The Velvet Underground are easily my favourite band. So much so that I can't cover them in one post so I'll split it up into three. This one will cover there first two albums.
The next post will cover the last two studio albums and some studio recordings released after they broke up. The third post will cover some of the live albums that are available. There's going to be a ton of mp3s through these posts, I hope you like them.
I can still remember the first time I heard the Velvet Underground. It was an advert for Dunlop Tyres, and the song playing was Venus in Furs. Here's the commercial:
the song was totally different from anything I'd heard before. Maybe I'd led a sheltered life, but I'd never heard an electric viola before. I'd never heard anything that sounded even remotley like it.
I lived in a small town without a record store but eventually I managed to find and buy a best of Lou Reed & Velvet Underground compilation on cassette (remember those?) from the local Woolworths (remember those?)
and it all grew from there.
Their first album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, is talked about as the most influential album of all time. Probably it is, but that shouldn't overshadow what an awesome album it is. It's easy for people to talk about how influential the album is, but in a way that just makes it in to a museum artifact. It makes listeners focus on that. And that's not a bad thing. But it shouldn't be the only people know about this album. Despite being influential and experimental when it was released it still sounds fresh today. It's an album about the freaks and weirdos of the world, the marganilised parts of society, it stands on it's own merits as a great album and it should be remembered more for that than for it's undoubted influence on other bands.
Sample some of the songs below and find out for yourself.
Venus In Furs (the song in the video above)
Run Run Run
Heroin
I'll Be Your Mirror (sung by Nico)
On this album the band were:
Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Moe Tucker. Nico sang lead vocals on 3 of the tracks on the album.
You can buy the album here
As a bonus here's an alternative take of Venus In Furs from an earlier recording session at Scepter Studios in New York.
The second album White Light/White Heat has a different sound. All avant garde/expiremental rock dripping with feedback. Containing 6 tracks from the sub-3 minute White Light/White Heat to the 17+ minute Sister Ray it's a glorious album. I think it's often overlooked. The first album is experimental and edgy but stilll, everything on it is recognisably a song. So I suppose this is considered the 'difficult' album. On White Light/White Heat the band were Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Moe Tucker.
Buy the album here and enjoy the songs below:
Lady Godiva's Operation
Here She Comes Now
I Heard Her Call My Name
that seems a pretty good place to draw this post to a close. After this album John Cale left/was thrown out of the band. From here on The Velvet Underground would have the standard vocals, two guitars, a bass and some drums, even if they still didn't sound like a 'standard' band. But more about that in the next post. For now, enjoy the music.
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