Sterling Morrison
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Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr (b. August 28 1942 in Westbury, NY – d. August 30 1995, Poughkeepsie, NY) was one of the founding members of influential rock group The Velvet Underground, playing lead, rhythm and bass guitar and singing backing vocals.
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Biography
Morrison majored in English at Syracuse University; it was here that he met Lou Reed, a fellow English student. Although the two jammed together, they drifted apart after Morrison quit his studies and Reed graduated (1964). They met again in New York City in 1965. By this time, Reed had met John Cale and wanted to start a band, so when they ran into Morrison, he was invited to join.
Morrison primarily played guitar and sometimes bass guitar on the band's first two albums. This was necessitated because of their live-in-the-studio approach, and when Cale — the band's nominal bassist — played viola or keyboards on a record, Morrison often played bass. Other songs, however, (including "Heroin" and "Sister Ray") find Reed and Morrison on guitars while Cale plays viola or organ. Although Morrison was a good bassist (witness his playing on "Sunday Morning" or "Lady Godiva's Operation"), he disliked the instrument.
After Cale left the group in 1968, Morrison always played guitar. There was no established "lead" or "rhythm" guitar hierarchy in the Velvet Underground: both Reed and Morrison traded roles regularly. Additionally, Morrison did backing vocals and the occasional lead vocal spot ("The Murder Mystery").
In 1970, when the band were back in NYC to play an entire summer's engagement at Max's Kansas City, Morrison seized the opportunity to complete his studies and graduate (from City College). In 1971 he was offered, and accepted, a position at the University of Texas at Austin, which meant he had to leave the band, playing his last gig with them on August 21 in Houston.
Sometime in the Seventies (the records are vague), Morrison changed from an academic career to being the captain of a Houston tugboat; he pursued this well into the 1980s. After leaving the Velvet Underground, Morrison's musical career was primarily limited to informal sessions for fun. From the mid-eighties on, however, he occasionally recorded or performed with Reed, Cale, and Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker, who had started a solo career of her own. Morrison was part of her touring band for most of the late 1980's and early 1990's.
In 1992, the core Velvet Underground line-up of Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker decided to reform for a tour and possible album. The band extensively toured Europe in 1993, alternatively as headline act or supporting U2. Morrison's playing held up well, and his performances were generally agreed to be top-notch.
By the end of the tour, relationships had soured again and plans for a US tour and MTV Unplugged album were scrapped.
The European tour turned out to be the last for the Velvet Underground. Sterling joined Maureen Tucker's band for a tour in 1994, and later that year, was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, from which he died on August 30, 1995, two days after his 53rd birthday.
Discography with the Velvet Underground
Of course, only those titles featuring Morrison are listed. For a full discography, please see the Velvet Underground article.
Singles
- "All Tomorrow's Parties" / "I'll Be Your Mirror" (1966)
- "Sunday Morning" / "Femme Fatale" (1966)
- "White Light/White Heat" / "Here She Comes Now" (1968)
- "What Goes On" / "Jesus" (promo, 1969)
- "Who Loves the Sun" / "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (1971)
- "Foggy Notion" / "I Can't Stand It" (promo, 1985)
- "Venus in Furs" / "I'm Waiting for the Man" (live, 1994)
Original albums
- The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
- White Light/White Heat (1968)
- The Velvet Underground (1969)
- Loaded (1970)
- Live at Max's Kansas City (1972)
- Live MCMXCIII (1993)
Later releases of archive material
- Live 1969 (1974)
- VU (1985)
- Another View (1986)
- Peel Slowly and See (box set, 1995)
- Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes (live, 2001)
- The Very Best of the Velvet Underground (2003)