Reading About History

John Cale : Mary Lou

[Purchase]

In February of 1977 John Cale released Guts, a compilation of tracks from three previous albums ( Fear, Slow Dazzle and Helen of Troy) as well as "Leaving It Up To You" and  the previously unreleased "Mary Lou". Originally scheduled to be on the Helen Of Troy album,"Leaving It Up To You "  was removed because of its reference to Manson murder victim Sharon Tate.

Robert Christgau gave the album an A, writing 

This is how Island makes up for withholding U.S. release on Helen of Troy, and I think we're better off. As a whole, Helen of Troy is sodden and stylized, and while "Pablo Picasso" and "Leaving It All Up to You" are Cale at his mad best, "Mary Lou" and "Helen of Troy" itself almost drag this compilation down. They don't, though. Cale's Island music epitomizes the cold, committed dementia of the best English rock, and side two--comprising "Fear Is a Man's Best Friend," "Gun," "Dirtyass Rock 'n' Roll," and "Heartbreak Hotel"--is a hard-sell advert for the disease.