Nico’s 1974 album, The End, was her fourth solo release, her fifth collaboration with John Cale (including The Velvet Underground & Nico) and her third with him as producer. John Cale had signed a new contract with Island records in 1973 and Nico was also brought to the label by A&R man Richard Williams, although The End would be only full album she recorded for the label.
\nThe album was recorded in 1973 at Sound Techniques in London, with John Wood (who had also engineered the earlier Desertshore) and Cale. He chose Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera of Roxy Music to work on the album with him; between them providing the entire instrumental framework to Nico and her harmonium. The album was recorded quickly; the arrangements were mostly Nico\u2019s own and Cale was impressed by the new way she enriched her phrasing with Arabic flourishes which he was able to complement with Middle Eastern style percussion.
\nThe End, remastered here for the first time, was a definite move away from the stark almost classical sound of Nico and Cale\u2019s collaboration on The Marble Index, and the folk motifs employed on Desertshore. It completes her glorious triptych with John Cale.
\nIsland included Nico on the bill of the specially prepared publicity concert which also launched new LP’s from Cale, Eno, and Kevin Ayers. The concert took place at London\u2019s Rainbow Theatre on 1st June 1974 which became the title of the resulting live album released only three weeks later. Nico performed two tracks from her new album; \u2018The End\u2019, and a previously unreleased version of \u2018Das Lied der Deutschen\u2019. Both tracks can be heard on this new edition.
\nNico also had a champion in John Peel, appearing twice on his programme during this period. Her first Peel session was recorded on 2nd February 1971 ostensibly to promote Desertshore, but she debuted one new song \u2018Secret Side\u2019, later recorded for The End. This session was released on vinyl by Strange Fruit but has long been deleted. Peel invited Nico on the programme again on 3rd December 1974. This session, along with \u2019Secret Side\u2019 and \u2018The Valley of the Kings\u2019, which she performed on The Old Grey Whistle Test have been unreleased until now. The Strange Fruit tracks make their CD debut here.
\nAlthough critically well received, the album sold poorly and Nico was dropped by Island; she wouldn\u2019t get another recording contract for almost a decade, recording only two further studio albums before her death in 1988.
\nThe End remains one of Nico\u2019s most remarkable records and brilliantly complements her two previous solo albums produced by John Cale – The Marble Index and Desertshore (released in 2006 as The Frozen Borderlines). This trilogy undoubtedly represents Nico\u2019s best work, a unique statement from an artist with an uncompromising musical vision.
\nDISC ONE
\nThe Original Album remastered for the first time <\/p>\n
01: It Has Not Taken Long (4: 11 )
\n02: Secret Side (4:08)
\n03: You Forget To Answer (5:07)
\n04: Innocent and Vain (3:51)
\n05: Valley of the Kings (3:57)
\n06: We\u2019ve Got The Gold (5:44)
\n07: The End (9:36)
\n08: Das Lied Der Deutschen (5;28 )<\/p>\n
DISC TWO<\/p>\n
01: Secret Side (4:05) \u2013 John Peel Session 20th February 1971 \u2013 First Time on CD
\n02: We\u2019ve Got The Gold (4:00) – John Peel Session – 3rd December 1974 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n03: Janitor of Lunacy (4:36) – John Peel Session – 3rd December 1974 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n04: You Forget To Answer (4:32) – John Peel Session – 3rd December 1974 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n05: The End (9:07) – John Peel Session – 3rd December 1974 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n06: Secret Side (4:07) \u2013 Old Grey Whistle Test \u2013 7th February 1975 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n07: Valley of the Kings (3:34) \u2013 Old Grey Whistle Test – 7th February 1975 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n08: Das Lied Der Deutschen (5:37) June 1st 1974 \u2013 Previously Unreleased
\n09: The End (9:14 ) – from June 1st 1974 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nico’s 1974 album, The End, was her fourth solo release, her fifth collaboration with John Cale (including The Velvet Underground & Nico) and her third with him as producer. John Cale had signed a new contract with Island records in 1973 and Nico was also brought to the label by A&R man Richard Williams, although […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":295,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-press_releases"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1941\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.livestagemusic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}