Following his dismissal from The Velvet Underground in the Autumn of 1968, Cale acted as a producer and arranger on albums by The Stooges and Nico before venturing out as a solo artist with his debut album ‘Vintage Violence’ in 1970. Following the release of a collaborative album with Terry Riley he signed with Reprise Records and recorded two albums for the label.

In 1974 John Cale relocated to London and signed with Island Records, for whom he was to release three inventive and influential albums within a period of just over a year. ‘Fear’, released in September 1974, was a fine work and featured contributions from Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera (also credited as executive producers) and Richard Thompson. ‘Slow Dazzle’ appeared in April 1975, featuring Eno and Manzanera, along with guitarist Chris Spedding, and included a superb cover of ‘Heartbreak Hotel’ and the avant garde spoken word piece ‘The Jeweller’. Cale’s final Island album, ‘Helen of Troy’, was issued in November 1975 and was completed shortly after he had finished producing the Patti Smith album ‘Horses’. The record featured Spedding and Eno along with contributions from Phil Collins.

‘Ship of Fools’ features all three John Cale albums issued by Island Records, along with seven bonus tracks drawn from rare singles and session out-takes.