Holmes Sterling Morrison Jr. (August 29, 1942 – August 30, 1995) was an American guitarist, best known as one of the founding members of the rock group the Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals. Unlike bandmates Lou Reed, John Cale, Maureen Tucker and Nico, Morrison never released a solo album or made recordings under his own name. He was nevertheless an essential element of the group's sound as a guitarist whose percussive and syncopated rhythm playing and melodic lead parts provided the foil for Lou Reed's improvisational rhythm and lead guitar riffs. Biography Early years Morrison was born on August 29, 1942, in the Long Island town of East Meadow, New York. He had two brothers and two sisters. His parents divorced when he was young and his mother remarried. He first met future Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker during childhood, through her brother Jim, who attended Division Avenue High School in Levittown, New York, with Morrison. Originally playing trumpet, Morrison switched to guitar after his teacher was drafted. Morrison majored in English at the City College of New York. While visiting his friend Jim Tucker at Syracuse University, he met Lou Reed, a friend of Tucker and a fellow English student. Before Reed graduated in 1964, they met again in New York City in 1963. By this time, Reed had met John Cale and was interested in starting a band, so when they encountered Morrison, he was invited to join. The Velvet Underground (1965–1971) Reed, Cale, Morrison and percussionist Angus MacLise constituted the original line-up of the Velvet Underground, taking the name from Michael Leigh's sadomasochistic novel of the same name. Reed sang and played guitar, Morrison played guitar, Cale played viola, bass and keyboards and MacLise was playing bongos, hand drums, tabla, tambourines and the cimbalom. MacLise was soon replaced by Maureen Tucker. Morrison primarily played guitar on the band's first two albums, although when Cale, the band's usual bassist, played viola or keyboards in the studio or on stage, Morrison often filled in on bass. Some songs (including "Heroin" and "Sister Ray") had Reed and Morrison on their usual guitars while Cale played viola and Vox Continental organ respectively, with no bass guitar. There were at least three songs where Cale played both piano and bass while Reed and Morrison played guitars and these were "I'm Waiting for the Man",