Tom Verlaine: (13 December 1949 - 28 january 2023) 4 Albums

 

Tom Verlaine, Influential Guitarist and Songwriter, Dies at 73. He first attracted attention with the band Television, a fixture of the New York punk rock scene. But his music wasn’t so easily

categorized. Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller, December 13, 1949 – January 28, 2023) was an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. Tom Verlaine, whose band Television was one of the most influential to emerge from the New York punk rock scene centered on the nightclub CBGB — but whose exploratory guitar improvisations and poetic songwriting were never easily categorizable as punk, or for that matter as any other genre — died on Saturday in Manhattan.
                          

Verlaine was born Thomas Miller to a Jewish family in Denville, New Jersey on December 13, 1949. He moved to Wilmington, Delaware, with his family at age of six. He began studying piano at an early

age, but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by Stan Getz. Verlaine initially was unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock music and jazz, but was inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown" during his adolescence, at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. A later musical influence of Verlaine's became jazz musician Miles Davis' electric-period recordings, particularly the Japanese LPs Agharta (1975) and Dark Magus (1977), which he was able to obtain as imports.
                        

Famed for his trailblazing work as the singer and guitarist of the seminal New York punk band Television, Tom Verlaine also carved out an acclaimed and eclectic solo career. Born Thomas Miller in

Wilmington, Delaware in 1949, Verlaine (who borrowed his name from the French symbolist poet) was trained as a classical pianist but gravitated toward rock music after an encounter with the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown." In 1968, he and bassist Richard Meyers (later Richard Hell) moved to New York's Lower East Side, where they and drummer Billy Ficca formed the group the Neon Boys. After the addition of second guitarist Richard Lloyd, the band renamed itself Television.
                      

                    
Beginning with their landmark 1975 debut single, "Little Johnny Jewel," Television became one of the

most renowned groups on the burgeoning New York underground scene; though lumped together with the punk phenomenon, the band's complex songcraft -- powered by Verlaine's strangled vocals, oblique lyrics, and finely honed guitar work -- clearly set them apart from their peers. However, after only two albums, 1977's classic Marquee Moon and the disappointing 1978 follow-up, Adventure, Television disbanded, and Verlaine started a solo career.
                           

TOM VERLAINE + PATTI SMITH

He resurfaced in 1979 with a self-titled debut that featured the song "Kingdom Come," later covered by avowed fan David Bowie. 1981's dense Dreamtime earned significant acclaim, and even hit the U.S.

album charts. Both 1982's diverse Words from the Front and 1984's Cover drew raves from the British press, spurring Verlaine to take up residency in London. After a three-year hiatus, he returned with Flash Light, regarded as one of his best solo efforts. Following 1990's The Wonder, Television briefly re-formed for a self-titled album and tour; the group again broke up, however, and in 1992 Verlaine issued his first instrumental LP, Warm and Cool. In 1994, he composed the score for the film Love and a .45.
                    

After that, Verlaine renewed his working relationship with Patti Smith (he played on her first two

albums), playing shows and recording new material with her sporadically for the next decade. Also in the mid-'90s, sessions as producer for Jeff Buckley were scrapped (although the material was later issued as Sketches for My Sweetheart the Drunk) and Television continued to be an on-again, off-again live venture. It wasn't until 2006 that Verlaine finally released new solo material: Songs and Other Things and an instrumental follow-up to Warm and Cool, Around, for new label Thrill Jockey.

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)
Songs and Other Things (2006)
Around (2006)

TOM VERLAINE - TOM VERLAINE 1978

                  

Tom Verlaine is the eponymous solo debut studio album by American musician and Television guitarist/vocalist Tom Verlaine. It was released in 1979 through Elektra Records. Several tracks, including "The Grip of Love", "Breakin' in My Heart", "Last Night", and "Red Leaves" trace their roots

to unreleased Television songs. In the case of "Red Leaves", the verses are drawn from "Adventure", the unfinished title track of Television's 1978 album Adventure. Fred Smith, bassist for Television, also performs on the record. Ricky Wilson, at the time guitarist of the B-52's, plays guitar on "Breakin' in My Heart"; it is the only song Wilson recorded that did not involve other B-52's members. David Bowie covered "Kingdom Come" the following year on Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps). Verlaine was originally set to play lead guitar on this version; however, Bowie was unhappy with his part and instead used King Crimson guitarist, Robert Fripp.

TRAXS

                        

01. The Grip Of Love    3:56
02. Souvenir From A Dream    3:46
03. Kingdom Come    3:35
04. Mr. Bingo    3:55
05. Yonki Time    3:50
06. Flash Lightning    3:48
07. Red Leaves    2:47
08. Last Night    4:43
09. Breakin' My Heart    6:03

Tom Verlaine – guitar, vocals; organ on "Kingdom Come"
Fred Smith – bass, guitar, percussion, vocals
Jay Dee Daugherty – drums, percussion, vocals
Allan Schwartzberg – drums, percussion on "Kingdom Come"
Tom Thompson – drums on "Last Night"
Deerfrance – vocals on "Red Leaves"
Mark Abel – 12-string guitar on "Last Night"
Bruce Brody – piano on "Last Night"
Ricky Wilson – guitar on "Breakin' in My Heart"

Flac Size: 228 MB

TOM VERLAINE - DREAMTIME 1981

                             

Dreamtime is the second solo studio album by American musician Tom Verlaine, originally released in

1981. "Without a Word" is a rewrite of "Hard On Love," an unreleased Television song performed live in 1974 and 1975. Verlaine was an advocate of guitar techniques and recording processes including close miking, delay, reverb, slap echo, phasing/flanging, tremolo, etc. Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel", saw Verlaine, in defiance of common practice, plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Verlaine rarely employed heavy distortion.

TRAXS

                          

01. There's A Reason    3:40
02. Penetration    4:02
03. Always    3:58
04. The Blue Robe    3:57
05. Without A Word    3:20
06. Mr. Blur    3:25
07. Fragile    3:29
08. A Future In Noise    4:16
09. Down On The Farm    4:49
10. Mary Marie    3:25

Bass – Donnie Nossov, Fred Smith
Drums – Jay Dee Daugherty, Rich Teeter
Guitar – Ritchie Fliegler
Guitar, Vocals, Written-By – Tom Verlaine
Keyboards – Bruce Brody

Flac Size: 235 MB  

TOM VERLAINE - SONGS AND OTHER THINGS 2006

                          

Songs and Other Things is an album by Tom Verlaine. It was engineered in and around New York City by Patrick A. Derivaz, Wayne Dorell, Fred Smith, Mario Salvati, and Larry 7. The development of

Verlaine's style likely was influenced by 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. I know 19-year-old guitarists who can play Danny Gatton solos note-for-note. They don’t really know what notes they’re playing, but they do them flawlessly."

TRAXS

                        

01. A Parade In Littleton    3:35
02. Heavenly Charm    2:24
03. Orbit    4:34
04. Blue Light    2:27
05. From Her Fingers    3:20
06. Nice Actress    3:10
07. A Stroll    3:20
08. The Earth Is The Sky    3:42
09. Lovebird Asylum Seeker    3:20
10. Documentary    4:14
11. Shingaling    4:13
12. All Weirded Out    4:23
13. The Day On You    5:10
14. Peace Piece    2:36

Bass – Fred Smith  (tracks: 1), Patrick A. Derivaz* (tracks: 2 to 5, 7 to 9), Tony Shanahan (tracks: 12)
Drums – Graham Hawthorne (tracks: 10, 11, 13), Jay Dee Daugherty (tracks: 1, 12), Louie Appel* (tracks: 2 to 9)
Engineer – Fred Smith, Larry 7, Mario Salvati, Patrick A. Derivaz, Wayne Dorell
Guitar, Vocals – Tom Verlaine
Management – john@johntelfer.net
Rhythm Guitar – Jimmy Rip (tracks: 12)
Songwriter – Tom Verlaine

Flac Size: 310 MB

TOM VERLAINE - AROUND  2006 (Apr 25, 2006)

                     

Mr. Verlaine, who was the band’s (Television) lead singer and did most of the songwriting, studied

piano and saxophone as a child, and his music had roots in everything from the free jazz of John Coltrane to the Rolling Stones’ hard-driving “19th Nervous Breakdown.” His often impressionistic lyrics reflected the influence of poets like Paul Verlaine, from whom the man born Thomas Miller took his stage name.

TRAXS

                    

01. The O Of Adore    3:54
02. Brief Description    1:45
03. Rain, Sidewalk    2:32
04. Shadow Walks Away    1:52
05. Meteor Beach    2:43
06. Mountain    4:47
07. Candle    2:01
08. Balcony    2:04
09. Flame    2:56
10. Curtains Open    1:36
11. Eighty Eights    3:32
12. A Burned Letter    2:21
13. Wheel Broke    3:12
14. The Suns Gliding!    4:06
15. New    2:14
16. Rings
(Written-By – Ficca, Derivaz, Verlaine)   6:38

Bass – Patrick A. Derivaz
Drums – Billy Ficca
Engineer – Patrick
Guitar – Tom Verlaine
Management – john@johntelfer.net
Producer – Tom
Written-By – Tom Verlaine (tracks: 1 to 15)

Flac Size: 244 MB