You Are Beautiful and You Are Alone: The Biography of Nice by Jennifer Otter Bickerdike

 

Of course, I first learned about the lovely and enigmatic Nico from her appearance on the first Velvet Underground album, but I soon explored her solo work and was always somewhat enthralled, even if her work didn't touch me like Cale's or Reed's solo performances did. Regardless, I wanted to learn more about the woman and my wonderful wife picked this biography up for me for Xmas.

Born in Germany during World War Two, there were many hardships, from the loss of her father to the ravages of war when she was two years old, to the continual bombings (she and her mother did go to the country to get away from the worst of it) to a later alledged rape by the victors. At 16 she fell into modeling, which opened up the world to her and she traveled, earned a good amount of money, became involved in films, and had a child by an actor that she was infatuated with. Having a knock for being at the right place at the right time, she met Dylan and the Stones, having affairs with Bob (who she credits for giving her the idea of being a pop singer) and Brian Jones and recording for Stones' manager, Andrew Loog Oldham. From there, she wandered to New York and became part of Warhol's clique and, of course, appeared and recorded briefly with the Velvet Underground.

Her solo career was slow to get off the ground, with Nico performing to cassette tapes at one point before working with Tim Buckley and then Jackson Browne and befriending Leonard Cohen (who wanted more, but he was "too old" for her). Of course, her fling with Jim Morrison is well documented and he was the first person to encourage her to write her own songs and accepting her intellectually as well as physically. She then picked up a harmonium and, with some help from Ornette Coleman (!), she started working on her solo act.

I love her dirgey, droney solo work, but the record buying public was really not ready for Marble Index when it was released and very possibly still isn't, but it gave Nico a true outlet for her own, personal creativity and is highly revered by those in the know. She wasn't much for promoting her own works, but she happened onto Iggy Pop around this period and followed him around NYC and back to Ann Arbor. He is quite complimentary to Nico and rounds out her personality a bit more with some of his unique insights.

The depiction of Nico's years as a junkie are squalid and sad - terrible living conditions, very little support for her musical career, her looks and health already fading in the 1970's. While she has the respect of many, it is difficult for her to earn a living, with her reputation as a junkie preceding her. She does hook up with a manager of sorts, who does keep her in gigs and she does eventually sign with Beggar's Banquet Records, and actually, finally, quits heroin. Of course, the final irony is that once she kicked heroin and was inspired to work on new projects, then she died an ignoble death, falling off of her bike in the summer heat of Ibiza. 

Bickerdike did extensive research for this book and sites the interviews that she used  and there is an entire chapter of footnotes, as well - she is quite detailed, but still keeps the story flowing and highly readable. Of course, I now what to revisit all of Nico's records, some of which I unfortunately sold in my poorer days, and they are not all available any longer. Regardless, this is a fine read of an unique and fascinating character.