Walter Powers III (born August 4, 1946) is an American

bass guitarist A bassist (also known as a bass player or bass guitarist) is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass (upright bass, contrabass, wood bass), bass guitar (electric bass, acoustic bass), synthbass, keyboard bass or a low b ...

. He was a member of

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 ...

from late 1970 until late 1971. Walter Powers was born in

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts (Massachusett: ''Muhsachuweesut Massachusett_writing_systems.html" ;"title="nowiki/> məhswatʃəwiːsət.html" ;"title="Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət">Massachusett writing systems">məhswatʃəwiːsət'' En ...

, United States. Before joining the Velvet Underground he played with future co-Velvet

Willie Alexander Willie "Loco" Alexander (born January 13, 1943) is an American singer and keyboardist based in Gloucester, Massachusetts. He played with the Lost, the Bagatelle and the Grass Menagerie, before becoming a member of the Velvet Underground in la ...

-based band the Lost from 1964 until 1967, during which time they toured with the

Beach Boys A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shell ...

, and from 1967 with Alexander and another future fellow Velvet,

Doug Yule Douglas Alan Yule (born February 25, 1947) is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of the Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973 serving as the bassist, guitarist and occasional lead vocalist. Biography Early life Doug ...

, in the Grass Menagerie. He was also the bass player for another Boston-based band called

Listening Listening is giving attention to a sound or action. When listening, a person hears what others are saying and tries to understand what it means. The act of listening involves complex affective, cognitive and behavioral processes. Affective proce ...

(only album released by Vanguard in 1968 under the same name).Henry Daniel. "Velvet Underground". In: '' Frendz'', November 5, 1971. Interview with the band
link
/ref> When Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground in late August 1970, Doug Yule assumed leadership of that band and moved from

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

and

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 ...

. Yule asked Powers to join to fill in the bass spot; Powers played his first (known) gig with the band on November 19, 1970 in

Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania Bryn Mawr, pronounced , from Welsh language, Welsh for big hill, is a census-designated place (CDP) located across three townships: Radnor Township, Pennsylvania, Radnor Township and Haverford Township, Pennsylvania, Haverford Township in Delaw ...

. Also in late 1970, the band, which at that time consisted of Yule, Powers,

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

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 ...

, recorded two songs for Atlantic Records, the Doug Yule compositions "Friends" and "She'll Make You Cry", which remain unreleased (both songs would later be re-recorded with different personnel for the controversial 1973

Polydor Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States ...

album '' Squeeze''). During 1971, the Velvet Underground extensively toured the north and northeast of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

and subsequently embarked on a short autumn tour of

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

in support of current

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...

'' Loaded'', playing gigs in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. After completing the tour on November 21, 1971 in Groningen, the band planned to start recording a new album,Anonymous. "Velvet Underground ist wieder da!" In: ''Sounds'', November–December 1971. Interview with the band
link
but

band manager A talent manager (also known as an artist manager, band manager or music manager) is an individual who guides the professional career of artists in the entertainment industry. The responsibility of the talent manager is to oversee the day-to-da ...

Steve Sesnick sent all of the band but Yule home,Arjan de Weerd. "Despite All the Amputations, the Name of This Band Is Velvet Underground", July 2, 2004. Interview with Willie Alexander that mentions his work with Power
link
/ref> presumably to retain maximum control of the product (the album ''Squeeze'') and effectively ending Powers' time with the band. Powers and Alexander toured

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

together in 1982 to support Alexander's then-current albums; Powers appears to have dropped out of music since, having returned to Boston to work in the

MIT Libraries The library system of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT Libraries) covers all five academic schools comprising the university. The print and multimedia collections of the MIT Libraries include more than 5 million items, with ov ...

, where he plays for the library staff band, Dewey and the Decimals, and slow-pitches softball for the MIT Librarie
Bibliotechs

Discography

With Willie Alexander

* '' Solo Loco'' (released 1981) * '' Solo Loco Redux'' (released 2002) * '' Autre Chose: Live'' (released 1982)

With the Velvet Underground

* '' Final V.U. 1971-1973'' (recorded 1971–1973, released 2001)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Powers, Walter 1946 births Living people American rock bass guitarists American male bass guitarists The Velvet Underground members Musicians from Boston American male singers Guitarists from Massachusetts 20th-century American guitarists