Re: The Velvet Underground

aen · Post by **aen** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:05 am

OOH! when they had that VU reunion show, they guitar guy who was not Lou reed played a jaguar!

I'm in the process of recording a VU ripoff. Well, i guess it's closer to "heroes" by bowie, but that was a loving ripoff of Waiting For my Man.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 11:14 am

Maggieo wrote:
Ian wrote:
dc wrote: Nico's uber-growl can be a bit of an acquired taste. (i love it, i just don't think it's everyone's cup of tea.)
Are you familiar with the Nico record "Chelsea Girl"? I just can't get enough of it these days. Pretty much an acquired taste as well...
There's also a Reed-Cale-Nico live set from 1972, called, I think, Bataclan 1972, that's pretty darn cool.

That was the "reunion" show of sorts in Paris, no?

Maggieo · Post by **Maggieo** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 12:17 pm

Ian wrote:
Maggieo wrote:
Ian wrote: Are you familiar with the Nico record "Chelsea Girl"? I just can't get enough of it these days. Pretty much an acquired taste as well...
There's also a Reed-Cale-Nico live set from 1972, called, I think, Bataclan 1972, that's pretty darn cool.
That was the "reunion" show of sorts in Paris, no?

Yeah, of sorts. It was minus Sterling Morrision and Mo Tucker, tho'.

John, Lou, Sterl and Mo got back together in 1993 and did a European tour, resulting in a live album and DVD, where, as noted above, Sterling played a Jaguar for part of the show.

batchainpuller · Post by **batchainpuller** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 1:17 pm

Ian wrote:
dc wrote: Nico's uber-growl can be a bit of an acquired taste. (i love it, i just don't think it's everyone's cup of tea.)
Are you familiar with the Nico record "Chelsea Girl"? I just can't get enough of it these days. Pretty much an acquired taste as well...

I think all of Nico's albums are fantastic. "Chelsea Girl" is certainly the most accessible, but I consider "The Marble Index" and "Desert Shore" (produced by John Cale) masterpieces. Some of John Cale's solo work is equally good.

chrisjedijane · Post by **chrisjedijane** » Fri Nov 10, 2006 2:54 pm

Has anyone read that book about her - "Songs they never play on the radio" by James Young? It's written by her keyboardist, and details the period in the early-mid 80's when some media guy tried to kick-start her career. There's some great anecdotes in there, and it's pretty moving, too.

Chelsea Girl is a great album.

I was given the 4 main VU albums for my birthday by an uncle once, and I certainly found "Loaded" the most accessible, even though I came to love them all...

batchainpuller · Post by **batchainpuller** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 12:46 am

chrisjedijane wrote: Has anyone read that book about her - "Songs they never play on the radio" by James Young? It's written by her keyboardist, and details the period in the early-mid 80's when some media guy tried to kick-start her career. There's some great anecdotes in there, and it's pretty moving, too.

Chelsea Girl is a great album.

I was given the 4 main VU albums for my birthday by an uncle once, and I certainly found "Loaded" the most accessible, even though I came to love them all...

You're right that "Loaded" is the most accessible; very much the Velvet Underground's worst album, yet of course still a classic. White Light/ White Heat - thank you. "Sister Ray" is one of the greatest recorded pieces of any type of music. Ever. Seriously.

chrisjedijane · Post by **chrisjedijane** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 2:32 am

Has anyone heard Joy Division's cover of "sister ray"?

It's... "interesting".

dc · Post by dc » Sat Nov 11, 2006 6:15 am

chrisjedijane wrote: Has anyone heard Joy Division's cover of "sister ray"?

It's... "interesting".

i believe New Order covered that song too, on a Factory Records comp or something from the mid-80s.

idiotbear · Post by **idiotbear** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 10:13 am

I love The Velvet Underground And Nico (which I think is the right title for The Banana Album, isn't it?). "I'll Be Your Mirror" is just stunning.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Sat Nov 11, 2006 11:58 pm

idiotbear wrote: I love The Velvet Underground And Nico (which I think is the right title for The Banana Album, isn't it?). "I'll Be Your Mirror" is just stunning.

That's one of my favourite songs.

blacktiger · Post by **blacktiger** » Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:46 pm

batchainpuller wrote:You're right that "Loaded" is the most accessible; very much the Velvet Underground's worst album, yet of course still a classic.

That's probably true, though I might argue that the Velvets never had a worst album. My biggest problem with "Loaded" is the lack of Moe Tucker; Billy Yule plays too damn many fills for a VU record.

regimentle · Post by **regimentle** » Wed Nov 15, 2006 9:42 am

Life changing. The band that for me, created the idea that you could play beautiful music that was somehow at the same time beyond ugly and raw. Reading about how messed up they were offstage makes me like them more. Lou Reed: the only openly proud to be an egotistical asshole that I love and respect wholeheartedly.

Ian · Post by **Ian** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:14 am

Has anyone been following the whole acetate saga?

Long story short, a guy from Montreal found a studio acetate of "The Velvet Underground & Nico" in Chelsea, where he bought it for 75 cents. It has different mixes and versions of all the songs on the record.

It's up on EBay right now and has hit just over $100,000.00, with four days still left on the bidding.

Here's the link to the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0054910309

Post by **i love sharin foo** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:31 pm

blacktiger wrote: My biggest problem with "Loaded" is the lack of Moe Tucker

I won't argue there. Loaded has always been my least favorite one, but it's still damn fine. I have always liked the 3rd record the most I think. "Pale blue eyes" has always been one of my absolute favorites. I like the reunion record a lot as well, but I think there are a few parts that bother me. The main one being that John really over did it on the Gift. To me, the original version was so awesome because he just nonchalantly finished the last line and the band just kept chugging away... "..and right through the center of Waldo jeffer's head, which split slightly and caused little rhythmic arcs of red to pulsate gently in the morning sun"

Justin

batchainpuller · Post by **batchainpuller** » Mon Dec 04, 2006 9:14 pm

i love sharin foo wrote:
blacktiger wrote: My biggest problem with "Loaded" is the lack of Moe Tucker
I won't argue there. Loaded has always been my least favorite one, but it's still damn fine. I have always liked the 3rd record the most I think. "Pale blue eyes" has always been one of my absolute favorites. I like the reunion record a lot as well, but I think there are a few parts that bother me. The main one being that John really over did it on the Gift. To me, the original version was so awesome because he just nonchalantly finished the last line and the band just kept chugging away... "..and right through the center of Waldo jeffer's head, which split slightly and caused little rhythmic arcs of red to pulsate gently in the morning sun"

Justin

I already mentioned that "Loaded" is my least favourite however the alternate versions and demos on the "Fully Loaded" edition are pretty awesome.