And I haven't even mentioned Vaclav Havel yet. One of those few copies of Velvet Underground and Nico showed up in Czechoslovakia in 1968. The impact of that album on Czech culture can be noted by the fact that the overthrow of the Communists in the late-80s was known as the "Velvet Revolution." Havel, who was named the first president of the emergent Czech Republic, told Velvet's songwriter Lou Reed, upon meeting him for the first time, "Did you know that I am president because of you?"
The Velvet Underground and Nico made an impression on me from the start. I'm not exactly certain how I heard about it, although since it came out at about the same time that "underground" radio was emerging, it's likely I just heard it on KMPX. I'm pretty sure my brother had a copy, although by then he didn't live at home. I had only just entered my suburban teens, and the very idea of a song called "Heroin" was enough to impress me, not to mention "I'm Waiting for the Man" (who will sell me drugs), "Venus in Furs" (S&M), and "The Black Angel's Death Song" ... this wasn't just another hippie band singing about love and LSD.
Elliott Murphy, in his excellent liner notes to the posthumous Live 1969 release, got it just right:
The Velvet Underground must have scared a lot of people. What goes through a mother's mind when she asks her fifteen-year-old daughter, "What's the name of that song you're listening to?" and her daughter replies, "Heroin."The Velvet Underground and Nico introduced me to a world I didn't know existed. And the music kicked ass ... given their influence on punk rock, everyone knows the Velvets were capable of an ungodly skronky racket, but they were equally adept at quiet songs that were rarely as soft as they sounded.
And they weren't done. White Light/White Heat was almost all skronk ... and in the days when albums consisted of two sides, Side Two was about the most astonishing thing I'd ever heard. Only two songs were on Side Two. First was "I Heard Her Call My Name," wherein Lou Reed plays what is possibly the greatest guitar solos in recorded history (Reed has always been an exemplary rhythm guitarist, but this is something else entirely) ... and when Lou blurts out "and then my MIND split open" and his guitar shows us what he means, it's transcendent. And on and on he goes, until everyone else in the band except drummer Maureen Tucker has given up, and still he blazes. You think there's no reason to continue ... either you hate it with a passion, which is understandable, or you're so enthralled that you figure it's OK if you never hear another note of music again. At which time, you're confronted with the other song on Side Two, the infamous "Sister Ray," 17 1/2 minutes of two, maybe three, chords, endlessly droning, while Lou wanders in once in awhile to tell the story of ... well, who the hell knows?
Cecil's got his new pieceAfter this, the third album, called simply The Velvet Underground, was a shock. What could shock anyone at that point, you might ask. How about the quietest album the band ever recorded? This is probably my favorite of the original VU albums, in part because it's proof of how effortlessly they pulled off not only the skronky blast but the moody quiet. Not that they don't also rock out ... the Feelies built a large part of their career reworking "What Goes On" ... but there are few moments as precious as Mo Tucker singing "After Hours" to close out the album ("Oh, someday I know, someone will look into my eyes and say hello, you're my very special one ... All the people are dancing and they're having such fun. I wish it could happen to me.") And "Pale Blue Eyes" is simply the most beautiful song Lou Reed has ever written:
He cocks and shoots it between three & four
He aims it at the Sailor
Shoots him down dead on the floor
Aw, you shouldn't do that
Don't you know you'll stain the carpet
Now don't you know you'll stain the carpet
And by the way have you got a dollar
Oh, no man, I haven't got the time-time
Too busy sucking on a ding-dong
He's busy sucking on my ding-dong
Aw, she does just like Sister Ray said
I'm searching for my mainline
I said I c-c-c-couldn't hit it sideways
I said I c-c-c-couldn't hit it sideways
Aw, just like Sister Ray says
If I could make the world as pure and strange as what I seeLoaded was the last album, and for me, the least of the original four. Even this album, though, includes two classics, "Sweet Jane" and the song that must have inspired Vaclav Havel, "Rock and Roll" ("her life was saved by rock and roll").
I'd put you in the mirror I put in front of me
I'd put in front of me
Linger on, your pale blue eyes
Linger on, your pale blue eyes
Article comments
1 - Jim Carruthers
I have to admit I'm a major VU fan, I have both CD issues of the third "Velvet Underground" album on CD, I have the "Live at Max's Kansas City", the box set, the reunion, the books, etc.
Plus Mo Tucker's solo albums, and so on. What an amazing band.
Bonus fun fact, they inspired Jonathan Richman who was a fan in Boston in the late 60s.
2 - Eric Olsen
Great job Steven, agree with you all the way -nothing like that first one although I love the terrible sound of Live '69 for some reason. As I've written more than once, Lou was never the same.
I think "Sunday Morning" is as beautiful as "Pale Blues Eyes," but those are the two.
3 - Jonathan
Hmm, I think I'll give them a listen.
I've never really heard of them, I'm 17 give me a break.
I'll get back to you on if I like 'em or not..
4 - Rodney Welch
Good piece. In defense of Loaded: it also has "New Age" -- which I personally put in my VU Top Five -- and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin.'" Also, while I can kinda take "Sister Ray" now and then, I don't have much use for a lot of the more atonal stuff: "European Son," "Black Angel's Death song," "Lady Godiva's Operation," etc. I love them at their most wild and rhythmic: "What Goes On," "White Light/White Heat." And, with Eric, I'm a major fan of 1969 -- in fact, that was the first VU I bought (although not the first Reed) -- it has a wonderfully spontaneous, you-are-there feel that you just don't hear on other live albums, except, of course, the ones it influenced.
5 - HW Saxton Jr.
Nice job there Steven.Even though The
VU has been perpetually in the glow of
the spotlight since their demise,I can't
think of any other band that honestly &
truly lives up to the hype. Lou writes
some of the most beautiful ballads, then
turns around and can knock you ass over
elbows with his rockers.The whole band
deserves credit though.Moe T's drumming
is of the "simple" but deadly school.
Charlie Watts and Jery Nolan (N.Y.Dolls)
both come to mind when digging Moe.John
Cale is a talented multi-instrumentalist
and song writer and Sterling Morrison is
easily one of the most underrated of all
guitarists around. They were,have been &
probably always will be considred ahead
of their time.The fact that they're the
topic of discussion right now attests to
that fact. Too bad the VU reunion didn't
go so good but given the purported egos
of both John and Lou it really was not a
surprise.They sounded good,(IMO)in view
of their limited rehearsals and all the
time between their last gigs as a band
and the present.They most certainly did
not sound stale or anachronistic. I have
to agree that ""Loaded"" is the least
inspired or inspiring of their original
first four LP's. I think that it has a
couple of overlooked gems though in the
rocking "Head Held High" and in the very
pretty "Who Loves The Sun?".They weren't
happy as a band.Also,they weren't quite
excited about the directions they were
pushed towards by the label they were on
and by ego clashes going between Lou and
the crew.It reflects in the album which
is unfortunate.They could still rock yer
socks off, as is shown on "Live 1969".
This LP was recorded just prior to the
commencement of the "Loaded" sessions &
despite the somewhat dodgy sound still
f**king rocks like mad. For proof dig on
"White Light,White Heat" and the medley
"Sweet Bonnie Brown/It's Just Too Much",
as good as anything they had recorded up
to that point in their career.Years ago
I basically wrote off R n R as my tastes
have been changing with age,preferring
the more esoteric sounds of progressive
Jazz,Funk and Blues and anything that
might fall in between,such as Jazzy Funk
Funky Blues,Bluesy Jazz,etc LOL.But when
craving a Rock n Roll fix I can always
listen to the VU which to this day sound
as good as the first time I ever heard
them,some 30 years ago. I honestly can't
say that many of my other RnR discs can
still hold up as well,with the possible
exceptions of "Get Your Ya-Ya's Out" by
the Stones,"Raw Power" by The Stooges &
a half dozen other discs like maybe the
"Marquee Moon" LP by Television which is
Velvets influenced,"Highway 61 Revisited
by Bob Dylan(an influence on the VU)and
the overlooked classic third Big Star LP
(once again,there is more of that Velvet
influence.)Anybody that's never got the
chance to check out the Velvets for one
reason or another would be wise to.
As for me I think I'd start with the 3rd
Lp and go backwards from there,if I had
never heard the Velvets before.As great a song as "Sister Ray" is, it's not the
song to break a Velvets neophyte in with
as it can be somewhat intimidating.Well,
anyways nice job Steven and rock on.....