Tom Verlaine (born Thomas Miller , December 13, 1949, in Morristown, New Jersey) [1] is a singer, songwriter and guitarist, best-known as the frontman for the New York rock band Television.

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Biography

Tom Verlaine began his life as Thomas Miller. He began studying piano at an early age but switched to saxophone in middle school after hearing a record by John Coltrane. Verlaine was initially unimpressed with the role of the guitar in both rock and jazz, and was only inspired to take up the instrument after hearing the Rolling Stones' "19th Nervous Breakdown" during his adolescence ^[2], at which point he began a long period of experimentation to develop a personal style. Verlaine also had an interest in writing and poetry from an early age. As a teen he was friends with future bandmate and punk icon Richard Hell at a boarding school, Sanford School they both attended. They quickly discovered that they shared a passion for music and poetry.

After one failed attempt, Verlaine (with Hell) succeeded in escaping from school and moved to New York City. He then created his stage name, a reference to the French symbolist poet Paul Verlaine. He is quoted as saying this name was inspired by Bob Dylan's name change and was a way of distancing himself from his past. He and Hell formed The Neon Boys, recruiting drummer Billy Ficca. The Neon Boys quickly disbanded after failing to recruit a second guitarist, despite auditions by Dee Dee Ramone and Chris Stein. They reformed as Television a few months later, finding a guitarist in Richard Lloyd, and began playing at seminal punk clubs like CBGB and Max's Kansas City. In 1975, Verlaine kicked Hell out of the band for his erratic playing and behavior, and they released their first single with Fred Smith replacing Hell. Verlaine dated poet and musician Patti Smith when they were both up-and-coming artists in the burgeoning New York punk scene. Television released two albums, Marquee Moon and Adventure , to great critical acclaim and modest sales before breaking up in 1978.

Verlaine soon released a self-titled solo album that began a fruitful 1980s solo career. He took up residence in England for a brief period in response to the positive reception his work had received there and in Europe at large. In the 1990s he collaborated with different artists, including Patti Smith, and composed a film score for Love and a .45 . In the early 90s Television reformed to record one album which garnered mixed reviews. They have reunited periodically for touring ever since. Verlaine released his first new album in many years in 2006, titled Songs and Other Things .

Verlaine is regarded by many as one of the most talented performers of the early post punk era. His poetic lyrics, coupled with his accomplished and original guitar playing, are highly influential and widely praised in the music media. He and Television bandmate Richard Lloyd are known as one of rock's most acclaimed and inventive guitar duos. Verlaine is placed #56 on Rolling Stone magazine's 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time. In spite of the adoration he receives from the media, Verlaine rarely reciprocates this attention in the form of interviews, as he hates doing them.

Collaborations

Verlaine was in discussion with Jeff Buckley to produce his second album, before Buckley's accidental drowning in 1997.

He has guested as guitarist on numerous releases by other artists. He played on the song "Fireflies" from Patti Smith's 1996 album Gone Again . This was not the first time Verlaine had collaborated with one-time romantic partner Smith; he played guitar on her debut single "Hey Joe" and on "Break It Up" from her debut album Horses . He also co-authored that song with Smith.

He is part of The Million Dollar Bashers, a supergroup also featuring Sonic Youth stars Lee Ranaldo and Steve Shelley, Wilco guitarist Nels Cline, Bob Dylan bassist Tony Garnier, guitarist Smokey Hormel and keyboardist John Medeski. Their work appears on the original soundtrack to I'm Not There , a biographical film reflecting the life of Bob Dylan.

Guitars

Throughout his career Verlaine has played a variety of Fender guitars. Most famously in the heyday of Television he played a Fender Jazzmaster and a Fender Jaguar through Fender and Vox amps. These guitars were an unusual choice for a rock musician at that time. Verlaine is pictured inside the compilation The Miller's Tale playing both types of guitars. Recently, at solo concerts and at Television concerts, Verlaine has played a Fender Stratocaster, including one that has been modified with Danelectro pickups. He has also been seen using a standard Fender Telecaster with a rosewood neck in a video where he tries to teach Richard Hell the song "Venus" (though this was probably just a guitar owned by the studio they were in). Verlaine is credited as being instrumental in bringing what was seen as a "surf" guitar into the rock arena.

Guitar style & effects

Verlaine is an advocate of keen and unusual (yet subtle) guitar sounds and recording techniques including close miking, delay, reverb, slap echo, phasing/flanging, tremolo, etc. Television's first commercially released recording, "Little Johnny Jewel", saw Verlaine plugging his guitar straight into the recording desk with no amplification. Going against the prevailing tradition of rock guitar for the past 40 years, he rarely uses distortion.

Vibrato is a large part of Verlaine's style and he makes extensive use of the Jazzmaster's unique tremolo bar. In terms of guitar scales and note selection, Verlaine utilises the mixolydian and minor pentatonic scale like most rock guitarists, but his sequencing, phrasing, tone and approach to legato and other techniques is unconventional.

His style may be a product of the way he learned to play; he told a Guitar Player interviewer in 2005 "I never played guitar along with records, so I never learned all the speed licks everybody gravitates to when starting out. I know 19-year-old guitarists who can play Danny Gatton solos note-for-note. They don’t really know what notes they’re playing, but they do them flawlessly." ^[3]

Verlaine uses a thin pick and heavy strings (gauges .050 to .013) and tunes down a half step or more. In contrast to most modern rock guitarists, he uses a wound 3rd string. Verlaine usually plays with the bridge pickup on, but picks over the neck pickup. This, according to him, gives a "full yet clear sound"

Discography

Solo albums

• Tom Verlaine (1979)
• Dreamtime (1981)
• Words from the Front (1982)
• Cover (1984)
• Flash Light (1987)
• The Wonder (1990)
• Warm and Cool (1992) (Reissued in 2005)
• The Miller's Tale: A Tom Verlaine Anthology (1996)
• Around (2006)
• Songs and Other Things (2006)

Singles

• "Always" (1981)
• "Postcard from Waterloo" (1982)
• "Let Go the Mansion" (1984)
• "Five Miles of You" (1984)
• "A Town Called Walker" (1987)
• "Cry Mercy, Judge" (1987)
• "The Funniest Thing" (1987)
• "Shimmer" (1989)
• "Kaleidoscopin" (1990)

References

1. (TV) This Case Is Closed!/Maybe I Should Have Been A Research-Librarian/Exact Location
2. All-Music Guide
3. Tom Verlaine