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), keyboard bass (synth bass) or a low bra ...

. He was a member of

the Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground were an American Rock music, rock band formed in New York City in 1964. Its classic lineup consisted of singer and guitarist Lou Reed, Welsh multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and percussionis ...

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

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, 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 lat ...

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

Beach Boys The Beach Boys are an American rock band formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and their friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by thei ...

, and from 1967 with Alexander and another future fellow Velvet, Doug Yule, in the Grass Menagerie. He was also the bass player for another Boston-based band called

Listening Listening is the act of attention, paying attention to sounds. It includes listening to the sounds of Natural environment, nature, listening to music, and perhaps most importantly, Interpersonal communication, interpersonal listening, i.e. liste ...

(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 Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician and songwriter. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades. Althoug ...

left the Velvet Underground in late August 1970, Doug Yule assumed leadership of that band and moved from

bass guitar The bass guitar (), also known as the electric bass guitar, electric bass, or simply the bass, is the lowest-pitched member of the guitar family. It is similar in appearance and construction to an Electric guitar, electric but with a longer nec ...

vocals Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define sing ...

and

guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...

. 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 (, from Welsh language, Welsh for 'big hill') is a census-designated place (CDP) located in Pennsylvania, United States. It is located just west of Philadelphia along Lancaster Avenue, also known as U.S. Route 30 in Pennsylvania, U.S. ...

. Also in late 1970, the band, which at that time consisted of Yule, Powers, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker, recorded two songs for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, 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 Limited, also known as Polydor Records, is a 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 ...

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

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and subsequently embarked on a short autumn tour of

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

in support of current

album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

'' Loaded'', playing gigs in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, and the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

. After completing the tour on November 21, 1971 in

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, 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 within the entertainment industry. The responsibility of a talent manager is to oversee the day- ...

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 located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

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, 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