Pictured above: John Cale, 1971
After being dismissed from the hospital, Lou Reed spent much of early 1971 in a reflective state, having had a near-death experience had him think much about his life.
“That whole experience fucked me up some. I realized that my life could be taken away from me at any moment, and that’s when I decided that I would no longer hold back on doing things that I might regret not doing otherwise.”
- Lou Reed, 2003
In March 1971, John Cale received a phone call from Reed, who was interested in working with him once more.
“I immediately hung up on him. About five minutes later he called again, I hung up again. This went on for a while until I finally agreed on meeting up with him at Central Park.”
- John Cale, 2016
When Cale met up with Reed at Central Park, the conversation between the two focused mainly on why Reed decided to work with Cale again, and the possibility of reforming The Velvet Underground. It hadn’t even been a year since they had broken up, yet a return to the name seemed appropriate, should they be able to get Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker on board as well.
“They were pretty hard to find, basically vanished from the radar. Moe was in Arizona and Sterling was in Texas. He was pretty easy to convince, her not so much. Moe was raising a family by then, Sterling considered bringing back Doug Yule and his brother, but we eventually managed to convince her to come along.”
- Lou Reed, 2003
By April 1971, The Velvet Underground was reformed. Not being signed to any label, the band rented studio time at Scepter Studios, where they had previously recorded their debut album, with money from their own pockets. Despite the album being completed by June, they were unable to release it until they found a new record deal.
“Well, by then we already had some offerings, but they didn’t really interest us. It would be another couple of months until we found the perfect label for us.”
- John Cale, 2016
Pictured above: Twink, circa 1971
Following Stars going on hiatus due to guitarist Syd Barrett leaving in order to focus on his painting career, Twink formed a new band called Pink Fairies, consisting of himself on vocals and drums, and former members of The Deviants, Paul Rudolph on guitar and vocals, Duncan Sanderson on bass, and Russell Hunter on drums. They promoted free music, drug use, and anarchy, often performing impromptu gigs and other forms of agitprop stunts, which solidified their rebel reputation.
Polydor Records commissioned the band to record a single, The Snake / Do It, and were satisfied enough with the result to give them an album deal. It included live favorites such as Do It and Uncle Harry’s Last Freak-Out, yet curiously omitting the single B-side The Snake. The album, Never Never Land, was released in May 1971, originally only on the becoming-obsolete vinyl record format.
Pictured above: Paul McCartney, 1971
In October 1970, Paul McCartney and his family flew to New York to begin working on the follow-up to McCartney. While he played all the instruments on that album, Paul decided to hold auditions for musicians, some of whom were brought in under the guise of recording a commercial jingle.
“Ya know, I think I was listening to The Beach Boys’ SMiLE album, which really inspired Uncle Albert, in which I tried to do my own take on what Brian did (laughs)”
- Paul McCartney, 1971
The album was recorded between October 1970 and March 1971. In these sessions, two songs intended for a non-album single were cut, Another Day and Oh Woman, Oh Why. However, Paul eventually opted for including them on the album.
“They just were too perfect to be put aside as singles.”
- Paul McCartney, 1971
The album was released to poor reception, in particular, former bandmate John Lennon, who took the opening track Too Many People as an attack at him.
“There were all the bits at the beginning of Ram like ‘Too many people going underground’. Well, that was us, Yoko Ono and me. And ‘You took your lucky break’, that was considering we had a lucky break to be with him.”
- John Lennon, 1971
Ram
01. Too Many People (4:10) [1]
02. 3 Legs (2:48) [1]
03. Ram On (2:30) [1]
04. Dear Boy (2:15) [1]
05. Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey (4:55) [1]
06. Smile Away (3:53) [1]
07. Another Day (3:43) [2]
08. Oh Woman, Oh Why (4:35) [2]
09. Heart of the Country (2:24) [1]
10. Monkberry Moon Delight (5:25) [1]
11. Eat at Home (3:23) [1]
12. Long Haired Lady (6:05) [1]
13. Ram On (Reprise) (0:55) [1]
14. The Back Seat of My Car (4:30) [1]
Released: May 17th, 1971
Track sources:
[1] - Ram, 1971
[2] - Non-album single, 1971
Pictured above: Jimi Hendrix, 1970
On September 17th, 1970, Jimi Hendrix spent most of his day with Monika Danneman in London. She had prepared a meal for them at her apartment in the Samarkand Hotel around 7 PM, where they shared a bottle of wine. She then drove him to an acquaintance’s house at around 1:45 AM, where he remained for about an hour before she picked him up and they returned to her flat at 3 AM. They talked until around 7 AM before going to sleep. When she woke up at around 10 AM, she found Hendrix breathing, yet unconscious and unresponsive. She called for an ambulance at 10:18, which arrived at 10:27. Paramedics then transported him to St. Mary Abbot’s Hospital where he was successfully revived.
“When I woke up, I was surrounded by doctors and bright lights. ‘Close call’ they told me. I didn’t remember anything from the previous night. They later found out I took 9 Vesparax sleeping tablets, which is about… 18 times the recommended dosage. I’m very lucky to be alive and I probably wouldn’t be here now if they’d shown up an hour later.”
- Jimi Hendrix, 1972
Two months later, Jimi Hendrix would regroup with drummer Mitch Mitchell and bassist Billy Cox at Electric Lady Studios to finish the album they had been previously working on between November 1969 and August 1970.
“The mood in the studio was very different than how it was with the other albums. Jimi was very serious, which is understandable with what happened to him.”
- Mitch Mitchell, 1973
The album was finished in March 1971 and was released only under the “Jimi Hendrix” name, a first for a Hendrix album. It received critical praise, some critics considering it his finest work up to that point. Soon after the album’s release, Hendrix would go on to return to touring some time after the album’s release, albeit the tour, dubbed “The First Rays of the New Rising Sun Tour” was smaller in scope and ambition than previous ones.
The Cry of Love
01. Dolly Dagger (4:40) [1]
02. Night Bird Flying (3:52) [1]
03. Room Full of Mirrors (3:30) [1]
04. Belly Button Window (3:35) [1]
05. Freedom (3:29) [1]
06. Ezy Ryder (4:10) [1]
07. Astro Man (3:35) [1]
08. Drifting (3:49) [1]
09. Straight Ahead (4:44) [1]
10. Earth Blues (4:07) [1]
11. Izabella (2:46) [1]
12. Drifter’s Escape (3:02) [1]
13. Beginnings (4:11) [1]
14. Angel (4:27) [1]
15. Stepping Stone (4:07) [1]
16. Bleeding Heart (3:13) [1]
17. Hey Baby (New Rising Sun) (6:03) [1]
18. In From The Storm (3:36) [1]
Released: July 5th, 1971
Track sources:
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