Douglas Alan Yule (born February 25, 1947) is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of the Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973, serving as the bassist, guitarist, keyboardist and vocalist.
[5] Yule first met the Velvet Underground at his River Street apartment in Boston, which he rented from their road manager, Hans Onsager, and where the band would sometimes stay when they played in the city.
[7] Yule's role became even more prominent on the band's fourth album, Loaded (1970), singing lead vocals on "Who Loves the Sun", "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", and "Oh!
[citation needed] Lou Reed left the Velvet Underground during their summer residency at the New York club Max's Kansas City in August 1970.
With band manager Steve Sesnick looking to fill pending bookings, and with the upcoming release of Loaded in November of that year, Yule, Tucker and Morrison decided to continue performing as the Velvet Underground to promote the album.
Following the release of Loaded in Europe in the spring of 1971, Morrison left the group in August to resume his academic studies in Texas, and was replaced by Willie Alexander on keyboards.
Alexander, Powers and Tucker left the Velvets in late 1972 after being forced out by manager Steve Sesnick prior to a handful of European shows to promote Loaded in Europe.
With no original band members left, and with a group of quickly assembled musicians, Yule played the final shows as the Velvet Underground in 1972.
[citation needed] In early 1976 Yule played guitar on Night Lights (1976) by Elliott Murphy, and joined the band American Flyer later that year as their drummer and background singer.
[citation needed] On August 31, 2006, Yule performed for the first time in public in New York City in over 30 years with Mark Gardener of Ride at Pianos.