Who would have thought that, when they made their debut on stage at the Café Bizarre in New York, the young Lou Reed and John Cale would end up being the stars of an exhibition paying tribute to their band in Paris? That was back in 1965 when, having first called themselves The Warlocks and then The Falling Spikes, they had finally settled on a name that would identify and enshrine them for posterity. Incidentally, The Velvet Underground was the title of a book on sado-masochism written by Michael Leigh which had fallen into their hands by sheer chance. Nothing unusual, however, considering that drugs, prostitution, transvestism and homosexuality were rife in their New York haunts and would become the subject of many of their song lyrics, a fact which rattled more than one music producer.

Andy Warhol, a great one for moving in the New York underground and absorbing it into his parties and his works, particularly in the film pieces he shot with Paul Morrissey, was enthralled with the music of this upcoming band and added them to the prevailing fauna in The Factory. What’s more, he even took the bold step of taking over as manager of the group and in 1967 released his first production, The Velvet Underground & Nico, for which he did the cover design. Indeed, I am referring to the famous cover with the banana sticker, a veritable icon in the art world. But, the album’s value lies not only in its wrapping. Its content includes some genuine musical pearls like Sunday Morning, I’m Waiting for the Man, Venus in Furs and Heroin.One of the upshots of their collaboration with the pop artist par excellence were the videos he recorded with them, which ranged from ghoulish to arty, in which he enveloped the band in light and colour.

While the album was not a super-hit – only some 30,000 copies were sold – the band decided to  break with the core of Andy Warhol and The Factory to pursue their career as musicians. The Velvet Underground remained active until 1973, when differences between the leaders were responsible for precipitating a break-up – John Cale having had a more academic music training, while Lou Reed had followed a more rebellious line. They actually started moving in and out of the band, until they eventually decided to break up altogether.

Despite their short career and meagre success, at least as far as album sales is concerned, The Velvet Underground was one of the most influential bands of New York. Heirs to the beat generation legacy, they played a crucial role in New York’s counter-culture, far removed from the psychedelic hippie culture of the seventies that reigned in San Francisco, the other major hub of creativity in the United States. Among those who inherited their destructured sound and coarse lyrics were Ramones, The Voidoids, Dead Boys, The Heartbreakers, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Contortions, Bush Tetras, Teenage Jesus and The Jerks, DNA, Sonic Youth, Spacemen 3 and Nirvana.

The Philharmonie de Paris is hosting a tribute to this band in the form of an exhibition entitled, The Velvet Underground. New York Extravaganza, which runs until 12 August. Audiovisual material has been carefully curated, with six films being purpose produced for the occasion, also featuring television file pictures, photos and portraits of the band members, objects from private collections and works by contemporary and later artists who were seduced by the charms of the band. This whole ensemble is designed to recount the story of the group and its lasting legacy. But, there is more – the exhibition will be supported by a parallel set of activities, including conferences, screenings and concerts.

Go back down memory lane and relive one of the outstanding rock bands of New York’s counter-culture by taking a getaway to Paris. Check out your Vueling here.

Text by Los Viajes de ISABELYLUIS

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It is more than 10 years since Joe Strummer left us. This artist, famous for his punk period with the well-known The Clash, was in love with spanish poet Lorca, Granada and Almeria coast, where he spent lost of time during his lasts years.
This is something which can be surprising for lots of people, but not for the ones who really knows him drinking rhum and coke at the famous Silbar – at calle Pedro Antonio de Alarcón in Granada- or for those ones that digg into his discography.

It was in the squat where he lived in London – despite being a world-renowned artist- living together with two girls from Málaga and a guy from Navarra, where Strummer once said that he wanted to set up a hardware store in Andalusia. Hence the documentary’s name by Antonio Jesús García and Javier Navarrete where he explains how the singer took refuge in Granada and Almería in search of anonymity and Carlos Prats directed under the title “I Want a hardware store in Andalusia “. All kind of anecdotes are explained in the documentary by his widow Lucinda Garland, vocalist of the band 091 José Antonio García a.k.a. ‘Pitos’, his first band drummer Richard Dudanski and Jem Finer, The Pogues’s component.

Another documentary about his stay in Spain is “I Need a Dodge ! ” by British director Nick Hall, that inquires about the location of the car he loved and he left forgotten in a garage in Madrid . By buying this Dodge, he wanted to go to Víznar, a population at 8 kilometers from Granada where Federico García Lorca was shot to death , with the crazy idea to buy a shovel at a hardware store, locate his grave and dig it up .

The fact is that Joe had great interest in the Spanish Civil War and Federico García Lorca. Thereby he wrote “Spanish Bombs” in his honor, one of the most emblematic The Clash’s songs . In 1984 he settled in Granada and spent long periods of time searching for himself and looking for disconnection in southern Spain’s land. Ten years after his death, the city he loved gave its name to a small square in the heart of Realejo, the old Jewish city’s quarter.

Joe Strummer Square

Due to the popular demand from fans on Facebook asking for Joe to be a part of the city, the City Council of Granada has ended up dedicating him a small space close to the Alhambra. In addition to his first wife, Gaby Slater, and his widow, Lucina Garland,an emotional concert in acoustic remembered the influential figure of the leader of The Clash. The features some Jose Antinio Garcia and Antonio Arias of 091 to which Joe godfather for “Más de 100 Lobos”, Paul Cook of The Mescaleros, Jem Finer of The Pogues or Richard Dudanski of the 101 ‘ers have done a review on some of the artist’s repertoire, without forgetting classics such as “Spanish Bombs” or “London Calling.

Las Gabias – Granada

In this village a few kilometers from the city of Granada, Joe Strummer was hosted at Gaby Contreras’s home, a radiologist nicknamed ‘the mad doctor’ by Joe and who was also close friend to Sid Vicious.

San José – Almería

During his long stay in southern Spain, Joe Strummer settled for a time in the small picturesque village of San José, in the Natural Park Cabo de Gata-Nijar. Bought a house to spend the summer and enjoy Mónsul and Genoese beaches. He spent the nights at Jo’s bar, the Red Fish that is now the Pez Azul – and . Fan of cantaor el Niño de Olivares, Strummer went regularly to Fernan Perez’s flamenco club to attend his performances.

In summer and coinciding with Joe’s birthday on August 21 they continue to schedule concerts in his memory at Jo’s bar in San José by Richard Dudanski’s band Doghouse -former The 101′ers’s drummer and whom Joe Strummer made his first foray into the world of music.

Desierto de Tabernas – “Straight to Hell”’s filming

Tabernas Desert is located about 30 kilometers from Almeria, in a desert area with a low rate of rainfall that becomes one of the driest in Europe. Although it has a tourist charm for having been the scene of the shooting of many spaghetti westerns like Death was priced or The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and many others

Here the film Straight to Hell Alex Cox was filmed in 1987, starring Joe Strummer and the cameos by Dennis Hopper, Courtney Love, Grace Jones, Elvis Costello, Jim Jarmusch and members of bands Amazulu, The Circle Jerks and The Pogues. The Irish Pogues’s travel to Almeria inspired them in one of their most famous “Fiesta”. Straight to Hell is a parody of spaghetti westerns that was written in two or three days and was shot in four weeks.

I am Francisco Vasquez Garcia
I am welcome to Almeria
We have sin gas and con leche
We have fiesta and feria

Why not take a trip to Almería? Have a look at our flights here!