Tom Verlaine, guitarist and singer of influential rock band Television, dies at 73

[JSngry]

1 hour ago, AllenLowe said:

I wonder if anyone can advise me - I have read repeatedly about what a good guitarist Verlaine was, Coltrane-influenced (or so I have read); but I have never really found much of his playing which shows much of that. Am I missing something?

I've also heard his described as Dolphy-influenced. Why, I don't know.

What he did on his own was just fine on its own terms, imo. 

[Joe]

2 hours ago, AllenLowe said:

I wonder if anyone can advise me - I have read repeatedly about what a good guitarist Verlaine was, Coltrane-influenced (or so I have read); but I have never really found much of his playing which shows much of that. Am I missing something?

At the height of Television's notoriety, some performances could veer into "sheets of sound" territory. But he pared back his style over the years. There are also a couple of freely improvised tracks on WARM AND COOL (1992).

Tonally, I hear some similarities with between Verlaine and Richard Thompson. To a much lesser extent, John Cippolina. But there's hardly any blues vocabulary in Verlaine's playing, and he played guitars that rockers oh his era had no use for (Fender Jazzmaster and Jaguar, which became the axes pretty much every post-punk guitarist picked up). I'm not sure where else some of his notions of structure, counterpoint, and — dare I say? — swing could come from but jazz. E.g., this solo:

Patti's Smith's elegy for him provides some additional insight into his musical origins. According to her, he started out as a saxophonist.

[Eric]

12 hours ago, gvopedz said:

The Trouser Press archive is online:

https://trouserpress.com/magazine-covers-1/

 

Simply awesome.  Thanks!

[BFrank]

On 1/29/2023 at 6:15 AM, Steve Reynolds said:

RIP sir

never got to see them live 

My favorite is the 1991 reunion album which had no impact which was a statement on the “music industry” of then & now

too young and a shame he apparently never decided to professionally record any of the concerts of the past decades. I never understood his reticence to record more Television material nor any of the reportedly great shows which included lots of improvisation and energy. I’ve heard so often how these shows could be transcendent. 

 

This is quite a good live album

[Michael]

Back when these records were coming out, I picked up the first two Televisons and found the second one a drop off from the first one.  Not exactly sure why but ended up selling Adventure as well as his two solo records when I pared down the collection in the mid 90s.  I recall critics likening the two-guitar attack of Television to the Dead but I never heard that.  Stiil give Marquee Moon the occasional spin and it always seems to sound fresh and surprises.   

Edited January 31, 2023 by Michael

[randyhersom]

He would have been a great fit at Big Ears, a shame that it will never happen.

[BFrank]

44 minutes ago, randyhersom said:

He would have been a great fit at Big Ears, a shame that it will never happen.

That was my first thought, too. But apparently he DID play there in 2014.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoAwJcTsR_b/?igshid=ZDhmZGIxNmQ=

[Rooster_Ties]

It’s a small crime that, far as I know, there’s never been any sort of multi-artist tribute album to Television and Verlaine.

That said, there is this Kronos Quartet arrangement of just the one tune “Marquee Moon” — which is pretty damn good.

 

Edited February 1, 2023 by Rooster_Ties

[Joe]

Siouxsie and the Banshees covered "Little Johnny Jewel" on THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS. 

 

[randyhersom]

12 hours ago, BFrank said:

That was my first thought, too. But apparently he DID play there in 2014.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CoAwJcTsR_b/?igshid=ZDhmZGIxNmQ=

That's pretty awesome.

[BFrank]

15 hours ago, Rooster_Ties said:

It’s a small crime that, far as I know, there’s never been any sort of multi-artist tribute album to Television and Verlaine.

That said, there is this Kronos Quartet arrangement of just the one tune “Marquee Moon” — which is pretty damn good.

 

I bet there WILL be one in the not too distant future

[Joe]

Some nice recollections and invaluable early documentation courtesy of one of my CalArts writing teachers, Bruce Bauman. The interview shared here dates from 1975. AS Bruce says, "I don’t think he’d ever again be so vulnerable."

https://trouserpress.com/souvenir-from-a-dream-memories-of-tom-verlaine/

[adh1907]

2 hours ago, Joe said:

Some nice recollections and invaluable early documentation courtesy of one of my CalArts writing teachers, Bruce Bauman. The interview shared here dates from 1975. AS Bruce says, "I don’t think he’d ever again be so vulnerable."

https://trouserpress.com/souvenir-from-a-dream-memories-of-tom-verlaine/

Fascinating, thanks for posting that. Richard Williams has posted recently about his involvement with the Island demo so will be interesting to compare and contrast recollections. Verlaine is pretty scathing here about Eno, Island and the English more generally!

Anthony

London