With their joint album Songs For Drella, former Velvet Underground members John Cale and Lou Reed recorded a musical homage to Andy Warhol and his life and work. For the concert film of the same name, the two played all the songs from the album in 1990, and the session was filmed by cameraman Ed Lachman. The material was remastered in 2021, and the film can now be seen on the streaming provider MUBI.
A tribute to Andy Warhol
The eponymous “Drella” was a nickname of Warhol and is composed of the names “Cinderella” and “Dracula”. The album was made three years after his death and was first released on April 11, 1990. Although The Velvet Underground had split up in 1973, artist Julian Schnabel, Cale and Reed managed to win over the Warhol homage (in 1993 there was a tour even the VU reunion with Sterling Morrison and Mo Tucker). At the time, Lachman was commissioned by “Channel 4” to film the duo’s performance with their songs for Warhol.
A chance find made the re-release possible
Described as having “disarming directness and cinematographic restraint,” the footage was long thought to have been lost until it was rediscovered while working on another film in 2021. It was then remastered for re-release: the soundtrack was remastered, the negative was scanned in 4K resolution.
“Drella”: Impressions of a deceased friend and manager
The lyrics of the “Drella” songs are said to combine the views of Reed and Cale, as well as those of Warhol himself, into an “ambitious synthesis”. The latter would represent an “all-knowing perspective on the events of his life”. The ex-Velvet Underground colleagues are supposed to process their impressions of their deceased friend and manager on the album.
The pop artist helped the band achieve great success in the 1960s: he made them part of his art, had them play in rooms he rented for his performances and designed a cover for the album “The Velvet Underground & Nico”, which he later promoted himself.
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