Post by Lauren Curtis on Dec 17, 2006 4:32:39 GMT -5
Tucker first began playing the drums at age 19. When she was asked to join the Velvet Underground, Tucker was working for IBM as a keypunch operator. The band's original percussionist, Angus Maclise, had left in November 1965 because he refused to play before a paying audience, and Tucker was drafted because Velvets guitarist Sterling Morrison remembered that the younger 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, playing with mallets rather than drumsticks and rarely using 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, as well as "I'm Sticking with You", a song recorded in 1969 but left (officially) 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 also occasionally played 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.
Tucker temporarily left the group when she became pregnant with her first child in early 1970. Because of her pregnancy, Tucker was not able to 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 the album, Doug Yule played most of 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 to raise her family.
[edit] 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 has made guest performances on a number of others' records, including producing Fire in the Sky (1990) for Half Japanese, whose guitarist, John Sluggett, plays drums on her own recordings. In Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary about Half Japanese, The Band That Would Be King, Tucker performs and is interviewed extensively. Also, she has guested with Magnet and former Velvet Underground band members Lou Reed (New York) and John Cale (Walking on Locusts). In the early 80s, while living in Arizona, Tucker played drums in the short-lived Paris 1942 with Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls. (Reference) Tucker also played drums on and produced the album "The Lives of Charles Douglas" by eccentric indie-rocker and novelist Charles Douglas in 1999.
Tucker now lives in Douglas, Georgia, where she has worked for the Wal-Mart Corporation
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, playing with mallets rather than drumsticks and rarely using 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, as well as "I'm Sticking with You", a song recorded in 1969 but left (officially) 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 also occasionally played 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.
Tucker temporarily left the group when she became pregnant with her first child in early 1970. Because of her pregnancy, Tucker was not able to 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 the album, Doug Yule played most of 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 to raise her family.
[edit] 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 has made guest performances on a number of others' records, including producing Fire in the Sky (1990) for Half Japanese, whose guitarist, John Sluggett, plays drums on her own recordings. In Jeff Feuerzeig's documentary about Half Japanese, The Band That Would Be King, Tucker performs and is interviewed extensively. Also, she has guested with Magnet and former Velvet Underground band members Lou Reed (New York) and John Cale (Walking on Locusts). In the early 80s, while living in Arizona, Tucker played drums in the short-lived Paris 1942 with Alan Bishop of the Sun City Girls. (Reference) Tucker also played drums on and produced the album "The Lives of Charles Douglas" by eccentric indie-rocker and novelist Charles Douglas in 1999.
Tucker now lives in Douglas, Georgia, where she has worked for the Wal-Mart Corporation