Maureen Tucker
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Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944, in New Jersey, United States) is best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.
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Career
The Velvet Underground
Tucker first began playing the drums at age 19. At the time when she was asked to join the Velvet Underground, Tucker was working for IBM as a computer programmer. The band's original percussionist, Angus Maclise, had left in October 1965 because he refused to play before a paying audience, and Tucker was drafted in because Velvets guitarist Sterling Morrison remembered the kid sister of one of his college friends played the drums.
Tucker's style of playing was unusual: she played standing up, rather than seated, using a simplified drum kit of tom toms, a snare drum and an upturned bass drum, using mallets rather than drumsticks, and she rarely used cymbals.
Apart from drumming, Tucker sang (co-)lead vocals on three Velvet Underground songs: the acoustic guitar number "After Hours" and the strange poem set to music "The Murder Mystery", both from 1969's The Velvet Underground album, and "I'm Sticking with You", a song recorded in 1969 but left unreleased until it appeared on the 1985 outtakes compilation VU. Lou Reed has said of "After Hours" that it was "so innocent and pure" that he could not possibly sing it himself. In the early days, Tucker would also occasionally play the bass guitar during live gigs; the only released song that features her playing bass is a recording of "Melody Laughter" included on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See.
When Tucker became pregnant of her first child in early 1970, she temporarily left the group. Because of her pregnancy, Tucker could not play on what turned out to be the band's last studio album with Lou Reed, Loaded. She was replaced for live gigs by Billy Yule, bassist Doug Yule's younger brother; on Loaded, it is mainly Doug Yule who plays the drums.
Tucker returned to the band in late 1970, by which time Reed had left the group and Doug Yule had assumed leadership. She toured North America (United States and Canada) and Europe (United Kingdom and the Netherlands) with the band during 1970 and 1971, then quit the band and the music business altogether to raise her family.
Solo career and Velvets reunion
After raising her family, Tucker started recording and touring again on a small scale in the 1980s. She released a number of albums on small, independent labels that feature her singing and playing guitar, fronting her own band. This band at times included former Velvets colleague Sterling Morrison. Tucker also participated in the 1992-1993 Velvet Underground reunion, touring Europe and releasing the double album Live MCMXCIII.
Apart from releasing her own records, Tucker made guest performances on a number of friends' records, including Half Japanese, Magnet and former Velvet Underground band members Lou Reed (New York) and John Cale (Walking on Locusts).
Albums discography
With The Velvet Underground
- The Velvet Underground and Nico (1967)
- White Light/White Heat (1968)
- The Velvet Underground (1969)
- 1969 – The Velvet Underground Live (1974 [1969])
- VU (outtakes compilation, 1985 [1968-1969])
- Another View (outtakes compilation, 1986 [1967-1969])
- Live MCMXCIII (1993)
- Peel Slowly and See (box set, 1995 [1965-1970])
- Loaded (Fully Loaded Edition) (1997 [1969-1970])†
- Final V.U. 1971-1973 (live box set, 2001 [1971-1973])
- The Quine Tapes (live, 2001 [1969])
- The Very Best of The Velvet Underground (2003 [1966-1970])
† Although Tucker did not appear on the original release of the band's 1970 album Loaded, a 1997 2CD re-issue by Rhino Records subtitled Fully Loaded Edition includes two late 1969/early 1970 demos, "I Found a Reason" and another take on "I'm Sticking with You", which feature her on drums and vocals, respectively.
Solo
- Playin' Possum (1981)
- Life in Exile after Abdication (1989)
- I Spent a Week There the Other Night (1991)
- Dogs Under Stress (1994)
- Moe Rocks Terrastock (live, 2002)
- Waiting for My Men (best of, 2003)
External links
- Taj Moe Hal (http://www.spearedpeanut.com/tajmoehal/), Maureen's official website
- Foggy Notion (http://home.hetnet.nl/~macplurkis/vu/index.html), a Velvet Underground web corner