Maureen Tucker by Jonathan Richman

I had the chance to see Moe Tucker play many times with The Velvet Underground from 1967 to 1970.

She was not just a good drummer. For those who were hypnotized by their sound she was one of the head hypnotists. Those attentive enough to notice her way with a beat and her electrifying sound as she stood there and hit probably all still remember it. Sometimes she'd use mallets on the snare drum. She turned the bass drum horizontal and she hit that with mallets, using it like a tom-tom. No one ever did this! It made her sound unlike any other drummer before or since. And for those of us who loved the sound of that band this drum style was much a signature of the Velvets as was any other of their sounds. It was raw and wild.

Maureen's records still have this raw party feeling. They're rock 'n' roll records. They don't get pretentious, you know. And she goes for that classic rough guitar tone from her players. Also, she's still the kind of person I like to see in the business. She's nice. She still sounds like a person when you talk to her on the phone, not an 'artiste', if you know what I mean. And she's fun.

the end

Thanks: Moe Tucker, Sal Mercuri, Aral Sezen, Paul Kremer, Daniel Coston. Also: Steve Rovner, Mark Rowan, Dennis J. Gergel Jr., Joe Viglione, 57 Records.