Doug Yule

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Doug Yule bigraphy, stories - American musician

Doug Yule : biography

February 25, 1947 –

Douglas Alan Yule (born February 25, 1947) is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of The Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.

Personal life

Yule currently lives in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, with his partner Beth, his son Dan, and two dogs. He plays fiddle and builds violins. In 2006, in addition to his appearance with Mark Gardener, he played bass on a brief tour with The Weisstronauts, a Boston surf-rock group. As of 2007, he is a member of an old-time band called RedDog.

Biography

Early career

Yule began playing with various bands in Boston in the 1960s. In 1968, he was in a band called The Grass Menagerie, along with Walter Powers and Willie Alexander.

The Velvet Underground

1968–1970

When John Cale left the Velvet Underground at the behest of Lou Reed in 1968, Yule (who had befriended the band in 1967) joined the band (then consisting of Reed, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker) as Cale’s replacement. Yule made his first studio appearance on their third album, The Velvet Underground (1969), playing bass and organ, as well as singing lead vocals on the ballad "Candy Says" and co-singing the chorus of the album’s penultimate track, "The Murder Mystery," with Maureen Tucker. Yule’s contribution to the LP was considerable, and his vocals would later come in handy on the road. When Reed’s voice became strained from touring, Yule would sing lead on several songs. While Cale had been a more experimental bass player, Yule was considered more technically proficient on the bass than Cale and his distinct melodic style suited Reed’s desire to move into a more mainstream direction. On the band’s fourth album, Loaded (1970), Yule’s role became even more prominent, singing lead vocals on several songs on the LP ("Who Loves The Sun", "New Age", and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin’"), and playing six instruments (including keyboard and drums). Yule’s brother, Billy, also joined in on the sessions as a drummer, as regular drummer Maureen Tucker was pregnant and therefore absent for most of the recording.

1970–1975

Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground in 1970. Yule, Tucker and Morrison decided to continue performing as the Velvet Underground; Yule took over lead vocals and switched main instrument from bass to guitar, and Walter Powers was recruited as the Velvets’ new bass guitarist.

Morrison left the group in 1971, and was replaced by Willie Alexander on keyboards, but Tucker, Alexander, and Powers all left the Velvets in 1972. With other musicians, Yule did two more tours as the Velvet Underground in 1972-73 and (with Ian Paice of Deep Purple and some session musicians) recorded the album Squeeze (1973) – in essence a Doug Yule solo album, though released as a Velvet Underground album. After the final tour by the Yule-fronted Velvet Underground in 1973, the name was finally retired.

During an interview for radio on December 26, 1972, Reed was asked if he knew where Doug Yule was, to which he sharply responded, "Dead, I hope." When the interviewer mentioned that he went to high school with Yule and told Reed "You can’t say that," Reed retorted that he could and did say it, but that he didn’t mean it. (This interview can be found on Reed’s American Poet live album, released in 2001.) Several years later, Reed had hung up his post-Velvet bitterness enough to contact Yule to play bass on his solo album Sally Can’t Dance (1974). and at Reed’s request, Yule joined his band for the subsequent European tour as his guitar player. Following the tour, Yule left the group while Reed resumed work on Metal Machine Music. The 30th anniversary re-issue of Reed’s album Coney Island Baby includes bonus tracks featuring Yule on guitar and bass, recorded in January 1975.

1976–1978 (session work & American Flyer period)

After a couple of years off from music, in 1976 Yule was tapped to do session guitar work on Night Lights (1976) by Elliott Murphy, and then he joined the band American Flyer later that year as their drummer and background singer.