Songs for Drella

Lou Reed and John Cale spoke to one another for the first time in years at Warhol's memorial service at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York on April 1, 1987. The painter Julian Schnabel suggested they write a memorial piece for Warhol. On January 7 and 8, 1989, Cale and Reed performed an almost-completed Songs for Drella at The Church of St. Anne's in Brooklyn.[http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/setlists/1989_01_08.html Fear Is A Man's Best Friend fansite - John Cale setlists 1989: New York 1989-01-08] Still, as Cale was wrapping up Words for the Dying, and Reed had finished and was touring with his New York studio album (both 1989), the project took another year to complete. The first full version (notably with the inclusion of "A Dream" in one performance) was played on November 29–30, and December 2–3 at the Next Wave Festival at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.[http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/setlists/1989_11_30.html Fear Is A Man's Best Friend fansite - John Cale setlists 1989: New York 1989-11-30] On December 4–5, 1989, a live performance—without an audience—was filmed at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, directed by Ed Lachman, and released on VHS and LaserDisc formats.[http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/movies/songs_for_drella.html Fear Is A Man's Best Friend fansite - John Cale on screen: Songs for Drella video (includes link to full video online)][https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0364012/ Songs for Drella video at Internet Movie Database] Over the following two months, Reed and Cale proceeded to record the material for the album, which was released on April 11, 1990 by Sire Records.

The album was the pair's first full collaborative record since the Velvet Underground's second studio album White Light/White Heat (1968), and by the end of recording Cale vowed never to work with Reed again due to personal differences; plans to support the album with a tour were shelved. Nevertheless, Songs for Drella would prove to be the prelude to a Velvet Underground reunion: after playing a Drella selection on June 15, 1990, at a Warhol/Velvet Underground exhibition at the Cartier Foundation in Jouy-en-Josas, Reed and Cale were joined onstage by Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker for a rendition of the Velvet Underground song "Heroin",[http://werksman.home.xs4all.nl/cale/setlists/1990_06_15.html Fear Is A Man's Best Friend fansite - John Cale setlists 1990: Jouy-En-Josas 1990-06-15] which eventually led to the first and last Velvet Underground reunion, which took place in 1993 (after which Cale and Reed, again, vowed never to work with one another again).

{{Music ratings

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|4.5|5}}{{cite web|last=Deming|first=Mark|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/songs-for-drella-mw0000207184|title=Songs for Drella – Lou Reed / John Cale|publisher=AllMusic|access-date=November 14, 2015}}

| rev2 = Chicago Sun-Times

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news|last=McLeese|first=Don|url=https://chicagosuntimes.newsbank.com/doc/news/0EB372DFABAC5AF8|title='Songs for 'Drella' weave velvet elegy to Warhol's genius|newspaper=Chicago Sun-Times|date=April 23, 1990|access-date=June 27, 2023|url-access=subscription}}

| rev3 = Chicago Tribune

| rev3score = {{Rating|3.5|4}}{{cite news|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1992-01-12-9201040209-story.html|title=Lou Reed's Recordings: 25 Years Of Path-Breaking Music|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=January 12, 1992|access-date=July 29, 2013}}

| rev4 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev4score = B−{{cite magazine|last=Sandow|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Sandow|url=https://ew.com/article/1990/04/27/songs-drella/|title=Songs for 'Drella|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|location=New York|date=April 27, 1990|access-date=December 11, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151010182156/https://ew.com/article/1990/04/27/songs-drella/|archive-date=October 10, 2015|url-status=dead}}

| rev5 = Los Angeles Times

| rev5score = {{Rating|3|5}}{{cite news|last=Hochman|first=Steve|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-04-24-ca-170-story.html|title=A Moving Remembrance of Andy Warhol|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=April 24, 1990|access-date=November 14, 2015}}

| rev6 = NME

| rev6score = 8/10{{cite magazine|last=Martin|first=Gavin|author-link=Gavin Martin|url=http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000020reviews.html|title=Drella Killer|magazine=NME|location=London|date=April 28, 1990|access-date=January 25, 2016|page=37|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000622115024/http://www.nme.com/reviews/reviews/19980101000020reviews.html|archive-date=June 22, 2000|url-status=dead}}

| rev7 = Q

| rev7score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Cooper|first=Mark|title=Lou Reed and John Cale: Songs for Drella|magazine=Q|location=London|issue=44|date=May 1990}}

| rev8 = Rolling Stone

| rev8score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Evans|first=Paul|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-album-reviews/songs-for-drella-252827/|title=Songs for Drella|magazine=Rolling Stone|location=New York|date=May 17, 1990|access-date=November 14, 2015}}

| rev9 = Spin

| rev9score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|last=Marchese|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yvyxlaTDXMC&pg=PA67|title=Discography: Lou Reed|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=24|issue=11|date=November 2008|access-date=January 13, 2017|page=67}}

| rev10 = The Village Voice

| rev10score = A−{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|url=https://robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv990-90.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|location=New York|date=September 25, 1990|access-date=November 14, 2015}}

}}

Songs for Drella received positive reviews and critical praise upon release. In a four-star review, Rolling Stone writer Paul Evans stated "Both nearing fifty, Reed and Cale are the survivors Warhol wasn't fated to become. In popular music, only bluesmen and country greats have managed the maturity these two display." Spin described Songs for Drella as "a moving testament to one of the '60s most important icons" and named it one of the Top 20 albums of 1990.{{cite magazine|last=Greer|first=Jim|author-link=James Greer (writer)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=RDWxkmx1bj4C&pg=PA54|title=Albums of the Year|magazine=Spin|location=New York|volume=6|issue=9|date=December 1990|access-date=June 27, 2023|page=54}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Lou Reed and John Cale.

| headline = Side A

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| title1 = Smalltown

| extra1 = Lou Reed

| length1 = 2:04

| title2 = Open House

| extra2 = Lou Reed

| length2 = 4:18

| title3 = Style It Takes

| extra3 = John Cale

| length3 = 2:54

| title4 = Work

| extra4 = Lou Reed

| length4 = 2:38

| title5 = Trouble with Classicists

| extra5 = John Cale

| length5 = 3:42

| title6 = Starlight

| extra6 = Lou Reed

| length6 = 3:28

| title7 = Faces and Names

| extra7 = John Cale

| length7 = 4:12

}}

{{Track listing

| headline = Side B

| extra_column = Lead vocals

| total_length = 52:54

| title8 = Images

| extra8 = Lou Reed

| length8 = 3:31

| title9 = Slip Away (A Warning)

| extra9 = Lou Reed

| length9 = 3:05

| title10 = It Wasn't Me

| extra10 = Lou Reed

| length10 = 3:30

| title11 = I Believe

| extra11 = Lou Reed

| length11 = 3:18

| title12 = Nobody But You

| extra12 = Lou Reed

| length12 = 3:46

| title13 = A Dream

| extra13 = John Cale

| length13 = 6:33

| title14 = Forever Changed

| extra14 = John Cale

| length14 = 4:52

| title15 = Hello It's Me

| extra15 = Lou Reed

| length15 = 3:13

}}

• "Nobody But You" b/w "Style It Takes" – 7" Germany 1990
• "Nobody But You"; "Style It Takes" b/w "A Dream" – 12" & CD-single Germany 1990

• John Cale – vocals, keyboards, viola
• Lou Reed – vocals, guitar

{{Reflist}}

• {{discogs master|44389}}

{{Lou Reed}}

{{John Cale}}

{{The Velvet Underground}}

{{Warhol}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Songs For Drella}}

Category:Lou Reed albums

Category:John Cale albums

Category:1990 collaborative albums

Category:Albums produced by Lou Reed

Category:Albums produced by John Cale

Category:1990s concept albums

Category:Cultural depictions of Andy Warhol

Category:Albums in memory of deceased persons

Category:Sire Records albums

Category:Tribute albums to non-musicians