| Tom Verlaine | |
|---|---|
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Thomas Miller |
| Born | 13 December 1949 Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | Punk Art punk New Wave |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Vocalist Producer |
| Instrument(s) | Guitar Vocals Piano |
| Associated acts | Television Neon Boys |
| Notable instrument(s) | |
| Fender Jazzmaster Fender Jaguar Danelectro Shorthorn Deluxe |
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Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949, in Morristown, New Jersey)[1] is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best-known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television. Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about the Town of Morristown in New Jersey Other places in New Jersey with similar names are Morris Township, Morris Plains, and Moorestown New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the A music genre is a categorical and typological construct that identifies musical sounds as belonging to a particular category and type of music that can be distinguished from other Art rock is a term describing a subgenre of Rock music that tends to have "experimental or avant-garde influences" and emphasizes "novel sonic texture New Wave is a Rock music genre that existed during the late 1970s and the 1980s A musician is a person who plays or writes Music. Musicians can be classified by their roles in creating or performing music An instrumentalist plays a In the Music industry, a record producer or music producer has many roles among them controlling the recording sessions coaching and guiding the musicians organizing A musical instrument is a device constructed or modified for the purpose of making Music. The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Singing is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, which is often contrasted with Speech. The piano is a Musical instrument played by means of a keyboard that produces sound by striking steel strings with Felt covered hammers Television, formed in New York City in 1973 is an American Rock music band The Neon Boys was a New York band during the early 1970s composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca. The Fender Jazzmaster is an Electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the The Fender Jaguar is an Electric guitar which was introduced in 1962 Danelectro is a manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories specializing in Guitars Bass guitars amplifiers and Effects units Events 1294 - Saint Celestine V abdicates the papacy after only five months Celestine hoped to return to his previous life Year 1949 ( MCMXLIX) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about the Town of Morristown in New Jersey Other places in New Jersey with similar names are Morris Township, Morris Plains, and Moorestown A songwriter is someone who writes the Lyrics to songs the Musical composition (chords or Melody to songs or both The guitar is a Musical instrument with ancient roots that is used in a wide variety of musical styles Rock music is a genre of Popular music often though not necessarily employing Electric guitar, Bass guitar, and Drums. Television, formed in New York City in 1973 is an American Rock music band
Contents |
Biography
Tom Verlaine began his life as Thomas Miller. He began studying piano at an early age but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by John Coltrane. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz. He only took up the instrument in his adolescence, going through a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell at a boarding school they both attended. Richard Hell (born Richard Meyers; October 2, 1949) is an American Singer, Songwriter, Bass guitarist They quickly discovered they shared a passion for music and poetry.
After one failed attempt Verlaine (with Hell) succeeded in escaping from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. Paul-Marie Verlaine (vɛʁˈlɛn March 30, 1844 &ndash January 8, 1896) was a French poet associated with the Symbolist He is quoted as saying this name was inspired by Bob Dylan's name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past. Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca. The Neon Boys was a New York band during the early 1970s composed of Tom Verlaine, Richard Hell, and Billy Ficca. Billy Ficca (born February 15 1950, Delaware) is a Punk rock Drummer who has played with the bands Television,The Washington The Neon Boys quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Stein. Dee Dee Ramone ( Douglas Glenn Colvin) ( September 18, 1951 - June 5, 2002) was a German American Songwriter Chris Stein (born January 5 1950 Brooklyn, New York) is co-founder and Guitar player in the New wave band, Blondie They reformed as Television a few months later, finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd, and began playing at seminal punk clubs like CBGB and Max's Kansas City. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic Richard Lloyd (born 25 October 1951, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter CBGB ( Country, Blue Grass, and Blues) was a music club at 315 Bowery at Bleecker Street in the borough of Manhattan Max's Kansas City was a Nightclub (upstairs and Restaurant (downstairs at 213 Park Avenue South between 17th and 18th Streets in New York City. In 1975 Verlaine kicked Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith replacing Hell. Fred, Frederic, or Frederick Smith may refer to Fred Smith (politician, a North Carolina legislator and attorney Fred Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith when they were both up-and-coming artists in the burgeoning New York punk scene. Patricia Lee Smith ( born December 30 1946 is an American Singer-songwriter and poet Television released two albums, Marquee Moon and Adventure, to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978. Marquee Moon is Television 's 1977 debut Album (see 1977 in music) Adventure is the follow up Album to Television 's critically acclaimed debut Marquee Moon.
Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large. In the 1990s he collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for Love and a .45. Love and a.45 is a Bonnie and Clyde -esque Road movie starring Gil Bellows and Renée Zellweger. In the early 90s Television reformed to record one album which garnered mixed reviews. They have reunited periodically for touring ever since. Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled Songs and Other Things.
Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. Post-punk was a popular musical movement in the mid to late 1970s following on the heels of the initial Punk rock explosion of the early 1970s His poetic lyrics, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. Lyrics (in singular form Lyric) are a set of words that accompany music either by speaking or singing He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock's most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. Richard Lloyd (born 25 October 1951, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania) is an American Guitarist, Singer and Songwriter Verlaine is placed #56 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. Rolling Stone is a United States -based Magazine devoted to Music, Politics, and Popular culture that is published Interestingly, in spite of the adoration he receives from the media, Verlaine rarely reciprocates this attention in the form of interviews, as he hates doing them.
Collaborations
Verlaine was in discussion with Jeff Buckley to produce his second album, before Buckley's accidental drowning in 1997. Jeffrey Scott Buckley (November 17 1966 – May 29 1997 raised as Scotty Moorhead, was an American Singer-songwriter and Guitarist He was the son
He has guested as guitarist on numerous releases by other artists. He played on the song "Fireflies" from Patti Smith's 1996 album Gone Again. Patricia Lee Smith ( born December 30 1946 is an American Singer-songwriter and poet Gone Again is an album by Patti Smith, released June 18, 1996 on Arista Records. This was not the first time Verlaine had collaborated with one-time romantic partner Smith; he played guitar on her debut single "Hey Joe" and on "Break It Up" from her debut album Horses. Hey Joe (disambiguation "Hey Joe" is an American Popular song from the 1960s that has become a rock standard and as such has been performed in Horses is the debut album by Patti Smith, released in 1975 on Arista Records. He also co-authored that song with Smith.
He is part of The Million Dollar Bashers, a supergroup also featuring Sonic Youth stars Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski. Sonic Youth is an American Alternative rock band formed in New York City in 1981 Lee M Ranaldo (born February 3 1956) is an American Singer, Guitarist writer and record producer best known as a co-founder of the Steven Jay Shelley (b 23 June 1963, Midland Michigan) is an American Drummer, best known as the drummer of Alternative rock Wilco is an American rock band based in Chicago, Illinois. The band was formed in 1994 by the remaining members of Alternative country group Nels Cline (born in Los Angeles in 1956 is an American Guitarist and Composer. Tony Garnier may refer to Tony Garnier (architect Tony Garnier (musician Halle Tony Garnier Smokey & Miho was a musical group named after lead vocalists Miho Hatori and Gregory "Smokey" Hormel (born 1959, Los Angeles, CA Anthony John Medeski (born 28 June 1965) is an American Jazz keyboards player and Composer. Their work appears on the original soundtrack to I'm Not There, a biographical film reflecting the life of Bob Dylan. I'm Not There is a 2007 biographical Film directed by Todd Haynes and is inspired by the life of iconic Singer-songwriter A biographical motion picture &mdash often shortened to biopic &mdash is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or people Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman, May 24 1941 in Duluth, Minnesota) is an American singer-songwriter author poet and painter who has been a major
Guitars
Throughout his career Verlaine has played a variety of Fender guitars. Most famously in the heyday of Television he played a Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Jaguar through Fender and Vox amps. The Fender Jazzmaster is an Electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the The Fender Jaguar is an Electric guitar which was introduced in 1962 These guitars were an unusual choice for a rock musician at that time. Verlaine is pictured inside the compilation The Miller's Tale playing both types of guitars. The Miller's Tale is the second of Geoffrey Chaucer 's Canterbury Tales (1380s-1390s told by a drunken miller to "quite" (requite The Knight's Recently, at solo concerts and at Television concerts, Verlaine has played a Fender Stratocaster, including one that has been modified with Danelectro pickups. The Fender Stratocaster, often referred to as the Strat, is a model of Electric guitar designed by Leo Fender, George Fullerton and Freddie Tavares Danelectro is a manufacturer of musical instruments and accessories specializing in Guitars Bass guitars amplifiers and Effects units He has also been seen using a standard Fender Telecaster with a rosewood neck in a video where he tries to teach Richard Hell the song "Venus" (though this was probably just a guitar owned by the studio they were in). The Fender Telecaster, also known as the Tele (pronounced Telly is typically a dual-pickup solid-body Electric guitar made by Fender. Verlaine is credited as being instrumental in bringing what was seen as a "surf" guitar into the rock arena.
Guitar style & effects
Verlaine is an advocate of keen and unusual (yet subtle) guitar sounds and recording techniques including close miking, delay, reverb, slap echo, phasing/flanging, tremolo, etc. See also Microphone There exist a number of well-developed Microphone techniques used for miking musical film or voice sources Delay is an Audio effect which records an input signal to an audio storage medium, and then plays it back after a period of time Reverberation is the persistence of Sound in a particular space after the original sound is removed In the Compositional technique phasing, popularized by composer Steve Reich, the same part (a repetitive phrase is played on two Musical instruments in Flanging is a time-based Audio effect that occurs when two identical signals are mixed together but with one signal time-delayed by a small and gradually changing amount Tremolo, or tremolando, is a Musical term with several meanings A regular and repetitive variation in Amplitude for the duration Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel", saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Going against the prevailing tradition of rock guitar for the past 40 years, he rarely uses distortion. A distortion is the alteration of the original shape (or other characteristic of an object image sound waveform or other form of information or representation
Vibrato is a large part of Verlaine's style and he makes extensive use of the Jazzmaster's unique tremolo bar. Vibrato is a musical effect produced in singing and on musical instruments by a regular pulsating change of pitch, and is used to add expression and vocal-like qualities to The Fender Jazzmaster is an Electric guitar that was first introduced at the 1958 NAMM Show and was designed as a more upmarket instrument than the A tremolo arm or tremolo bar (also called a "whammy bar" or "wang bar" is a lever attached to the bridge and/or the Tailpiece of In terms of guitar scales and note selection, Verlaine utilises the mixolydian and minor pentatonic scale like most rock guitarists, but his sequencing, phrasing, tone and approach to legato and other techniques is unconventional. The Mixolydian mode is a Musical mode or Diatonic scale. It has the same series of tones and semitones as the Major scale, except A pentatonic scale is a musical scale with five pitches per Octave in contrast to an heptatonic (seven note scale such as the Major scale In Musical notation the Italian word legato (literally meaning "tied together" indicates that musical notes are played or sung smoothly
His style may be a product of the way he learned to play; he told a Guitar Player interviewer in 2005 "I never played guitar along with records, so I never learned all the speed licks everybody gravitates to when starting out. Guitar Player is a popular magazine for Guitarists It contains articles interviews reviews and lessons of an eclectic collection of artists genres and products I know 19-year-old guitarists who can play Danny Gatton solos note-for-note. Danny Gatton ( September 4, 1945 – October 4, 1994) was a talented and enigmatic American Guitarist who committed They don’t really know what notes they’re playing, but they do them flawlessly. "[2]
Verlaine uses a thin pick and heavy strings (gauges . 050 to . 013) and tunes down a half step or more. In contrast to most modern rock guitarists, he uses a wound 3rd string. Verlaine usually plays with the bridge pickup on, but picks over the neck pickup. This, according to him, gives a "full yet clear sound"[3]
Discography
Solo albums
- Tom Verlaine (1979)
- Dreamtime (1981)
- Words from the Front (1982)
- Cover (1984)
- Flash Light (1987)
- The Wonder (1990)
- Warm and Cool (1992) (Reissued in 2005)
- The Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology (1996)
- Around (2006)
- Songs and Other Things (2006)
Singles
- "Always" (1981)
- "Postcard from Waterloo" (1982)
- "Let Go the Mansion" (1984)
- "Five Miles of You" (1984)
- "A Town Called Walker" (1987)
- "Cry Mercy, Judge" (1987)
- "The Funniest Thing" (1987)
- "Shimmer" (1989)
- "Kaleidoscopin" (1990)
References
- Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN 0-85112-072-5
- The Great Rock Discography (Fifth Edition) - ISBN 1-84195-017-3
External links
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| NAME | Verlaine, Tom |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Miller, Thomas |
| SHORT DESCRIPTION | Musician, Vocalist, Producer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | December 13, 1949 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Morristown, New Jersey, United States |
| DATE OF DEATH | |
| PLACE OF DEATH | |
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