Tom Verlaine

Tom Verlaine

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.

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. They quickly discovered they shared a passion for music and poetry.

After one failed attempt they 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. 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. He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca. The Neon Boys quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Stein. They reformed as Television a few months later finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd and began playing at seminal punk clubs like CBGB's and Max's Kansas 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. Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith when they were both up and coming artists in a small New York scene. Television released two albums Marquee Moon and Adventure to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978.

Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful eighties solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work has received there and in Europe at large. In the nineties he collaborated with different artists including Patti Smith and composed a film score for Love and a .45. In the early nineties 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 regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. Tom Verlaine's poetic lyrics, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock music's most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. Verlaine is placed #56 on Rolling Stone Magazine's "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

Collaborations

Verlaine was in discussion with Jeff Buckley to produce his second album, before Buckley's accidental drowning in 1997.

He has guested as guitarist on numerous releases by other artists. He played guitar on the song Fireflies from Patti Smith's 1996 album Gone Again. This was not the first time Verlaine had collaborated with one-time romantic partner Smith; he played guitar on "Hey Joe" from her debut single "Piss Factory/Hey Joe" and on "Break It Up" from her debut album "Horses". He also co-authored that song with Smith.

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. 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. Recently, at solo concerts and at Television concerts, Verlaine has played a Fender Stratocaster, including one that has been modified with Danelectro pickups. 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". Verlaine is credited as being instrumental in bringing what was seen as a "surf" guitar into the rock arena.

Later, guitarists like Lee Ranaldo and Thurston Moore of the band Sonic Youth used Jazzmasters, Jaguars and other similar guitars to achieve their signature sound, especially on earlier albums. Kurt Cobain famously played a Jaguar also, albeit a heavily modified model. Kevin Shields of My Bloody Valentine made extensive use of Jazzmasters and Jaguars. J. Mascis is also notable for his use of Jazzmaster guitars. A lot of the current popularity of these guitars can be attributed to the grunge/post-punk boom, and Verlaine was heavily influential in kicking off this craze.

Guitar style & effects

Verlaine is a keen (yet subtle) advocate of unusual guitar sounds and recording techniques including close miking, delay, reverb, slap echo, phasing/flanging, tremolo etc. Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel" saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification.

Verlaine is also an advocate of vibrato and extensive use of the tremolo bar. 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.

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)

With Television

• Television Discography

References

• Guinness Rockopedia - ISBN 0-85112-072-5
• The Great Rock Discography (Fifth Edition) - ISBN 1-84195-017-3

External links

• The Wonder