I'm almost positive his name is pronounced Mac-Leese.

@joefikifiki

11 ай бұрын

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.

@jackhargreaves1911

11 ай бұрын

In Scotland we tend to say it as “Macleesh” (indistinguishable from MacLeish).

@avidodd26

11 ай бұрын

literally who cares?

@damotheman4196

11 ай бұрын

​@@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)

@jamiemorgan4146

11 ай бұрын

@@avidodd26I do, wiseass!

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.

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.)

@joefikifiki

11 ай бұрын

I didn't know that, that's a very interesting detail indeed!

@Claytone-Records

11 ай бұрын

That is a very interesting box set.

@vaseofflowers4619

11 ай бұрын

I didn't know that either. Excellent info.

@mj.l

11 ай бұрын

yep, there are bootlegs in existence with maclise playing drums and cale on vocals while lou was laid up with hepatitis

@StMikey

11 ай бұрын

Don't forget that Moe Tucker switched to rhythm guitar while Sterling played lead at that time.

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!

@curiousworld7912

11 ай бұрын

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. :)

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..

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.

@alejoparedes2388

11 ай бұрын

"Outside the Dream Syndicate" is a fucking masterpiece!

@SteveAstronaut

11 ай бұрын

I was fortunate enough to witness the 1995 revisiting of Outside The Dream Syndicate. It was awesome! kzread.info/dash/bejne/c5Wqm9uRk7bfpdI.html

@GAMakin

11 ай бұрын

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. ✋

@nomorokay

11 ай бұрын

@@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.

@SmokingInMyCar

11 ай бұрын

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."

Lou Reed’s description of him betrayed none of his usual malice.

@DavidHilowitzMusic

11 ай бұрын

I was thinking the same thing!

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 chapter of the VU I didn't know. Thank you for the video and bringing Angus MacLise into the light.

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.

@finnishere3021

4 ай бұрын

Which coil album is it

@c02c02

Ай бұрын

@@finnishere3021 Astral Disaster

It is rumoured that McLise became the 6th Beatle in 1972.

Thank you Joe for this very interesting clip. It's the first time I've heard about Angus MacLise.

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 for this! Always love backstories like this. Keep up the great work, just subscribed.❤

@joefikifiki

11 ай бұрын

Thank you! 🙂

Fascinating video. Thanks for creating it.

@joefikifiki

Жыл бұрын

Thanks man and thank you for watching it!

Wow.! Thanx 4 uncovering that "side-note" in history. I'm a fan of anything "Velvet Underground" & pre-punk history.

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...

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 ❤

@joefikifiki

11 ай бұрын

Thank you so much for the kind words! 🙂 I'm glad my video made you go digging for more info on that scene!

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 ............

@MisAnnThorpe

11 ай бұрын

I would IMAGINE that heroin sounds much more like The Stranglers' "Golden brown".

Thank you for covering this. I have a book on the band and even that tome has very little about Angus.

Great piece - thx for putting the bio-doc together

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.

Very interesting. Well done! I’ve long wondered about MacLise.

Never Ever forget the Velvets major inspiration was one Brian Wilson! THE g.o.a.t!!

Ossian is a perfectly fine name for the son of a poet of Scottish descent. Look him up.

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.

@kelechi_77

11 ай бұрын

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.

@thetruemusichead

10 ай бұрын

Ahhh, wow, it's all coming together

@Rich_P_Anya

10 ай бұрын

​@@johnziggykelleher4871what a preposterous thing to say

@johnziggykelleher4871

10 ай бұрын

​@@Rich_P_Anya You are misunderstanding. John Cage , Phillip Glass , Robert Fripp , Beethoven to name a few.

@ForARide

2 ай бұрын

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.

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 )

@amarshmuseconcepta6197

11 ай бұрын

😆"I have Billy Shepherd you old faker- 🐍.. LOL... lots a luv *not* from da pool that's Liverpool where your *not* from.🙄

@transformationgeneration

11 ай бұрын

🤣@@amarshmuseconcepta6197

Nice to hear he was from Bridgeport CT. That's my hometown. I thought we only had Robert Mitchum, lol.

amazing story, went to check the wikipedia to follow up and got to read this video, word for word, all over again!

I learnt a lot. Thank you for the production.

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.

@stalkek

11 ай бұрын

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!

@marklipson

11 ай бұрын

@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.

@mjfan653

10 ай бұрын

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.

Good work Joe! Thanks!

Thank you for the story! - Very interesting.

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

@joefikifiki

Жыл бұрын

I also love them, especially when they are as weird as this one xD

Thank You! Great video.

This was exceptionally interesting. Thanks!

Incredible ❤thank you for sharing 🥁

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.

Very wonderful video! Also, the game!

Awesome topic and video and subscribed

Great vid. Would be nice to have some dates included though to create more of a timeline.

Thank you for this.

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!

@anotebgmot8793

9 ай бұрын

Yeaaa Fluxus is TOP

Thanks for this great video! I’d never heard of him.

Nice! Top Content. I've Subscribed.

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.

Never heard of him - amazing story!

Great video!

Wow excellent! Thank you, really.

Great video thank you

Makes me appreciate Moe Tucker even more.

excellent work lieutenant chekov thank you

Nice. A true individual, his life was art, he was art.

No idea about this gentleman, thanks for bringing him to lufht for me!

It was very interesting. Thank you.

They are the most interesting people. Good video ✌️☘️

Fascinating cornerstone.

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.

Thank you. I first bought a Velvet Underground LP in 1971. I never knew about McLIse.

You have to wonder - genius or just plain bonkers? about such peoiple but there is no denying they had an effect on us

@jamesaron1967

11 ай бұрын

Same question I've always had about Syd Barrett.

I was aware of Angus. But didn't know much about his later years. Thanks.

Well-made 🙏✨

@joefikifiki

11 ай бұрын

Thanks! 🙂

Very good video

Thank you Joe, this was very interesting, I didn't know anything a/ Angus...

His best solo record is the soundtrack to Ira Cohen's The Invasion Of Thunderbolt Pagoda.

Very much interesting, yes. A forgotten part of american music history that deserves the attention.

I LOVE the Velvet Underground! 🙂

among the early members there was Walter de Maria too

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.

Great stuff man,,,nice soundtrack you did there as well,,,

great video (love your subtle use of background music) - i'm wondering if Moe Tucker ever heard Angus Maclise play?

Amazing!

Aside from the mispronunciation of Maclise and Lamonte, this video is really excellent! Nice 👍🏽

It’s usually pronounced ‘maclees’ isn’t it? Did Angus pronounce it ‘maclies’?

A wonderful book on drones with much parallel to and with Angus MacLise - Monolithic Undertow: In Search of Sonic Oblivion by Harry Sword

"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.

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.

@RoryLynott

10 ай бұрын

Agreed 150%.

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.

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.

he literally marched to the beat of his own. Drummer.

Oh my god I love this ❤

Hard to forget a cat named Angus great content

Amazing

The falling spikes is a dope name though

@MisAnnThorpe

11 ай бұрын

It's certainly suggestive of drug (ab)use.

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.

@woodynightshade2285

11 ай бұрын

Preach!

Dream Person would be a good name for a boat, since there were times when a person was called a dreamboat.

I did not know that a founding member of the Velvet Underground was part of a performance art troupe that included Yoko Ono. As one of her (very few) fans, for me, this video could be titled "the forgotten link between Yoko Ono and the Velvet Underground." I already knew a little about Angus, of course.

@Da_Publick

11 ай бұрын

Don't worry, you'll have plenty of company as fans of Yoko Ono when she passes away. You will never imagine that she had so many fans then. There'll be no more jokes about her backing Chuck Berry. 😂

@ClaydenLee

11 ай бұрын

@@Da_Publick cynical but true, therefore funny. Well said

@bradpnw1897

11 ай бұрын

It takes guts to say you're a fan of Yoko Ono I respect that. I saw Sean Lennon in concert in 97 opening up for Pearl jam in Seattle.

@jimburton1

11 ай бұрын

​@@Da_PublickI know squares try to make fun of her but she already has lots of fans, for an experimental artist. Work shown in major galleries all the time, sold a lot of records etc

@Da_Publick

11 ай бұрын

@@jimburton1 She does have fans, even appreciation in some spheres. But you'll think the whole world always loved her, all along, when she passes. They'll be saying she 'pushed The Beatles to greater depths.'

Just discovered your channel... great stuff. Looking forward to watching your other videos. Quick Question: Are you also known as Living Ironically in Europe?

Best name on KZread.

Good vid'with subtitles on .

Good doco.

Thank you

Thanks.

Thanks. I dididn't know this VELVET UNDERGROUND member. Always you know something more day by day. 🤣🤣🌐👍🐱

Nice job! Wonder what happened to Ossian.

I'm almost positive that you're right! The narrator pronounces many names rather strangely but English isn't his first language.

sterling looks like stuart sutcliffe in that stoop pic

without the Influence of V.U. I´d never tried to learn Guitarplaying...

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.

@joefikifiki

Жыл бұрын

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.

@Vingul

Жыл бұрын

​@@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.

@TheEWFX29

11 ай бұрын

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.

CD's and at least one LP of his music are out there. Difficult listening at times, but worth the effort if you're into that sort of thing.