Tom V erlaine

 

Jeffrey St. Clair

+ If you haven’t read Dean Wareham’s profile of the late Tom Verlaine, you should. It’s a musician’s tribute to the influences of another musician of his generation, that describes Verlaine’s guitar techniques, his inimitable voice, what he was like to perform with, how he worked in the studio, and what he was up to after TV fractured.

+ Television was “my band” for a couple of years. I followed them intensely, rushing to gigs up and down the east coast. Smart, if opaque, lyrics, a nonchalant attitude, and a two-guitar attack that pulsed, shimmered and rocked. Maybe they were punk, but they sure didn’t sound like the Ramones or the Stooges. One friend from those days said Verlaine’s guitar reminded him of Roger McGuinn’s often ethereal 12-string runs for The Byrds. Another said he was the closest a white player ever came to Sonny Sharrock. Sometimes he sounded like both on the same song.

+ Verlaine started out as a sax-player, influenced by Ornette Coleman, Albert Ayler and Coltrane. You can still hear those echoes in his work with Television and beyond.

+ Verlaine used to live near The Strand bookstore, which he visited nearly every day, usually picking up two or three books. One of the clerks noticed that he often bought the same titles, over and over. Eventually, she asked him why he kept buying the same book. Verlaine said, “I send them to people who need to read them.”