''Chelsea Girl'' is the debut solo album and second studio album by German singer

Nico Naftiran Intertrade Company limited (NICO) is a Swiss-based subsidiary of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC). NICO is a general contractor for the oil and gas industry. NIOC buys the vast majority of Iran's gasoline imports. NICO is a key pl ...

. It was released in October 1967 by

Verve Records Verve Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group (UMG). Founded in 1956 by Norman Granz, the label is home to the world's largest jazz catalogue, which includes recordings by artists such as Ella Fitzgerald, Nina Simon ...

and was recorded following Nico's collaboration with

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

on their 1967 debut studio album. It was produced by Tom Wilson, who added string and flute arrangements against the wishes of Nico. The title is a reference to

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

's 1966 film ''

Chelsea Girls ''Chelsea Girls'' is a 1966 American experimental underground film directed by Andy Warhol and Paul Morrissey. The film was Warhol's first major commercial success after a long line of avant-garde art films (both feature-length and short). It w ...

'', in which Nico starred. Much of the album features instrumental work and songwriting credits from Velvet Underground members Lou Reed,

Sterling Morrison Holmes Sterling Morrison Jr. (August 29, 1942 – August 30, 1995) was an American guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of the rock group the Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, a ...

, and John Cale. The song "

I'll Keep It with Mine "I'll Keep It with Mine" is a song written by Bob Dylan in 1964, first released by folk singer Judy Collins as a single in 1965. Dylan attempted to record the song for his 1966 album '' Blonde on Blonde''. Dylan's versions Dylan recorded a vo ...

" was written by

Bob Dylan Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan, born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Often regarded as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture during a career sp ...

, while three songs are by Jackson Browne, who contributes guitar.

Background

After collaborating as a singer with the Velvet Underground on their debut ''

The Velvet Underground & Nico ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' is the debut album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico, released in March 1967 through Verve Records. It was recorded in 1966 while the band were featured on Andy Warhol's Ex ...

'' (recorded in 1966 and released in March of the following year),

Warhol superstar Warhol superstars were a clique of New York City personalities promoted by the pop artist Andy Warhol during the 1960s and early 1970s. These personalities appeared in Warhol's artworks and accompanied him in his social life, epitomizing his fam ...

Nico toured with the band in

Exploding Plastic Inevitable The ''Exploding Plastic Inevitable'', sometimes simply called ''Plastic Inevitable'' or ''EPI'', was a series of multimedia events organized by Andy Warhol in 1966 and 1967, featuring musical performances by The Velvet Underground & Nico, screenin ...

(EPI)

multimedia Multimedia is a form of communication that uses a combination of different content forms such as text, audio, images, animations, or video into a single interactive presentation, in contrast to tradit ...

roadshow. Before the EPI came to an end in 1967, Nico took up residence in a New York City coffeehouse as a solo

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

chanteuse; accompanied in turn by guitarists, such as

Tim Hardin James Timothy Hardin (December 23, 1941 – December 29, 1980) was an American folk and blues musician and composer. As well as releasing his own material, several of his songs, including " If I Were a Carpenter" and "Reason to Believe", beca ...

, Jackson Browne, and also her Velvet Underground bandmates Lou Reed,

and John Cale.

Composition

Some of the accompanists wrote songs for Nico to sing, and these form the backbone of ''Chelsea Girl''. Browne contributed "The Fairest of the Seasons", "These Days", and "Somewhere There's a Feather", while Hardin contributed "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce". "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" by Lou Reed was part of the earliest Velvet Underground repertoire (which did not surface as a Velvet Underground recording until it was included in the 1995 box set ''

Peel Slowly and See ''Peel Slowly and See'' is a five-disc box set of material by the Velvet Underground. It was released in September 1995 by Polydor. Compilation The name of this box set comes from the instruction presented on vinyl copies of the band's debut alb ...

''), and Reed, Cale and Morrison in various combinations contributed four more songs. Additionally,

gave her one of his songs to record: "I'll Keep It with Mine". Musically, ''Chelsea Girl'' can be described as a cross between chamber

and 1960s baroque pop. The musical backing is relatively simple, consisting of one or two guitars or, alternatively, a

keyboard instrument A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument played using a keyboard, a row of levers which are pressed by the fingers. The most common of these are the piano, organ, and various electronic keyboards, including synthesizers and digital p ...

, played by either Browne or (a combination of) her Velvet Underground colleagues, but there are no drums or bass instruments, hence the absence of Velvets drummer

Maureen Tucker Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American musician and singer-songwriter who was the drummer for the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground. After they disbanded in the early 1970s, she left the music industry ...

, and adding to the chamber folk feel of the music are the string and flute overdubs added to the initial recordings by producer Tom Wilson and arranger

Larry Fallon Larry Fallon (born Lawrence James Freaso; September 8, 1936 – June 2, 2005) was an American composer, arranger and record producer. Career Fallon's arranger credits include Van Morrison's ''Astral Weeks'', Nico's '' Chelsea Girl'', Jimmy Cl ...

without involving or consulting Nico.

Legacy

In retrospective 21st-century reviews,

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

described the album as "an unqualified masterpiece", while ''

Trouser Press ''Trouser Press'' was a rock and roll magazine started in New York in 1974 as a mimeographed fanzine by editor/publisher Ira Robbins, fellow fan of the Who Dave Schulps and Karen Rose under the name "Trans-Oceanic Trouser Press" (a reference ...

'' commented that the album "is sabotaged by tepid arrangements and weak production" and is "of interest mainly for its links to the band Nico had just left." Nico was dissatisfied with the finished product. Recalling the sessions in 1981, she stated:

In popular culture

Two tracks from the album – "The Fairest of the Seasons" and "These Days" – were used in

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by ...

's 2001 film ''

The Royal Tenenbaums ''The Royal Tenenbaums'' is a 2001 American comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson and co-written with Owen Wilson. It stars Danny Glover, Gene Hackman, Anjelica Huston, Bill Murray, Gwyneth Paltrow, Ben Stiller, Luke Wilson, and Owen W ...

''. "The Fairest of the Seasons" was also used in Gus Van Sant's 2011 film '' Restless'' and Yuri Kanchiku's 2022 drama ''

First Love First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

''. The song "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" was used in

Andrew Dominik Andrew Dominik (born 7 October 1967) is an Australian film director and screenwriter. He has directed the crime film '' Chopper'' (2000), the Western drama film ''The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford'' (2007), the neo-noir ...

's 2012 film ''

Killing Them Softly ''Killing Them Softly'' (stylized in marketing as ''killing them softly'') is a 2012 American neo-noir crime film written and directed by Andrew Dominik and stars Brad Pitt. Based on George V. Higgins' 1974 novel '' Cogan's Trade'', the stor ...

''.

The Tallest Man on Earth Kristian Matsson (born 30 April 1983) is a Swedish singer-songwriter who performs under the stage name The Tallest Man on Earth. Matsson grew up in Leksand, and began his solo career in 2006, having previously been the lead singer of the indie b ...

recorded a version of "The Fairest of the Seasons" for his 2022 album of covers, ''Too Late for Edelweiss''.

Track listing

Side A

# "The Fairest of the Seasons" ( Jackson Browne, Gregory Copeland) – 4:06 # "

These Days These Days may refer to: Music Albums * ''These Days'' (Bon Jovi album), and the title song (see below) ** These Days Tour, a 1995–1996 tour by Bon Jovi in support of the above album * ''These Days'' (Crystal Gayle album), 1980 * ''These ...

" (Jackson Browne) – 3:30 # "Little Sister" ( John Cale, Lou Reed) – 4:22 # "Winter Song" (John Cale) – 3:17 # "It Was a Pleasure Then" (Lou Reed, John Cale,

) – 8:02

Side B

# "

" (Lou Reed,

) – 7:22 # "

" (

) – 3:17 # "Somewhere There's a Feather" (Jackson Browne) – 2:16 # "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (Lou Reed) – 5:07 # "Eulogy to Lenny Bruce" (

) – 3:45

Personnel

Musicians

vocals * Jackson Browne guitars (A1-2, B2-3, B5) * Lou Reed

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

(A3, A5, B1, B4) * John Cale

viola ; german: Bratsche , alt=Viola shown from the front and the side , image=Bratsche.jpg , caption= , background=string , hornbostel_sachs=321.322-71 , hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded by a bow , range= , related= *Violin family ...

, organ,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(A3-5) *

(B1, B4)

Technical

* Tom Wilson producer *

Val Valentin Luis Pastor "Val" Valentin (January 6, 1920 – March 24, 1999) was an American recording engineer with six decades of work in the music industry. Much of his work was done for MGM Records and Verve Records. His large discography includes Jazz ...

director of engineering *

Gary Kellgren Gary Kellgren (April 7, 1939 – July 20, 1977) was an American audio engineer and co-founder of The Record Plant recording studios, along with businessman Chris Stone. Career Engineering Kellgren was a successful and well respected audio en ...

recording and remix engineer *

string and flute arrangements *

Billy Name William George Linich (February 22, 1940 – July 18, 2016), known professionally as Billy Name, was an American photographer, filmmaker, and lighting designer. He was the archivist of The Factory from 1964 to 1970. His brief romance and subsequ ...

photography * Paul Morrissey photography

References

External links

Lyrics and liner notes
{{Authority control 1967 debut albums Albums arranged by Larry Fallon Albums produced by Tom Wilson (record producer) Folk rock albums by German artists Nico albums The Velvet Underground Verve Records albums