Velvet Underground Trainspotting Question

ysi?

ooh, yes puh-lease

+1 oh hai

confirmed, it's a "talk".

These days for Lou it amounts to the same thing.

Did you trainspotters see this? http://bigozine2.com/roio/?p=333 I've actually never heard any 1993 stuff except the official release, so I'm kinda curious.

ordered the Unterberger and Kugelberg books from Amazon last nite. So psyched.

Was hoping NYPL event was going to be about invading skating rink with loud amps and intrusive microphones.

I have mixed feelings about the Unterberger book. I guess it's where you go if you want to know what they ate for breakfast on the third Tuesday of the month, and it is full of weird and sometimes fascinating little bits of trivia.

That said, it has the overall effect (at least for me) of making the Velvet Underground seem kind of boring. And he has this major fixation on the Live 1969 album, which has never been my favorite thing of theirs...

The Unterberger book is a bludgeoning thing, but I can't fault his love for the live album, which is easily my favorite official album release of theirs now.

but what about the supposed alternate mix of "I Heard Her Call My Name"?!?!?

I compared this with my original Verve mono, and it's a more 'fuzzy' mix, and the lead guitar may even be mixed slightly down.

Yeah, definitely can't fault Unterberger for praising Live 1969 -- it is the best live album ever imo. As for making the VU seem boring, I kinda like that about the book. There's definitely a de-mystification of the band -- it's fun seeing how a semi-popular group in the late 60s went about their day-to-day existence. But maybe that's just me. I'm just now getting to the end of it. It must've been horrible for Lou to put out his first solo album and have all the reviews say "man, the VU were so good, I wish this was a VU album"! After being generally ignored for the lifespan of the band, that would suck.

On-the-money review by David Keenan in last month's Wire of both books, effectively skewering the received wisdom that the VU were like a monochrome alternative to late 60s hippydom.

Time machine, anyone?
http://23.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krdkn9t3mi1qa5w86o1_500.jpg

so far these books are GREAT. The Reed/Tucker intvw in NY ART is odd and wonderful though too short. And those photos!!

yeah I think I'm going to have to get it. Was trying to convince myself I didn't need a VU coffee table book, but I do, I do!

$30 and change @ Amazon.

On-the-money review by David Keenan in last month's Wire of both books, effectively skewering the received wisdom that the VU were like a monochrome alternative to late 60s hippydom.

http://z.about.com/d/classicrock/1/7/I/9/velvetundergroundc.jpg

... none more monchrome

http://lineout.thestranger.com/files/2006/12/velvet-underground.jpg

xp exactly, that pic illustrates Keenan's point perfectly.

hey it was the VU at the Zoo, whaddaya want? That's usually what I look like when I go to the Zoo.

Going to see the rock 'n' roll animals I suppose

They may have gotten all bright n' paisley by '69 but they were certainly no fans of hippies or West Coast rock of the time.

i think mainly they weren't Bill Graham fans. Reed loved "Eight Miles High" and Sterling Morrison loved Quicksilver Messenger Service. Can't get more West Coast rock than that!

http://media.nypl.org/audio/live_2009_12_08_velvet_underground.mp3
^^^ audio from this week's NYPL VU talk ... Haven't listened yet ...

This was a fun listen though D. Fricke is a bit of a Phil Schaap-y creepy fanboy

What other tune is "Ride Into The Sun" reminiscent of? I think it's classical but can't place it. Help!

I'm listening to it on the Another View compilation, btw, if you want to dig it out & listen.

dunno what it's reminiscent of ... but it is lovely, isn't it?

This was a fun listen though D. Fricke is a bit of a Phil Schaap-y creepy fanboy
He would fit in perfectly on this thread! David, are you out there?

oh goddammit this is like one of the most famous classical pieces ever it gets used all the time and I can hear it in my head but I am blanking on the title arrrrrgghghghghghgh

haha, glad it's not just me, someone will put us out of our misery shortly i'm sure

Pachelbel's Canon?

YES

i guess it is kinda like pachelbel's ... Ride Into The Sun would make a good wedding processional, too!

aha

thanks mark g

Ride Into The Sun would make a good wedding processional, too!

^^^did this

(actually it was Bron-y-Aur for the entrance and Ride into the Sun for the exit but whatever)

haha, nice ...

got the New York Art book for xmas -- man, it is gorgeous! i get so used to seeing the VU in black and white, but there are amazing color shots in there, too. Haven't fully explored it yet, but early thoughts: Moe Tucker = hero of the universe.

speaking of which, in the 2008 conversation with him and Moe, Lou says he saw all these bands at SXSW with drummers standing up a la Moe. Is this true? I don't think I've heard of many bands doing this recently. I saw the Raveonettes doing it a few years back -- i think the drummer was a hot chick with just a low tom and a snare. But are there others? It is interesting -- for all the talk of the VU being super influential, how many drummers actually played like Moe?

Mimi in Low plays standing up.

Stray Cats = standing up with vv simple drum set (do they still exist? no idea)
Mimi from Low = standing up with vv simple drum set
Butthole Surfers in the '90s = standing up (two drummers, '80s)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds = vv simple drum set (but sitting down drummer, late '80s)

xpost :-)

er... B surfers = late 80s, early 90s I guess. :-/

ah, right, Low. Probably the best example.

saw someone else just recently who does this too...tyvek.

They may have gotten all bright n' paisley by '69 but they were certainly no fans of hippies or West Coast rock of the time

Not really – they shared stages with the Fugs, the Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Sly & the Family Stone &c. As Keenan argues in the review I mentioned upthread, the Velvets were a product of their times and they played their part as wholeheartedly as anyone else.

The art book neatly showcases their transition from "art band" to commercial rockers(or at least aspiring commercial rockers), I think. The clash between their art beginnings and their rocker aspirations is one of the things that makes them so classic.

in the ny public library talk, David Fricke quotes Dean Wareham as saying that Sterling Morrison was the only person he knew who could hold forth on Moby Dick and Moby Grape with equal knowledge and passion ...