Velvet Underground Trainspotting Question

wow!

I think it's in the documentary?

Guess I must have been focusing on the wrong corner of the split screen.

I don't know if it had audio though.

I was about to say it sounds and looks like Moe wasn't there and that is indeed the case:

"Candy Says" live at the Paramount Theatre, Springfield MA, April 17, 1970

Video shot by Steve Nelson on monochrome soundless videotape. The audio was captured separately by unknown source

The Velvet's performed this night as a three piece (Lou, Sterling, and Doug) Moe had just gone on maternity leave

Wow that looks like a transmission that slipped out of the ether

Right, exactly. It’s kind of a triptych version of a Warhol Screen Test.

She went on maternity leave but they still set her drums up? Or maybe they belonged to the opening or closing band?

Most likely. The Tots or The Sundowners or whoever it was.

audio for the whole show is here: https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/615656049044848640/the-velvet-underground-paramount-theater

doug plays drums on a few tracks.

I was six days old!

Yeah, I remember it from the documentary.

One of those daft Facebook articles mentioned The Muppets doing the Velvet Underground on one of their "number" songs on Sesame Street or some such.

Did you remember this?

"Shiny, shiny, shiny number seven ..."

Nope, not found it..

I'd've thought it was a wind up somewhere along the way either something misunderstood by the writer or a joke on their part.
Would be very surprised to find they were overground enough to register in that way.

THough maybe it was a windup on the part of a hip production team. Some kind of irony in knowing the source vs the usage and thinkikng that the audience would never make the connection.

I'm assuming it would be a more recent episode, than back in 1968 or whenever...

.. obviously The Muppets weren't around in 1968, don't write in ..

They were around then, but were more into the Beatles...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P4KUrntHu60

tbf "I'm Sticking With You" is perfect for the Muppets.

"Light in the Attic Records, in cooperation with Laurie Anderson, proudly announces the inaugural title in their ongoing Lou Reed Archive Series: Words & Music, May 1965. Released in tandem with the late artist’s 80th birthday celebrations, the album offers an extraordinary, unvarnished, and plainly poignant insight into one of America’s true poet-songwriters. Capturing Reed in his formative years, this previously unreleased collection of songs—penned by a young Lou Reed, recorded to tape with the help of future bandmate John Cale, and mailed to himself as a “poor man’s copyright”—remained sealed in its original envelope and unopened for nearly 50 years. Its contents embody some of the most vital, groundbreaking contributions to American popular music committed to tape in the 20th century. Through examination of these songs rooted firmly in the folk tradition, we see clearly Lou’s lasting influence on the development of modern American music – from punk to art-rock and everything in between. A true time capsule, these recordings not only memorialize the nascent sparks of what would become the seeds of the incredibly influential Velvet Underground; they also cement Reed as a true observer with an innate talent for synthesizing and distilling the world around him into pure sonic poetry."

https://lightintheattic.net/releases/8749

That little lot will set you back $140. I mean I'd like to hear it and wear the t-shirt but... Interesting though it is to hear Lou fumbling about cosplaying as Dylan the mindblowing thing for me is discovering that he wrote "Pale Blue Eyes" in 1965!

"the inaugural title in their ongoing" - yeah I'll wait for the box set at the end.

Interesting though it is to hear Lou fumbling about cosplaying as Dylan the mindblowing thing for me is discovering that he wrote "Pale Blue Eyes" in 1965!

I think a lot of the material without which Reed wouldn't be who he was came from a very early burst of creativity & that he knew that burst had been incredibly, maybe unreproducibly productive. as late as '76 and possibly '78 he's still mining that vein ("She's My Best Friend" making Coney Island Baby [in, imo, its definitive reading]) and when all those songs are gone the big shift of the 80s is right there on the horizon

Yes. The last Velvets era song he recorded was on "Street Hassle"!

An announcement from Norton Records:

The Velvet Underground At The Boston Tea Party

We've been keeping this under wraps for a long while, but we have acquired the 1968-1969 tape recordings of the performances of the Velvet Underground at the Boston Tea Party and the Hilltop Pop Festival and have been negotiating for their proper release here in the US. That effort continues. You may see bootlegs of these show, but they are taped from a radio broadcast years ago. This will be the first project from Kicks Books with music included and we are delighted to have great pal and VU fanatic Phil Milstein working with us. The book includes interviews, stories, photos, ads, posters, and an introduction from Jonathan Richman, who was a teenage fan in attendance, osmosing every iota of electricity from other planets! The book includes the full story from the surviving fan who made these recordings as a student in Boston. Sshhh! That's all we can tell you right now!

Holy crap, this is great news.

YES

That's great, but... sounds like it still may fall through(??)

If it happens, would like a download rather than a bulky book.

Ideally the price point would be less than the $100 Fortune Records book they did

Fortune Records? Has Jonathan Richman been involved in both of these projects?

what on earth are you talking about?

As well as being Official Number One VU fan, Jonathan Richman is also a huge Fortune Records fan.

He probably would have to build a few extra pizza ovens to afford that book though.

ahh that makes sense, did not know

the guy who wrote the Fortune book (Mike H) is an old friend of mine! great dude.

Cool. Maybe he even interviewed Jojo then.

ilxor tylerw, while waiting for LITA'a Words and Music--1965: "Pickwick City," w good links---
https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/693384672559923200/pickwick-city-i-highly-recommend-that-all-vu

I'd differ in that the "Soundsville" album is all great, not just the Lou tracks. It was clearly a creative environment. I tracked it down on Discogs (yeah, I know, hard work) but it wasn't that expensive - probably because they were printed and sold in bulk, back in the day. The 7" singles are a fortune, but the albums aren't...

I didn't know the Beach Boys tribute album, and .. I guess I'm gonna have to get that magazine.

.. oh that one actually came out in the UK! Must be Lou's first release here...

Jaysus, Ugly Things charges a minimum of $22 to ship to Canada (Priority International Shipping). Anyone got a line on an extra copy & want to send me one via lettermail?

they list lots of places that carry it incl. a couple in canada.
http://ugly-things.com/about/where-to-buy-ugly-things/

The one in Germany is closed because the owner died, it says. I'll try the shop in France called Bimbo Tower :-)

how old is this list

Isn't that VU UT thing a couple of issues old? Trying to think. There is a new edition just out that I'm not sure what the contents are. Last issue had the Troggs.
It may be that you are stuck having to go to source for back issues. I think it sells out elsewhere. Not 100% sure. Otherwise Rough Trade get copies which might mean less postage.

This Pickwick related article is in the Summer 2022 issue (#60)

more trainspotting — i'd read this hilarious interview before, but never seen the scans til last week:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FadFRTAUcAAIS5R?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FadFSejVsAAn8GN?format=jpg&name=4096x4096

God, that's terrific (I can't tell if the interviewer is thick/clueless, or doing a "bit" to egg them on)

Assuming it is DA Levy himself doing the interview would mean the line between doing a bit & earnest questioning is razor-thin

haha yeah, exactly