Paris 1919 is a 1973 album by former Velvet Underground member John Cale

John Cale

John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....

. It was produced by Chris Thomas

Chris Thomas (record producer)

Chris Thomas is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.Thomas is quoted as saying -Early life:Thomas was...

 and features a backing band consisting largely of members of Little Feat

Little Feat

Little Feat is an American rock band formed by singer-songwriter, lead vocalist and guitarist Lowell George and keyboardist Bill Payne in 1969 in Los Angeles....

. It is the most accessible and traditional of Cale's albums, and the most well-known of his work as a solo artist.

A remastered and expanded edition was released in 2006. It features alternate versions of each song on the album, as well as the previously unreleased session outtake "Burned Out Affair".

Original 1973 release

1. "Child's Christmas in Wales" (3:21)
2. "Hanky Panky Nohow" (2:46)
3. "The Endless Plain of Fortune" (4:13)
4. "Andalucia" (3:54)
5. "Macbeth" (3:08)
6. "Paris 1919" (4:07)
7. "Graham Greene
   Graham Greene
   Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
   
   " (3:00)
8. "Half Past France" (4:20)
9. "Antarctica Starts Here" (2:47)

2006 bonus tracks

10. "Burned Out Affair" (Outtake)
11. "Child's Christmas in Wales" (Alternate Version)
12. "Hanky Panky Nowhow" (Drone Mix)
13. "The Endless Plain Of Fortune" (Alternate Version)
14. "Andalucia" (Alternate Version)
15. "Macbeth" (Rehearsal)
16. "Paris 1919" (String Mix)
17. "Graham Greene" (Rehearsal)
18. "Half Past France" (Alternate Version)
19. "Antarctica Starts Here" (Rehearsal)
20. "Paris 1919" (Piano Mix)
21. "Macbeth" (Instrumental - hidden track)

Song information

Although John Cale has set poems of Dylan Thomas

Dylan Thomas

Dylan Marlais Thomas was a Welsh poet and writer, Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 11 January 2008. who wrote exclusively in English. In addition to poetry, he wrote short stories and scripts for film and radio, which he often performed himself...

 to music, the song "Child's Christmas In Wales" only shares a title with Thomas' prose poem

Prose poetry

Prose poetry is poetry written in prose instead of using verse but preserving poetic qualities such as heightened imagery and emotional effects.-Characteristics:Prose poetry can be considered either primarily poetry or prose, or a separate genre altogether...

 of the same name. The song does reference Thomas' poem "The Ballad of the Long-Legged Bait" in its second verse.

"Antarctica Starts Here" is inspired by the 1950 Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder

Billy Wilder was an Austro-Hungarian born American filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, artist, and journalist, whose career spanned more than 50 years and 60 films. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant and versatile filmmakers of Hollywood's golden age...

 film, Sunset Boulevard

Sunset Boulevard (film)

Sunset Boulevard is a 1950 American film noir directed and co-written by Billy Wilder, and produced and co-written by Charles Brackett...

starring Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson

Gloria Swanson was an American actress, singer and producer. She was one of the most prominent stars during the silent film era as both an actress and a fashion icon, especially under the direction of Cecil B. DeMille, made dozens of silents and was nominated for the first Academy Award in the...

.

Reviews

The Los Angeles Times

Los Angeles Times

The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....

has called Paris 1919 "the idiosyncratic pinnacle to Cale's thrilling yet perverse career, despite the fact it never topped the charts." Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media

Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...

 gave the album's 2006 rerelease a 9.5/10 rating, and AllMusic gave it 4.5/5 stars.

Cover versions

Songs from Paris 1919 have been covered by such notable musicians as Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo

Yo La Tengo, sometimes abbreviated as YLT, is an American alternative rock band formed in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1984. Since 1992, the lineup has consisted of Ira Kaplan , Georgia Hubley , and James McNew .Despite achieving limited mainstream success, Yo La Tengo has been called "the quintessential...

, Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers

Manic Street Preachers are a Welsh alternative rock band, formed in 1986. They are James Dean Bradfield, Nicky Wire, Richey Edwards and Sean Moore. The band are part of the Cardiff music scene, and were at their most prominent during the 1990s...

 frontman James Dean Bradfield

James Dean Bradfield

James Dean Bradfield is the lead guitarist and vocalist for the Welsh rock band Manic Street Preachers.- Early life :...

, Final Fantasy

Final Fantasy

is a media franchise created by Hironobu Sakaguchi, and is developed and owned by Square Enix . The franchise centers on a series of fantasy and science-fantasy role-playing video games , but includes motion pictures, anime, printed media, and other merchandise...

's Owen Pallett

Owen Pallett

Michael James Owen Pallett is a Canadian composer, violinist, keyboardist, and vocalist from Toronto, Ontario. He won the 2006 Polaris Music Prize for the album He Poos Clouds....

, The Dave Soldier

Dave Soldier

Dave Soldier is an American composer and performer residing in New York.- Musical works :Some of his work is based on unusual collaborations. In the Thai Elephant Orchestra he built giant musical instruments on which he trained a group of elephants to improvise...

 String Quartet, Love and Rockets

Love and Rockets

Love and Rockets may refer to:* Love and Rockets , a comic book series by Jaime and Gilbert Hernandez* Love and Rockets , an alternative rock band formed by members of Bauhaus, named after the comic...

' David J

David J

David John Haskins , better known as David J, is a British alternative rock musician. He was the bassist for the gothic rock band Bauhaus and Love and Rockets....

, Okkervil River, Niteflights, Jay Bennett

Jay Bennett

Jay Walter Bennett was an American guitarist, multi-instrumentalist, engineer, producer, and singer-songwriter, best known for his work with the band Wilco.-Early life and work with Wilco:...

 and Edward Burch

Edward Burch

Edward Burch is a Chicago and Champaign, Illinois-based musician and journalist. As a guitarist, he is a founding member of alternative country band The Kennett Brothers and, as a suitcase player, of the quasi-skiffle combo The Viper and His Famous Orchestra...

, and Sally Timms

Sally Timms

Sally Timms is an English singer and songwriter. Timms is best known for her long involvement with the Mekons whom she joined in 1985....

.

Personnel

• John Cale
  John Cale
  John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
  
  : vocals, bass, guitar, keyboards, viola
• Wilton Felder
  Wilton Felder
  Wilton Lewis Felder is both a saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of The Crusaders, initially called the Jazz Crusaders. Felder, Wayne Henderson, Joe Sample, and Stix Hooper founded the group while in high school in Houston...
  
  : bass
• Lowell George
  Lowell George
  Lowell Thomas George was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer, who was the main guitarist and songwriter for the rock band Little Feat.- Early years :...
  
  : guitar
• Richard Hayward
  Richie Hayward
  Richie Hayward was a drummer best known as a founding member and drummer in the band Little Feat. He performed with several bands and worked as a session player...
  
  : drums
• Bill Payne
  Bill Payne
  Bill Payne is a founding member of American rock band Little Feat. He is considered by many other piano rock musicians, including Elton John, to be one of the finest American piano rock and blues music artists...
  
  : keyboards
• Chris Thomas
  Chris Thomas (record producer)
  Chris Thomas is an English record producer who has worked extensively with The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Roxy Music, Badfinger, Elton John, Paul McCartney, Pulp and The Pretenders. He has also produced breakthrough albums for The Sex Pistols and INXS.Thomas is quoted as saying -Early life:Thomas was...
  
  : tambourine
• The U.C.L.A. Orchestra
• Orchestral manager: J. Druckman
• Mike Salisbury: sleeve design and photography