greetings from the UK. Angus exemplified the purist "starving artist" archetype. They are thin on the ground in these harder times...most people are not very focused on developing their art/ writing/ music , more on marketing their " brand" ... But it is possible( even in 2023) to not care much about marketing/ popularity and live as a starving artist with only a few people in the world who " get" what you do... I believe we are out there still,..but few were as extreme as Angus. His poverty contributed to his early death.. If only he had a bit more of a comfortable living situation he could have been creating for many more years . I treasure the few recordings I've heard by Angus ." invasion of the thunder bolt pagoda" might still be up on YT.
Love hearing these little side stories that the basic docs don't mention. After watching this I thought, "nice work, I should subscribe", only to realize I was already subscribed. XD
I would take it back even further and call La Monte Young the forgotten founder of the VU. That's where MacLise, Cale, and the whole early drone sound came from. Brian Eno called him "the daddy of us all." He's the greatest unknown classical minimalist composer of all time.
But then John Cale also studied and worked under the guidance of John Cage and Yannis Xenskis and tranfered the techniques and ideas he learned there and combined them all into the Velvets sound. So it's not all about LaMonte.
Thanks for the New York Electronic, 1965 link. Perfect for a Covid Fever. If I focus on this strangeness hard enough I think I might destroy reality ... possibly.
I consider the whole Fluxus scene to be the origin of western drone and ambient music, however I had no idea about Angus and his connection with the velvets!
I was born exactly 20 years to the day after him March 14, 1958. I've been in rock bands my entire life. Currently perform as Paul McCartney in a Beatles Tribute, yet, just like Angus, until this moment, none of you have heard of me. Coincidence...I think not ( smile )
It’s popular knowledge that Lou heard Sterling jamming out, liked what he heard, and said let’s jam together. Now the name might not have been hashed out or the sound, Tho I suspect Lou had written a handful of what would become VU songs. Those Demo recordings where Lou is purposely sounding like Bob Dylan are solely to get gigs, at least that’s what I’m gonna believe unless I hear facts that dispute that. Then came John Cale another musical genius in his own right and Moe Tucker to create that so original and integral VU stomp. That unchanging beat was hypnotic and along with Cales’ viola drone and Lou’s one chord strum VU opened the door to Phaserock. I’ve heard about this 5th VU member, but he didn’t make it to the wax and even tho Nico did I don’t consider either a founding member. That’s not to say he didn’t add anything and Nico did some excellent solo work. When it’s comes down to brass tacks the founding sound that we all know as the VU is Lou, Sterling, Cale, and Tucker.
Thank you for the deep dive! This was excellent. I was somewhat familiar with him because he's one of those names that always pops up when reading about the history of the group, but I knew nothing about his life and what he went on to do. The high praise from La Monte Young makes me want to go check out some of his music.
"In the bottom left we have John Cale looking like Anton from No Country For Old Men" 😂😂😂 John Cale was the real source for their sinister and menacing sound on their first two seminal albums. Remember, his father was a coal miner and he transfered those endlessly deep abysses of the black mines, which threaten to suck you in and burry you forever, into noise and sound.
I'm not really a big fan of the Velvet Underground, but this video was freakin' fantastic. Very interesting from beginning to end and a piece of music history I had no idea about. You gained yourself another sub. Looking forward to more great content from you.
I met Hedi, his wife/partner after the Velvet Underground years later at a Buddhist Center in Colorado. The son you spoke of was living in Crestone Colorado at the time at a billionaire´s spread. . Her other son, Jason, raised by Pigpen of the Grateful Dead was with her. at the center: He was nothing but trouble and got kicked out. Hedi was a trip.
I recognise the name from years back, from the La Monte Young et al "Dream Syndicate" project and perhaps in relation to Velvet Underground as well, but I don't think I ever knew anything more about him. Thanks for the video. P.S. are you Polish? Your pronunciation is good, of course, I'm just guessing out of curiosity.
Yeah, he was just another one of those names you hear tossed around and you never hear nothing about them besides a short mention in random articles. It's always fun to go digging for info on these people, especially when they live interesting lives like MacLise. I'm the one who has to be thankful for the view and the comment! Naaa I'm Portuguese. Thanks for the compliment! It's hard trying to record in another language, so I'm glad people can understand me well.
@@joefikifiki Ah, Portuguese -- Polish was pretty wide of the mark then, haha. I'm Norwegian, so I have a bit of an accent myself. Anyway, yeah, it never really occurred to me to go looking deeper, so it was cool to see it summed up here. Cheers man.
Cool, I am American but have Portuguese heritage from both my parents along with a couple of other nationalities. Makes me even happier I subbed awhile back.
Just discovered your channel... great stuff. Looking forward to watching your other videos. Quick Question: Are you also known as Living Ironically in Europe?
Very interesting. I've known a lot and I mean a LOT of hipsters over the years and yet can't recall ever hearing about this guy. You've seemingly overturned the last stone on the road that lead to '60's counter culture. But I bet there is another one somewhere.
the 1960's were a unique time, a young subculture crossover from the disillusionment of the 1950's and beatniks to the natural world of the hippy movement of the 1960's. always with an artistic and environmental theme and element... it wasn't unusual for young people to see the world, travel continents with very little money, many places and communities open to young people living on the cheap. you could live in huts on beaches, fishing towns, or in places like greenwhich village were many like outcasts and unconventional people liked to share their experiences, travel was hitchhiking, buses, being a stowaway, riding the rail, whatever it took, it was readily available. it started to change in the 1970's when this lifestyle was heavily mocked by the press. "dirty hippy" became a common phrase, "welfare queen", working people were characterized as lazy and paid too much... and then the move away from a working-class economy to an investor class economy. the 1980's reagan revolution ended the 1960's carefree innocence. the new deal was being gutted, systemic racism was shifting, the working class was being gutted with union busting by corporate politicians... by the end of the 1980's corporations and capitalism had a stranglehold on america, commodifying everything, the next generation growing up on a commercialism pounded into them by the corporate boob tube machine. it wasn't long before profiteers marveled at how kids cared about what sweatshop brand they were wearing, and being mugged and killed for their expensive tennis shoes.
Art and business are seldom compatible. Angus made art. Business went about the business of staying in business. Warhol and Reed were very good businessmen. It just couldn't last.
What a lot of people don't get, being in a band is hard. It's work. So you go try to find 4 guys who are professionals and also artists. Dreamers who can create something new and special and they're punctual and ready to rehearse. Then they also have to be able to get along with towering egos. I get why some people might laugh at personalities like Jim Morrison but people like him make great frontmen. So you're looking for a shy withdrawn, egotistical extrovert who's a pure artist and also a professional. You're basically looking for a contradiction. Not that they don't exist. They do but you don't meet one every day.
As someone who's taken refuge with the Karma and Shangpa Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism, same school as Ossian though I understand he could be Dakpo Kagyu which is older than Karma and the Karmapa title itself. Which was born from Gompopa who was the sole patriarch after Milarepa. Ossian was recognised by the Rangjung Rigpe Dorje the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa the head of the Karma Kagyu School or one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as the reincarnation of Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's speech. I guess he eventually came back to the states, gave up Tibetan buddhism for Shivaism (at least somewhat as many people in Nepal combine Hinduism and Buddhism) and as of 2016 lives in a trailer in Colorado. Anyway, cool video. There's so many interesting people from back in the young boomer days. Kinda wish they didn't all turn into yuppies in the 80's because of Chicago school Neo liberalism that has destroyed the US economy for the working class, but I digress.
I don't think it's quite accurate to call MacLise a "founder" of VU - he was barely involved - but he was a huge part of the early/mid 1960s NYC scene and his stuff with the Theater of Eternal Music, and his solo stuff is great. VU really needed a more conventional rock drummer who would keep time - Mo Tucker was perfect.
Reminds of Peter Green & FMac - formed the band then gave it to them; didn't care about $$ either... they were listening to other voices who didn't care about their future.
I'm almost positive his name is pronounced Mac-Leese.
I searched long and hard for a video where someone says his name and couldn't find anything, so I just went with my gut. But yes my pronounciation of his name may be incorrect.
In Scotland we tend to say it as “Macleesh” (indistinguishable from MacLeish).
literally who cares?
@@avidodd26The guy who made the video? Which he showed by gracefully thanking the viewer for pointing it out..constructive criticism is helpful in most cases. Just because you're a nihilist doesn't mean everyone else is. 😜(not an insult btw)
@@avidodd26I do, wiseass!
One thing omitted regarding Angus MacLise's brief return to drum at a gig when Reed had hepatitis, was that while they were jamming in rehearsal, the basic instrumental structure for what would become 'Sister Ray' came together. (This is from the booklet that came with the Velvet Underground boxset from 1995.)
I didn't know that, that's a very interesting detail indeed!
That is a very interesting box set.
I didn't know that either. Excellent info.
yep, there are bootlegs in existence with maclise playing drums and cale on vocals while lou was laid up with hepatitis
Don't forget that Moe Tucker switched to rhythm guitar while Sterling played lead at that time.
In 1977 Angus and Hetty were in London, where they contributed to International Times. I was the music editor and worked next to them, writing about the new 'punk' scene, which Angus seemed to like the idea of. I had no idea of his background. Quiet, charming, and gracious.
Thanks so much for this video. I’m 62 and have loved the Velvets since I was 15, but I’ve never heard of this fascinating man and his involvement in the band. This has brightened my day!
I'm a bit older, but was 'punk' as possible from around '70 to '79. First, the 'Detroit Sound', and then the Velvets and Lou Reed, were my intro and mainstays, and hold a permanent place in my heart. :)
Great video! You mention Tony Conrad as "a friend of John Cale" which is true - but also, Tony Conrad was a member of The Theater of Eternal Music (also sometimes known as "The Dream Syndicate," but not to be confused with another, later band of the same name) and was really as much of a creative visionary in that group as La Monte Young. He went on to make great music with the German group Faust and also many other musical projects over the decades. A brilliant, terribly underrated artist who passed away in 2016.
"Outside the Dream Syndicate" is a fucking masterpiece!
I was fortunate enough to witness the 1995 revisiting of Outside The Dream Syndicate. It was awesome!
th-cam.com/video/Aav9yXcSyuo/w-d-xo.html
In the early 1970s I studied with Tony Conrad at the University of Buffalo Media Studies "wing". He was on-loan from Antioch, University of Ohio at Yellow Springs.
At the time, he was "exploring" what he called "The Flicker Effect": the rapid alternation of black-and-white "Pattern Geometries" on film -- an "interesting field", figure-ground experiment which; ancillary to its espoused intention; could provoke epileptic-like seizures in a small percentage of the test subjects. Ultimately VERY interesting ...and dangerous.
I had more than one conversation with Tony -- always a challenge -- wherein we discussed Film as an Art form and, variously, the Fate of the Revolution -- Mercurial, to say the least, and patently unique to his Person/Persona.
His influence resonated, and continues to resonate sympathetically in my Art -- the Hallmark of a true Artist and instructor.
✋
@@GAMakin
That relates to a discussion on Art that I came across a while ago. It was in relation to Voice of Fire, a very large and very expensive painting that had been purchased by the Canadian federal government. It’s 5.4 metres (18 feet) tall and 2.4 metres (about 8 feet) wide. It was originally commissioned for the 1967 Centennial celebrations. Since it’s an abstract painting consisting of 3 vertical stripes, it was bound to cause some controversy. The stripes are of equal width. The centre vertical stripe is red, while the two outer stripes are black. Two people were discussing the painting, with the usual “Is this Art?” topic.
One person was an artist. He explained that No, what’s hanging on the wall is not the Art. The Art is in the viewer’s head. The piece hanging on the wall is the ignitor. When the viewer looks at it, if the Art is effective, it opens the mind to many possibilities. It’s unlikely to produce this effect after a single glance, unless it’s a “fast discharge” type. Many works of art are “slow discharge”, which require a little (or a lot of, or repeated) time to produce their effects/work their magic. One is not better than the other. Both types are equally valid, but the slow discharge type requires you to spend some time with the piece, maybe looking contemplative all the while. Yes, everything that requires looking at can produce Posers, who may be more interested in looking cool than in understanding what the Artist is or was trying to say. Take your time, see if the piece seems to be saying something to you. Maybe you’ll learn something, maybe you won’t. Sometimes the effort is the important part.
Conrad's "Four Violins" opened the door to that species of drone-y music for me. At first, i thought it was obnoxious, then, somehow, i was able to discern the harmonic overtone series and the millions of potential melodies cracked open. Each tone is actually an expanse of tones (fundamental, 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc.) multiplied by 4, gives you a lot of harmonic and melodic material to "choose your own [melodic] adventure."
Angus MacLise reminds me a lot of Syd Barrett of early Pink Floyd fame minus the psychosis. Both were enigmatic founders of highly influential avant-garde experimental rock groups. Perfectly understandable why the Velvet Underground couldn't continue as a band with MacLise even with his unique style of 'genius'. Same eventual fate as Syd. Very sad and unfortunate but such were the stories of more than a few notable individuals in the musical arts during the '60s..
I thought about that as well. I would argue that Syd Barrett was the nucleus around wich the rest of the band orbited and after he left they became a totally different (and arguably worse) band. I don’t think Angus MacLise was playing that role for the Velvets, although it is tempting to imagine the trajectory the band would have taken if he never left.
Lou Reed’s description of him betrayed none of his usual malice.
I was thinking the same thing!
A chapter of the VU I didn't know. Thank you for the video and bringing Angus MacLise into the light.
He's wearing a スカジャン(Yokosuka Jumper) in that first picture! It was a common souvenir a lot of GI's stationed in Japan had made on their way home from the War.
Thank you Joe for this very interesting clip. It's the first time I've heard about Angus MacLise.
He isn’t forgotten as NY avant garde composer. His brief tenure as the Velvet memeber is rather obscure though. There are still die hard followers, who are into 60s minimalism. Coil dedicated their album to MacLise. The sad part is that Poor Richard’s gig with him is the bad audience recording and insufferable La Monte didn’t allow to release the performances with MacLise.
Which coil album is it
@@finnishere3021 Astral Disaster
Moe Tucker got pregnant so they brought in a session drummer, but he played in time and then they realised Moe Tuckers unique quirky beat couldn’t be replicated, that’s my velvet knowledge, signing out.
Great video! ❤ I knew this guy's name because I adore the band's music, but I never read into it as much as I would like to, to be honest, so big thank you for narrating the story. Also, thanks for mentioning the Bardo Matrix, because it also seemed like a somewhat familiar name, so I checked, and it took me on an hour-long internet rabbit hole tour, because I liked the art so much 🙃 Those people and times are something truly unique. Nice job, seriously ❤
Thank you so much for the kind words! 🙂 I'm glad my video made you go digging for more info on that scene!
Wow.! Thanx 4 uncovering that "side-note" in history. I'm a fan of anything "Velvet Underground" & pre-punk history.
Thank you , as a young man , in the 1980s , The velvet underground and Nico album haunted me with its otherworldly sound , today , it still stands the test of time , i was able to hear what heroin sounds like ............
I would IMAGINE that heroin sounds much more like The Stranglers' "Golden brown".
I was in icu, where I came out with a near death experience.
I came out thinking I knew it all..
Then I saw this video.
I was hospitalized in Chicago...
It is rumoured that McLise became the 6th Beatle in 1972.
Thanks for this...Excellent. It must take unbelievable courage and integrity to try to live life being guided so strongly by spiritual enquiry and such unconventional beliefs. It is reassuring and beautiful to me that these "soul warriors" exist and thrive enough to create and sometimes seed the world with ideas and art. Thanks again for a wonderful story told wonderfully.
Though if we want to be serious about these things rather than immature, self-indulgent dilettantes, spiritual integrity intrinsically involves not being a drug addict. Spiritual integrity involves having the discipline to deny oneself things harmful to oneself and one’s spiritual integrity! And that of course goes for all of us in our lives!
@stalkek I get what you mean and liked your comment. But I disagree entirely.
I didn't know this person, or have much additional context beyond what I learned in the video. But from what I did gather, it would seem that he evolved and maintained certain personal spiritual and moral convictions and ethics over an extended period of time, and (apparently) in defiance of difficult opposition and in stead of the comfort and convenience of popular cultural convention and potential financial and material reward... To me, those are some of the defining characteristics of integrity.
I think I understand your point that drug addiction and spiritual enlightenment are incompatible. I presume this follows from the belief that anyone so ignorant, selfish and/or confused, so chemically-altered and addled, and so basically self-unaware, etc., can't build or maintain spiritual integrity. Hey, you're probably right...
Buuuuut I wouldn't be quick to ascribe a general rule like that (or, hell, ANY kind of rule, for that matter) to something as complex and so individual and so deeply personal as this. Personally, for me, I find the damn thing difficult enough to investigate, analyze, describe, and potentially attain -- even just for me, let alone talking about anybody else -- that I find it kind of arbitrary and maybe useless to try to pin down what is a mostly shifting target.
But thanks for your considered reply. I respect your point of view.
I would think a person who is well balanced in all things regarding life and our world, can take drugs that are part of this world.
If I walk in a garden and take a poppy pod to chew on, then I do not automatically become excluded from being good to myself and others.
My perception of me stays the same, only the ignorant persons around me change their views.
If a person is happy taking drugs and dying at 40, let them. As long as they dont hurt others in the process.
If for me, or you, living til 40 seems too short, we might need to make some decisions other ways.
Fascinating video. Thanks for creating it.
Thanks man and thank you for watching it!
Thank you for covering this. I have a book on the band and even that tome has very little about Angus.
Thanks for your efforts🦝🌘🪄
Fantastic video. Subscribed. Greetings from the UK.
Angus exemplified the purist "starving artist" archetype. They are thin on the ground in these harder times...most people are not very focused on developing their art/ writing/ music , more on marketing their " brand" ...
But it is possible( even in 2023) to not care much about marketing/ popularity and live as a starving artist with only a few people in the world who " get" what you do...
I believe we are out there still,..but few were as extreme as Angus.
His poverty contributed to his early death..
If only he had a bit more of a comfortable living situation he could have been creating for many more years .
I treasure the few recordings I've heard by Angus ." invasion of the thunder bolt pagoda" might still be up on YT.
Thank you for this!
Always love backstories like this.
Keep up the great work, just subscribed.❤
Thank you! 🙂
Never Ever forget the Velvets major inspiration was one Brian Wilson! THE g.o.a.t!!
Great piece - thx for putting the bio-doc together
wow, that was wild. i never knew about AM. thanks for cluing us in. i've loved VU since i was a teen in the late 70s.
Love hearing these little side stories that the basic docs don't mention. After watching this I thought, "nice work, I should subscribe", only to realize I was already subscribed. XD
I also love them, especially when they are as weird as this one xD
Thank you for this.
Good work Joe! Thanks!
Thanks for this great video! I’d never heard of him.
I would take it back even further and call La Monte Young the forgotten founder of the VU. That's where MacLise, Cale, and the whole early drone sound came from. Brian Eno called him "the daddy of us all." He's the greatest unknown classical minimalist composer of all time.
Yes he was influential but he was never in the band. It's like saying John Cage was a forgotten founder. But I get where you are coming from.
Ahhh, wow, it's all coming together
@@johnziggykelleher4871what a preposterous thing to say
@@Rich_P_Anya You are misunderstanding. John Cage , Phillip Glass , Robert Fripp , Beethoven
to name a few.
But then John Cale also studied and worked under the guidance of John Cage and Yannis Xenskis and tranfered the techniques and ideas he learned there and combined them all into the Velvets sound. So it's not all about LaMonte.
No idea about this gentleman, thanks for bringing him to lufht for me!
amazing story, went to check the wikipedia to follow up and got to read this video, word for word, all over again!
Thanks for the New York Electronic, 1965 link. Perfect for a Covid Fever. If I focus on this strangeness hard enough I think I might destroy reality ... possibly.
Thank you. I first bought a Velvet Underground LP in 1971. I never knew about McLIse.
Very much interesting, yes. A forgotten part of american music history that deserves the attention.
I consider the whole Fluxus scene to be the origin of western drone and ambient music, however I had no idea about Angus and his connection with the velvets!
Yeaaa Fluxus is TOP
I was born exactly 20 years to the day after him March 14, 1958. I've been in rock bands my entire life. Currently perform as Paul McCartney in a Beatles Tribute, yet, just like Angus, until this moment, none of you have heard of me. Coincidence...I think not ( smile )
😆"I have Billy Shepherd you old faker- 🐍.. LOL...
lots a luv *not* from da pool that's Liverpool where your *not* from.🙄
🤣@@amarshmuseconcepta6197
Nice. A true individual, his life was art, he was art.
Fascinating cornerstone.
Makes me appreciate Moe Tucker even more.
Thank You! Great video.
This was exceptionally interesting. Thanks!
Ossian is a perfectly fine name for the son of a poet of Scottish descent. Look him up.
Never heard of him - amazing story!
It’s popular knowledge that Lou heard Sterling jamming out, liked what he heard, and said let’s jam together. Now the name might not have been hashed out or the sound, Tho I suspect Lou had written a handful of what would become VU songs. Those Demo recordings where Lou is purposely sounding like Bob Dylan are solely to get gigs, at least that’s what I’m gonna believe unless I hear facts that dispute that. Then came John Cale another musical genius in his own right and Moe Tucker to create that so original and integral VU stomp. That unchanging beat was hypnotic and along with Cales’ viola drone and Lou’s one chord strum VU opened the door to Phaserock. I’ve heard about this 5th VU member, but he didn’t make it to the wax and even tho Nico did I don’t consider either a founding member. That’s not to say he didn’t add anything and Nico did some excellent solo work. When it’s comes down to brass tacks the founding sound that we all know as the VU is Lou, Sterling, Cale, and Tucker.
Thank you for the story!
- Very interesting.
You have to wonder - genius or just plain bonkers? about such peoiple but there is no denying they had an effect on us
Same question I've always had about Syd Barrett.
Great vid. Would be nice to have some dates included though to create more of a timeline.
Very interesting. Well done! I’ve long wondered about MacLise.
Awesome topic and video and subscribed
Incredible ❤thank you for sharing 🥁
Aside from the mispronunciation of Maclise and Lamonte, this video is really excellent! Nice 👍🏽
Wow excellent! Thank you, really.
Thank you for the deep dive! This was excellent. I was somewhat familiar with him because he's one of those names that always pops up when reading about the history of the group, but I knew nothing about his life and what he went on to do. The high praise from La Monte Young makes me want to go check out some of his music.
I LOVE the Velvet Underground! 🙂
I learnt a lot. Thank you for the production.
His best solo record is the soundtrack to Ira Cohen's The Invasion Of Thunderbolt Pagoda.
I was aware of Angus. But didn't know much about his later years. Thanks.
"In the bottom left we have John Cale looking like Anton from No Country For Old Men" 😂😂😂
John Cale was the real source for their sinister and menacing sound on their first two seminal albums.
Remember, his father was a coal miner and he transfered those endlessly deep abysses of the black mines, which threaten to suck you in and burry you forever, into noise and sound.
Very wonderful video! Also, the game!
They are the most interesting people. Good video ✌️☘️
9:55 this is not as hard to swallow as the fact that they made Stephen Segal a Lama and said he was a re-encarnated from a 12th century Monk.
A wonderful book on drones with much parallel to and with Angus MacLise - Monolithic Undertow: In Search of Sonic Oblivion by Harry Sword
among the early members there was Walter de Maria too
I'm not really a big fan of the Velvet Underground, but this video was freakin' fantastic. Very interesting from beginning to end and a piece of music history I had no idea about.
You gained yourself another sub. Looking forward to more great content from you.
It was very interesting. Thank you.
Thank you Joe, this was very interesting, I didn't know anything a/ Angus...
great video (love your subtle use of background music) - i'm wondering if Moe Tucker ever heard Angus Maclise play?
The falling spikes is a dope name though
It's certainly suggestive of drug (ab)use.
Great video thank you
I'm almost positive that you're right! The narrator pronounces many names rather strangely but English isn't his first language.
Nice to hear he was from Bridgeport CT. That's my hometown. I thought we only had Robert Mitchum, lol.
Very good video
excellent work lieutenant chekov thank you
Oh my god I love this ❤
I met Hedi, his wife/partner after the Velvet Underground years later at a Buddhist Center in Colorado. The son you spoke of was living in Crestone Colorado at the time at a billionaire´s spread. . Her other son, Jason, raised by Pigpen of the Grateful Dead was with her. at the center: He was nothing but trouble and got kicked out. Hedi was a trip.
I love this group…our band covered "Femme Fatale."
I recognise the name from years back, from the La Monte Young et al "Dream Syndicate" project and perhaps in relation to Velvet Underground as well, but I don't think I ever knew anything more about him. Thanks for the video.
P.S. are you Polish? Your pronunciation is good, of course, I'm just guessing out of curiosity.
Yeah, he was just another one of those names you hear tossed around and you never hear nothing about them besides a short mention in random articles. It's always fun to go digging for info on these people, especially when they live interesting lives like MacLise. I'm the one who has to be thankful for the view and the comment!
Naaa I'm Portuguese. Thanks for the compliment! It's hard trying to record in another language, so I'm glad people can understand me well.
@@joefikifiki Ah, Portuguese -- Polish was pretty wide of the mark then, haha. I'm Norwegian, so I have a bit of an accent myself.
Anyway, yeah, it never really occurred to me to go looking deeper, so it was cool to see it summed up here. Cheers man.
Cool, I am American but have Portuguese heritage from both my parents along with a couple of other nationalities. Makes me even happier I subbed awhile back.
It’s usually pronounced ‘maclees’ isn’t it? Did Angus pronounce it ‘maclies’?
Just discovered your channel... great stuff. Looking forward to watching your other videos. Quick Question: Are you also known as Living Ironically in Europe?
Well-made 🙏✨
Thanks! 🙂
Very interesting. I've known a lot and I mean a LOT of hipsters over the years and yet can't recall ever hearing about this guy. You've seemingly overturned the last stone on the road that lead to '60's counter culture. But I bet there is another one somewhere.
There was a fair bit of MacLise stuff issued in the 90s.
@@Spectrescup well, all I can say is we must have missed it or else I've forgotten about it. Better late than never I guess
@@Spectrescup looking there's at least 11 albums of stuff released after his death, pretty amazing amount of stuff.
Young Christopher Walken narrating.
the 1960's were a unique time, a young subculture crossover from the disillusionment of the 1950's and beatniks to the natural world of the hippy movement of the 1960's. always with an artistic and environmental theme and element... it wasn't unusual for young people to see the world, travel continents with very little money, many places and communities open to young people living on the cheap. you could live in huts on beaches, fishing towns, or in places like greenwhich village were many like outcasts and unconventional people liked to share their experiences, travel was hitchhiking, buses, being a stowaway, riding the rail, whatever it took, it was readily available.
it started to change in the 1970's when this lifestyle was heavily mocked by the press. "dirty hippy" became a common phrase, "welfare queen", working people were characterized as lazy and paid too much... and then the move away from a working-class economy to an investor class economy. the 1980's reagan revolution ended the 1960's carefree innocence. the new deal was being gutted, systemic racism was shifting, the working class was being gutted with union busting by corporate politicians... by the end of the 1980's corporations and capitalism had a stranglehold on america, commodifying everything, the next generation growing up on a commercialism pounded into them by the corporate boob tube machine.
it wasn't long before profiteers marveled at how kids cared about what sweatshop brand they were wearing, and being mugged and killed for their expensive tennis shoes.
Preach!
Art and business are seldom compatible. Angus made art. Business went about the business of staying in business. Warhol and Reed were very good businessmen. It just couldn't last.
Agreed 150%.
he literally marched to the beat of his own. Drummer.
Great stuff man,,,nice soundtrack you did there as well,,,
Nice! Top Content. I've Subscribed.
What a lot of people don't get, being in a band is hard. It's work. So you go try to find 4 guys who are professionals and also artists. Dreamers who can create something new and special and they're punctual and ready to rehearse. Then they also have to be able to get along with towering egos. I get why some people might laugh at personalities like Jim Morrison but people like him make great frontmen. So you're looking for a shy withdrawn, egotistical extrovert who's a pure artist and also a professional. You're basically looking for a contradiction. Not that they don't exist. They do but you don't meet one every day.
Thanks. I dididn't know this VELVET UNDERGROUND member.
Always you know something more day by day. 🤣🤣🌐👍🐱
As someone who's taken refuge with the Karma and Shangpa Kagyu schools of Tibetan Buddhism, same school as Ossian though I understand he could be Dakpo Kagyu which is older than Karma and the Karmapa title itself. Which was born from Gompopa who was the sole patriarch after Milarepa. Ossian was recognised by the Rangjung Rigpe Dorje the 16th Gyalwa Karmapa the head of the Karma Kagyu School or one of the four major schools of Tibetan Buddhism, as the reincarnation of Sangye Nyenpa Rinpoche's speech. I guess he eventually came back to the states, gave up Tibetan buddhism for Shivaism (at least somewhat as many people in Nepal combine Hinduism and Buddhism) and as of 2016 lives in a trailer in Colorado.
Anyway, cool video. There's so many interesting people from back in the young boomer days. Kinda wish they didn't all turn into yuppies in the 80's because of Chicago school Neo liberalism that has destroyed the US economy for the working class, but I digress.
without the Influence of V.U. I´d never tried to learn Guitarplaying...
Fascinating. Every great band needs one oddball. Genesis had Gabriel, Pink Floyd had Barrett.
Their "quine tapes" live mix is amazing.
+Hes like the blanco 5th beetle.
I don't think it's quite accurate to call MacLise a "founder" of VU - he was barely involved - but he was a huge part of the early/mid 1960s NYC scene and his stuff with the Theater of Eternal Music, and his solo stuff is great. VU really needed a more conventional rock drummer who would keep time - Mo Tucker was perfect.
Reminds of Peter Green & FMac - formed the band then gave it to them; didn't care about $$ either... they were listening to other voices who didn't care about their future.
Cannot believe his connection to Tim Leary
Best name on TH-cam.
" Andy Warhol founder of the V.U ..." Thank you for video !
Let's not forget Walter De Maria too