"...and then my MIND split open!": The Velvet Underground's White Light/White Heat POLL

"Sister Ray" for me - I mean, I guess everybody "gets over" Sister Ray & it loses it power, but I will never forget sitting in my teenage room getting my mind properly blown when the organ really starts to work and the bass drops out and comes back and the vocals kick back in, and trying to figure out the lyrics - I don't know, I guess what I mean is "it's a really personal vote for me." But I had heard rumors of Sister Ray before I heard it, and then when I finally did hear it, it did not disappoint.

"Heard Her Call My Name" a very close 2nd.

― J0hn D.,

STOP READING MY THOUGHTS, J0HN D.!

The Feelies did What Goes On.

Bowie did "White Light/ White Heat" many a time

Is “Guess I’m Falling in Love” from these sessions... cuz I love that song more than anything on WL/WH </challops>

Yeah, was "Guess" actually recorded at the WL/WH sessions? Funny how different it sounds -- mainly the drums -- since it probably wasn't mixed til the 80s. Too bad it doesn't have vocals! Still, that Morrison solo is fucking off the hook. Are there any other outtakes? I don't think that "Mr. Rain" was recorded at the same time ... I guess "Sister Ray" was legendarily recorded in one take, so there aren't any alts of that ... Just different mixes.

Half Japanese does a great "Heard Her Call My Name". (Mo Tucker on drums)

aw yeah, forgot about that one! it is great. who else has attempted "sister ray"? other than my high school garage band ...

Yeah, was "Guess" actually recorded at the WL/WH sessions?

It was recorded in December '67. WL/WH was September.

Hm! Think if they had put out a single with "Guess" and "Stephanie Says"... Number one hit!

who else has attempted "sister ray"?
There's a great cover on Mike Rep and the Quotas STUPOR HIATUS that really emphasizes the bouncy poppiness of the riff. You could call "roadrunner" a sister ray cover, too. Speaking of Modern Lovers, there's a nice "Foggy Notion" on Live at the Longbranch, dating from a time when no one had really heard "foggy notion."

New Order has a good cover.

yeah, rocket from the tombs do "foggy notion" too. i wonder where they all heard it? ii can imagine that jonathan richman just committed it to memory. and i guess all those cleveland dudes might've heard various bootleg recordings of those La Cave shows ...

I think that is correct, Peter Laughner def. recorded some of those gigs.

When I started looking for this album it was like 1983 and impossible to find, my mom eventually sprung
for an Xmas or Bday present of what eventually turned out to be a counterfeit copy, which I still have.

LGO for me. Also, TS: original black cover VS English white cover

there's also this oddity
http://991.com/gallery_180x180/Velvet-Underground-White-LightWhite-369413-991.jpg

oops yeah that is the "white" cover I was referring to.

it is kind of a cool cover!

"who else has attempted "sister ray"? "

There are at least a couple of versions by Suicide - the one I remember is off the "We never said we were music" boot, which has a long section stripped down to Rev ringing the changes on his FX pedals on the basic riff. There's a devastating version by Dr. Mix and the Remix (most of Metal Urbain) on their classic "Wall of Noise" album. Oh, and I think some obscure Manc punk act used to do it live as well.

more information here:

http://acuterecords.com/releases/act006_drMix.html

the 3ds did 'lady godiva's operation' live once. it was pretty good.

I think that is correct, Peter Laughner def. recorded some of those gigs.

It was Jamie Klimek of the Mirrors, wasn't it? Peter Laughner would have been 15 or 16 in 1967/68.

Yeah, I think Klimek is the one responsible for those La Cave tapes, found on Sweet Sister Ray and Problems in Urban Living. In other words, the guy is an American hero.

Not to mention all the great Mirrors songs that sound like the Velvets.

Yeah! Thanks for the link to the Dr. Mix info -- I gotta make a big Acute order at some point -- I still need those Lines discs!

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

Another band that covered "Guess I'm Falling In Love" was Devo! More proof that many Ohioans loved the Velvets.

Haha, this poll is the first time I considered that Lou was saying anything other than "Baby, my mind split open!"

loooooooooooooool I heard The Gift for the first time today, on iPod shuffle

basically XD at all of it but ESPECIALLY when it begins to ratchet up at the end. "Marsha mentioned that her father had a basement full of tools!"

this poll got it exactly right

(xp) I only ever listen to the music part, haven't heard the story bit for years

anyone on this thread who had anything bad to say about "The Gift" OTM, that is a very unpleasant song to listen to

Musically it is awesome

oh no doubt

Just listen to the channel with the music on it then

c'mon it's great. the music, the narration, the lolz.

... the Welsh accent

yeah, it's one of the epic VU jams...

"The Booker T"!

wiki does not dissapoint: "Original drummer Angus Maclise briefly returned to the band to play drums while Maureen Tucker played bass guitar." I had no idea!

Not on "The Gift" he didn't!

Anyone else here play "Sister Ray" over and over, thinking it was the greatest piece of white noise ever? This was me at twenty-one.

helped that I didn't know what it was when I heard it. then realised. 'oh shit this is that The Gift song!'

the only real writing error is when he says 'finally succumbed to the final clutches'...a bad repetition, but excusable

it's not great writing or anything but pretty funny

Anyone else here play "Sister Ray" over and over, thinking it was the greatest piece of white noise ever? This was me at twenty-one.

this is me at twenty-two tbh

Tom D, you need to straighten out wikipedia right this instant.

guitar violence on i heard her call my name

!!!!!!AND THEN MY MIND SPLIT OPEN!!!!!!

i think wiki is just saying that the jam developed during live shows where Lou was in the hospital and maclise returned for those shows. still, i mentioned it above -- the music for "the gift" does not equal the track released on Peel Slowly and See as "Booker T" ...

I woulda voted for "I Heard Her Call My Name." In fact, the moment depicted in the thread title, and the cochlea-raping feedback shriek that begins the guitar solo remains among the most devastating rock "moments" ever captured. The onomotapoetic perfection of that phrase followed by that sound has seldom been equalled.

I would have voted for The Gift!

Plus this is my favorite VU album by a good margin.

the music for "the gift" does not equal the track released on Peel Slowly and See as "Booker T" ...

Could not agree less on this

is booker t the same song as that looong roadies jam? the gift would have been tied #3 on my list with sister ray.

You know I can't actually remember much about the "Booker T" on "Peel Slowly...", it's a blues thing (unlike "The Gift)?