Project 1001: Chelsea Girl by Nico
If I seem to be afraid to live the life that I have made in song / It's just that I've been losing so long
I was aware of Nico through her collaborative work with The Velvet Underground. But listening to this album today I had a very negative reaction. It would not be too strong to say I hate her voice. The sound of it is unappealing to me. I found her voice to be close to emotionless, almost clinical. That is not what I’m looking for in a singer. Especially coming off of yesterday’s true masterpiece by Aretha Franklin.
Musically, the album is ok. Jackson Brown and Lou Reed both play on the record. I didn’t like very much of it though. Worst of all, this album is dull. In short, I’ll never intentionally spin this record ever again.
My Rating:
“Like that face of hers -- gaunt and angular, with kohl-rimmed eyes glaring from behind a curtain of blond bangs -- her voice was a thing of strange beauty and austerity.”1
“An unqualified masterpiece.”2
“The material, however, is sabotaged by tepid arrangements and weak production.”3
“Reactions to Chelsea Girl was at best indifferent and at worst, sexist. One Los Angeles Times writer remarked, ‘Nico’s a classy girl, but they’d sell more Nico if she were naked...and not hiding behind a string orchestra in a flower print dress.’ ”4 Um, gross, Los Angeles Times writer.
“…for a brief moment in 1967, Nico occupied the strangely compelling space between arty abandon and fragile balladry. It was – and is – a pleasure.”5
In 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Jesse “Chuy” Varela wrote:
“Chelsea Girl provides ample confirmation of Nico’s originality and potential…Her magical vocals are austere yet mesmerizing…”6
Charts
• Peak on Billboard 200 album chart: n/a
• Singles on Billboard Hot 100 chart: n/a
• RIAA certification: n/a
Released in October of 1967. Here’s what else was happening:
Pop Culture
• Number one song: The Letter by The Box Tops7
• Number one album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles8
• Number one movie: To Sir, With Love by James Clavell9
• Most watched TV programs: The Andy Griffith Show, The Lucy Show, Gomer Pyle USMC10
• NYT bestseller, fiction: The Chosen by Chaim Potok11
• NYT bestseller, non-fiction: Our Crowd: The Great Jewish Families of New York by Steven Birmingham12
Other albums released that month
• Clambake by Elvis Presley
• A Christmas Album by Barbra Streisand
• Love, Andy by Andy Williams
• Sorcerer by Miles Davis
• Soul Men by Sam & Dave
• Where Am I Going? by Dusty Springfield
• Buffalo Springfield Again by Buffalo Springfield
• Cry Softly Lonely One by Roy Orbison
• Sammy Davis Jr. Sings the Complete "Dr. Dolittle" by Sammy Davis, Jr.
• Simply Streisand by Barbra Streisand
• A Whole New Thing by Sly and the Family Stone
• Wildflowers by Judy Collins
• Winds of Change by Eric Burdon & The Animals13
Sport
• Sep 29 American boxer Emile Griffith regains his world middleweight crown on points in a brawling re-match with Italian Nino Benvenuti at Shea Stadium, NY; second of famous trilogy of fights.
• Oct 1 Richard Petty wins the Wilkes 400 at North Wilkesboro Speedway for an unprecedented 10th consecutive victory.
• Oct 4 St Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox, 2-1 in Game 1 of Baseball World Series at Fenway Park; first Fall Classic since 1948 not to feature Yankees, Giants or Dodgers; Cards win series, 4-3.
• Oct 12 Baseball World Series: Lou Brock steals WS record 7 bases as St Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox, 7-2 at Fenway Park for a 4-3 series win; MVP: Cards pitcher Bob Gibson.
• Oct 13 First American Basketball Association (ABA) game is played with Oakland Oaks beating Anaheim Amigos, 132-129; red, white & blue ball and 3-point field goal introduced.14
Notable Births
• Sep 26 Shannon Hoon, American rock singer (Blind Melon - "No Rain"), born in Lafeyette, Indiana (d. 1995).
• Sep 28 Mira Sorvino, Oscar-winning American actress (Mighty Aphrodite, Quiz Show, Norma Jean & Marilyn), born in Tenafly, New Jersey.
• Sep 28 Moon Unit Zappa, American actress (Normal Life), rock vocalist (Frank Zappa - "Valley Girl"), and novelist (America, The Beautiful), born in New York City.
• Oct 1 Scott Young, US Hockey Hall of Fame right wing (1,181 NHL games; Pittsburgh Penguins, Colorado Avalanche), born in Clinton, Massachusetts.
• Oct 2 Floyd "Bud" Gaugh, American ska-punk rock drummer (Sublime), born in Kihei, Hawaii.
• Oct 2 Frankie Fredericks, Namibian athlete (Olympic silver 100m, 200m 1992, 96), born in Windhoek, South West Africa.
• Oct 3 Dan Miller, American guitarist and songwriter (They Might Be Giants, since 1998), born in Rochester, New York.
• Oct 3 Denis Villeneuve, French Canadian director (Sicario, Arrival, Blade Runner 2049, Dune), born in Bécancour, Canada.
• Oct 4 Liev Schreiber, American actor (Spotlight), born in San Francisco, California.
• Oct 5 Guy Pearce, British-Australian Emmy Award-winning actor (Mildred Pierce, Iron Man 2, Memento), born in Ely, Cambridgeshire, England
• Oct 7 American R&B singer-songwriter ("Un-Break My Heart"), born in Severn, Maryland.15
Historical Events
• Sep 29 International Monetary Fund reforms world monetary system.
• Sep 30 USSR's Kosmos 186 & 188 complete 1st automatic docking.
• Oct 2 All Grateful Dead members arrested by narcotic agents for possession of marijuana in San Francisco, California.
• Oct 2 Thurgood Marshall sworn in as 1st black Supreme Court Justice.
• Oct 3 Belgian King Boudouin inaugurates world's biggest floodgate in Antwerp.
• Oct 3 William J. "Pete" Knight sets highest speed ever recorded by a crewed, powered aircraft flying USAF/NASA's X-15 at 7,297 KPH/4,534 MPH/Mach 6.72.
• Oct 6 Haight-Ashbury (San Francisco) hippies throw a funeral for "Hippie" to mark end of "the summer of love".
• Oct 8 Guerrilla leader Che Guevara and his men are captured in Bolivia.16
Notable Deaths
• Sep 25 (Hezekiah) "Stuff" Smith, American jazz violinist, vocalist, and composer ("It's Wonderful"; "You'se A Viprer"), dies at 58.
• Oct 3 Woody Guthrie, American folk singer-songwriter ("This Land Is Your Land"), peace activist, and father of Arlo, dies of Huntington's disease at 55.
• Oct 5 Clifton Williams, American Marine Corps major and NASA astronaut, dies in T-38 jet crash at 35.
• Oct 8 Clement Atlee, British politician, Prime Minister of Great Britain (1945-51), dies at 84.
• Oct 9 Che Guevara, Argentine Marxist revolutionary (Cuban Revolution), author and physician, executed in Bolivia at 39.17
Enjoy and listen without prejudice. Cheers!
Prime playlist: 126. Chelsea Girl by Nico
All the videos: You're Welcome 126; Chelsea Girl by Nico
1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die ed. by Robert Dimery, p. 99.
Ibid.