Editing Angus MacLise (section)

==Biography==

===Early years===
Angus William MacLise was born on March 14, 1938, in [[Bridgeport, Connecticut]], the son of a book dealer. Despite some formal training as a percussionist, his playing style became so idiosyncratic that many assumed he was self-taught.<ref name="nytimes.com">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/06/arts/music/angus-maclise-of-velvet-underground-in-dreamweapon.html?_r=0|title=The Velvet Unknown, Now Emerging|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=5 May 2011 |access-date=2016-03-05 |last1=Sisario |first1=Ben }}</ref>

===The Velvet Underground===
MacLise was a member of [[La Monte Young]]'s [[Theatre of Eternal Music]], with [[John Cale]], [[Tony Conrad]], [[Marian Zazeela]]<ref>Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, p. 157</ref> and sometimes [[Terry Riley]]. He contributed to the early [[Fluxus]] newspaper VTre, edited by [[George Brecht]], and was also an early member of [[the Velvet Underground]],<ref name="Watson, Steven 2003 p. 208">Watson, Steven (2003), "Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties" Pantheon Books, p. 208</ref> having been brought into the group by flatmate [[John Cale]] when they were living at 56 [[Ludlow Street]]<ref name="Watson, Steven 2003 p. 208"/> in [[Manhattan]]. [[Lou Reed]] recruited his friend [[Sterling Morrison]], whom he knew from [[Syracuse University]], and the initial line-up of the Velvets consisted of Reed, Cale, Morrison and MacLise.

MacLise played [[bongo drum|bongos]] and [[hand drums]] during 1965 with the first incarnation of the Velvet Underground and he was also capable of playing [[tabla]], [[cimbalom]] and [[tambourine]]. Although the band regularly extemporized soundtracks to underground films during this era, MacLise never officially recorded with them, and is often considered something of a shadowy, legendary figure in their history.{{by whom?|date=February 2025}} Demos recorded during this period are included on the ''Peel Slowly and See'' box set, but MacLise plays on none of them because (according to John Cale) he did not appreciate the need to turn up on time.

Cale describes MacLise as "living on the Angus calendar", showing up to gigs hours or even days after the band had finished.

When the band's first paying gig in November 1965 arose, MacLise quit, suggesting the group were [[selling out]]. He was replaced by [[Moe Tucker]], resulting in the "classic" lineup of the Velvet Underground.{{fact|date=February 2025}}

===Brief return to the Velvet Underground===
In 1966 when Velvet Underground lead singer and guitarist [[Lou Reed]] was in the hospital with [[hepatitis]], MacLise rejoined the group for a five-day run of performances at Poor Richard's in Chicago, June 21–26, 1966 during the [[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]] performances, sharing duties with [[Gerard Malanga]], whom Angus had taught to play [[tabla]]. Cale took over lead vocals and organ, drummer Maureen Tucker switched to [[bass guitar|bass]] and MacLise drummed; by now, Tucker's idiosyncratic tribal style of drumming was integral to the group's music.{{citation needed|date=September 2016}}

During an [[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]] performance in 1966, MacLise showed up half an hour late and carried on drumming for half an hour after the set had finished to compensate for his late arrival.<ref name="blastitude.com"/><ref name="ReferenceA">{{cite web|author=Richie Unterberger|author-link=Richie Unterberger|url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/angus-maclise-mn0000756247 |title=Angus MacLise &#124; Biography & History |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2016-03-05}}</ref>

By this time the Velvet Underground had found some recognition (if not great financial success) and MacLise was anxious to rejoin the group, but according to the notes of the box set ''Peel Slowly and See'', the VU's primary songwriter and ''de facto'' bandleader [[Lou Reed]] had specifically prohibited MacLise from rejoining the band full-time due to his erratic behavior.

===Later years===
After leaving the Velvet Underground for good, MacLise moved to [[Berkeley, California]]. He married Hetty McGee<ref>{{cite web|author=Richie Unterberger |url=https://www.allmusic.com/artist/hetty-maclise-p416087/biography |title=Hetty MacLise &#124; Biography & History |publisher=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=2016-03-05}}</ref> in a [[ceremony|wedding ceremony]] at [[Golden Gate Park]] in [[San Francisco]], presided over by [[Lysergic acid diethylamide|LSD]] guru [[Timothy Leary]].<ref name="blastitude.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.blastitude.com/13/ETERNITY/angus_maclise.htm |title=Blastitude 13 |website=Blastitude.com |access-date=2016-03-05}}</ref> Together, they had a son named Ossian Kennard MacLise, who was recognized by [[Rangjung Rigpe Dorje]], the 16th Karmapa, as a reincarnation of a Tibetan saint, or [[tulku]], and at age four became a [[Buddhist monk]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.phantomlyoracula.com/2007_03_01_archive.html |title=March 2007 |publisher=Phantomly Oracula |date=2007-03-06 |access-date=2016-03-05 |archive-date=2016-07-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160702092349/http://www.phantomlyoracula.com/2007_03_01_archive.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The MacLises travelled to [[Canada]], [[France]], [[Greece]] and [[India]], before finally settling in [[Nepal]].

A student of [[Aleister Crowley]] (he was working on a script for a film version of Crowley's ''[[Diary of a Drug Fiend]]'' before he died), he began to blend Tibetan [[mysticism]] with his music to create sound through various [[drone (music)|drone]] techniques.