Velvet Underground Trainspotting Question

I hear what you hear saying TSF, but I wasn’t really expecting that from this doc, more an evocation of that time and milieu, which I got in spades.

You didn’t see them back in the day, did you? Probably not quite old enough.

i think i did hear somewhere that JR was a huge VU fan, but doesn't that make perfect sense? the modern lovers are the most VU-sounding band of all time, and they did it immediately after the VU broke up. always though modern lovers were the bridge between VU and punk

Yes, I don’t know why anyone would be surprised at all by that, unless they only knew him from There’s Something About Mary.

I heard "Roadrunner" the summer I discovered "Sister Ray."

The Sex Pistols version?

Richman's.

xxxxp me? no, i wish. i didn't start seeing concerts until 1972 and those were the types of shows my dad could drive me to.

Richman's.

I think I posted this before: some graph Jonathan Richman made before anybody knew who he was (reproduced in Ryan Walsh's Astral Weeks).

https://phildellio.tripod.com/richman.jpg

you wonder if vu would have continued to asymptotically approach beatles or if they would have crossed.

Seems like he cooked the books by omitting Squeeze.

I finally heard Squeeze this year and I was bummed out that it wasn't WORSE, it was just such an anonymous early 70s $4 rock record, not really bad but just indistinctive, would have preferred a disaster of some sort

fortunately Berlin was around the corner

Over in the corner

Yes, "Squeeze" is just fairly dull.

Okay, I liked the docu & it was all well done and stuff but I'm not sure I prefer it over the BBC South Bank Show (1986) one that's on the youtubes

The worst thing about Squeeze, for me, that distinguishes it from, say, American Flyer or something, is how nakedly it apes some of the worst stuff on Loaded like “Lonesome Cowboy Bill,” as though that was the aspect of the VU that was worth perpetuating.

So where would American Flyer be on that list? And did George Martin produce every group with America in the name?

On that chart

Another annoying omission: Jonas Mekas (and others) went on at length about how exciting the various art scenes were in NYC in the early '60s, but no mention was made of Cecil Taylor, Sun Ra, Ornette Coleman et al. Maybe a minor point, but that music was a major movement in NYC at the time, some of those artists were massive influences on the Velvets, and Lou said "Sister Ray" was his attempt to do in rock 'n' roll what Cecil and Ornette were doing in their area of activity.

Yeah, and I seem to recall at least one member of Ornette’s band recording with Lou.

Yep, Don Cherry worked with Lou at one point in the '70s.

La Monte Young and Allen Ginsberg as well!

And no I am not talking about Tanya Haden’s a cappella rendition of Metal Machine Music.

dammit JR I was so hoping that was real

Hah, sorry! Maybe we can find a way to request it.

A lot of people don’t know I deliberately chose my screenname initials to match Jonathan Richman.

Tanya already paid tribute to at least one artist on that graph, why not another.

no I am not talking about Tanya Haden’s a cappella rendition of Metal Machine Music.

read this as Tonya Harding

XPS but everyone who did ended up contributing to the 'rejected jbr screennames' thread.

Lol.

Let me check.

Perhaps you are referring to this run: rejected JBR screen names
2
Warning: does not work in Zing.

Yeah, and I seem to recall at least one member of Ornette’s band recording with Lou.

One more iteration:
Put Cherry on your shoulder

I have this bootleg on vinyl pretty fun

https://rateyourmusic.com/release/unauth/lou-reed/at-the-roxy-with-don-cherry/

the inclusion of Jackson Browne in this doc threw me for a loop at first. Had no idea he was playing w Nico etc.

the inclusion of Jackson Browne in this doc threw me for a loop at first. Had no idea he was playing w Nico etc.

Yeah, IIRC they had a fling - but after hearing her cover of "These Days" (beautiful cover too) it was less of a surprise when I read about it.

Yeah limiting it to people who were actually involved with/playing with the group was key. We were spared Dave Grohl etc.

The one exception, of course, should be Cher, regardless of whether she's changed her mind or not.

yeah he plays on Chelsea Girl! and wrote a song on it iirc

xxp

one hour until showtime!

He also wrote Fairest of the Seasons

Browne even get a short entry in Lillian Roxon's encyclopedia (1969), largely because of his Nico connection (also mentions songs of his on a Steve Noonan album, who I now want to hear).

yeah he plays on Chelsea Girl! and wrote a song on it iirc

xxp

(xxp) Berlin was more successful than Transformer in the UK, in terms of chart positions (it reached 7, Transformer got to 13). Transformer probably sold more though. You can thank David Bowie for both, I'd say.

thanks david bowie for both of them!

Love the story of Ian Hunter being disgusted by Lou’s microphone technique when Bowie brought him in to sing “Sweet Jane.” Probably read that in Trouser Press, who knows what issue./pvmic

thanks david bowie for both of them!

I love how Haynes finally got to work with Bowie in this film. Briefly and, on the latter's part, unsuspectedly.

Multixp Transformer had legs in the UK and was certified platinum in 2913, poor old Berlin stuck at silver.

2013 that is.