Velvet Underground covers S/D

(My fave Velvets cover ever is the version of "Femme Fatale" on Big Star's Third -- with whoever's drugged-out girlfriend on backing vox, singing off-key in French.)

(That song is a distillation of/metaphor for everything that's great about the album.)

Oh, what do you mean, it's not a cover?

Search also...

"She's My Best Friend" by the Wedding Present
"There She Goes Again" by R.E.M
"Waiting for the Man" by Bauhaus with Nico -- live, shambolic performance punctuated by Nico sounding as if she's about to have a cerebral hemorhage.

Destroy....
"White Light White Heat" as bucthered by otherwise respectable NYC proto-hardcore band, Kraut.
....and didn't Billy Idol cover "Heroin"?

I've always wanted Leonard Cohen to do a Velvets cover, but alas.

D: Billy Idol, "Heroin" (as bad as you can imagine)

yes

Moe Tucker's Bo Diddley covers are fantastic

local bands today don't do this, partly because there's not as much of a "shared heritage" which has its own set of pros and cons.

Shocking.

D: Rainy Day's twee "I'll Be Your Mirror," Fatima Mansions' ill-advised "Lady Godiva's Operation"

In the same vein: Tracey Thorn's "Femme Fatale" from _A Distant Shore_.

I have to second (*or third*) Big Star

Destroy: everything on Lou's Rock 'n' Roll Animal.

Also no Bettie Serveet mentions at all!? The covers album is pretty fantastic for about four of the tracks at least. Not to mention Cat Power's K-brill cover of "I Found A Reason"

The joy division cover of Sister Ray bites though -- sound quality makes it virtually unlistenable.

Thanks for tipping me off to that - what a great show! See, I wish they had been like that the few times I saw them live - playing made-up songs about sports teams, VU covers, b-sides, joking around... Instead, I just heard "Shady Lane."

I like how they play an impromptu song they say is called "neil hagerty meets jon spencer in a non-alcoholic bar blowout" or something, and Tricia Halloran is like, "Now, what was that called again? 'Neil Hagerty Meets...'? Is that something you've been playing for a while, or...?"

Of course, she's also so nervous she says "Spiral Stars."

(jonathan richman's 'velvet undergound' is great too - 'they played less notes and left more space' is a great line)

andy

I can't believe Kate hasn't piped in about this one already...

search: rowland s howard's version of "i'm set free" (he also did a fantastic version of l. reed's "oh jim")

But, Jim, the big star version?!?!?!

Yeah, it's good. Live he throws "What Goes On" in there as well.

s: Clock DVA - "Black Angels Death Song"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-g8XVZd8aAc

coincidence, or...?

just saw that this is coming out today:
http://darla.com/?fuseaction=item_cat.ecom_superitem_detail&item_cat_id=37654
nothing terribly exciting.

too bad Jonathan Richman's presence is limited to a rerecording of a (great) 20-year-old song of his. the 30-second clips don't do much for me, aside from the Jane Wiedlin (which is fun) and the Temple of Ho (which is unbearable).

what would be exciting would be an entire Jonathan Goes Underground album, with stuff like "Rock 'n' Roll," "White Light," "Satellite of Love," and "Foggy Notion." unlikely at this point, though.

definite Search: Rachel Sweet's cover of New Age. it's smarter and more arch than the original, somehow.

yeah, that is kind of a cool idea, about Richman doing a VU album. i can pretty much hear him singing all of those songs (though I guess he's already done "Foggy Notion"). the boogie-er, rock n roll side of the VU. has he covered any other VU songs? There's a snippet of Waiting for the Man on a bootleg. And he did I'm Sticking With You as a duet w/ Moe Tucker.

speaking of which, I'm fairly certain I can hear Jonathan at one point on one of these newly surfaced VU bootlegs at the Boston Tea Party in 1969.

someone says upthread that he sings "What Goes On" live, so there's that. I never knew he did "Foggy Notion"; looks like it's on the live Modern Lovers album, which I've been meaning to track down.

yeah, with both Foggy Notion and I'm Sticking With You, he must've learned those songs from memories of live shows, since neither was released (even on bootleg iirc) when he did them (early-mid 70s). I guess Moe must've taught him the latter.

S: There She Goes Again - REM
What Goes On - Feelies
Femme Fatale - Big Star
Heroin - Roky Erickson

D: Sister Ray - Joy Division

yeah, but you should hear their version of "Louie Louie" - whoa!

From the Heaven & Hell Vol. 1 comp mentioned upthread:

S: Buffalo Tom "All Tomorrow's Parties," which they make all big and anguished
D: James "Sunday Morning," which devolves into a fatuous show-bizzy medley of VU song titles

D. Joy Division Sister Ray
S. New Order Sister Ray (not the one on the BBC Radio live album, but the completely different sounding one recorded live in Rio, 1988 - featuring some of the best Bernard Sumner guitar ever (which is saying a whole lot).

Bryan Ferry, What Goes On

... which incorporated bits of "Beginning to See the Light", it was a single and he performed it on Top of the Pops!

One of those "Knew that one before I knew the VU", that Ferry cover.

The other one being the "Sister Ray" Joy Division.

Pretty sure some 50s/ early 60s rocker type, making a comeback in the 70s, did a cover version of "Rock 'n' Roll" - could it be Gary US Bonds?

Paul Haig & Edwyn Collins' "Pale Blue Eyes" was pretty fabulous

No mention of Subway Sect's "Head Held High" yet!??!?! One of the best!

never heard the new order version -- is this Rio 1988 "Sister Ray" you speak of on bootleg? Or ...?

no, it was officially released on this album: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Like-Girl-Want-Keep-Coming/dp/B0000083J6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1271950247&sr=1-1

(excellent sound quality, and a faster version than on the Radio 1 album.)

First Moe Tucker album has an amazing version of "Heroin".

No mention of Subway Sect's "Head Held High" yet!??!?! One of the best!

much better than their cover of Sister Ray, which is shit.

you mean the infamous live version with the Slits and Prefects that is pretty unlistenable?

wut about dis shit

http://www.beck.com/recordclub/index.php/category/velvet-underground-the-velvet-underground-nico

Yeah, that's pretty bad.

His SkipSpence's "Oar" cover was alright...

Moderately fond of Half Japanese's cover of "I Heard Her Call My Name."

Kind of curious if anyone has ever covered anything from Squeeze?

Pretty sure some 50s/ early 60s rocker type, making a comeback in the 70s, did a cover version of "Rock 'n' Roll"

Mitch Ryder, already mentioned upthread.

... thanks for that, I've been racking my brain over that one!

the feelies - white light/ white heat (http://www.mediafire.com/?8z133it183xq7w7)
the feelies - we're gonna have a real good time together
the feelies - head held high
the feelies - sunday morning
the feelies - sweet jane (although the version i have has lou reed on it)
the feelies - velvet medley

k i'm taking the piss a bit.

their sunday morning isn't that great

Lots of mentions of various REM covers but my favorite is their version of "After Hours," with which they used to close every show.

Refrigerator's "Lonesome Surprise" is more or less a cover of "Oh! Sweet Nuthin" and is great.

D: "Femme Fatale," Duran Duran.

it's just a poorly recorded live boot, but i love thom yorke and beck's acoustic "i'm set free" from 2003 or thereabouts...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYjzM0og9Ms

S: Grant Lee Phillips' version of "Candy Says," which features Jon Brion on keyboards, and was recorded live at Largo.

This cover album is kind of knocking me out on a number of levels. Interesting song choices (stuff from Squeeze, Chelsea Girls, etc.) and an approach that's neither schtick nor reverent. The fact that it's female sung with a foreign but non-German accent puts a neat spin on things. It walks a really fine line, and I'd be surprised if there's another single-artist album like this that's better...

http://open.spotify.com/album/4HpQ89feMK2mwfAKOcyGax

Oh, and this Canadian band's cover of WL/WH I may like more than the original, at least for the moment. Sounds a bit like 18th Dye with a French accent:

http://open.spotify.com/track/2ZGRbWBg4qoK7wvXFkbup3

Hmmm, a youtube link for the non-Spotified:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP6rACzWsU&feature=fvsr

I'm kind of amazed that Starbucks hasn't optioned this album yet, not to damn with faint praise. I'm pretty sure I prefer this Sweet Nothin' to the original, and it's not the only great track. I'll be sad if this album vanishes...

Smashing Pumpkins cover VU in 1989! It is on this weird threshold of intriguing and lolzy

https://archive.org/details/tsp1989-03-16.shn

First Moe Tucker album has an amazing version of "Heroin".

― Adam Bruneau, Thursday, April 22, 2010 10:44 AM (3 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

This is my favorite version of Heroin. From Playin' Possum

It is on this weird threshold of intriguing and lolzy

haha this is pretty terrible. Reminded me of this from around the same time:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RouIMLTbv1w

I won't clutter the thread, but here's Bryan Ferry's terrific, suggestive cover of "All Tomorrow's Parties"

possibly the quintessential forgotten 90s band, Eye and I

xp

of course, there's this too:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-QT74bzHFQ

what the hell is that Eye & I thing? It's bizarre, but you have to give them credit for being imaginative.

I don't know why I remember it - they were written up in some issue of SPIN as a hot, up and coming thing in some issue circa '90 or '91. part of the Black Rock Coalition. I bought the album and it was terrible. The Venus in Furs cover was its big selling point.

There appears to be next to no information about this band on the web, after a little googling.

Elizabeth Cook does a nice country version of Sunday Morning.

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

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5t_ZX3ygRMA

Japan - All Tomorrow's Parties

Method Actors' All Tomorrows Parties is amazing. Didn't see it on youtube, maybe I'll share later. Or check out this radio show:

http://wnyu.org/2013-07-29_plastictalesfrommarshmallowdimension

which features a lot of Velvets/Lou damaged stuff.

http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZagfIvECkeA&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DZagfIvECkeA

S: Aloe Blacc - Femme Fatale

eye & I were great live but the album was terrible

Strawberry Switchblade - Sunday Morning

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

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/3848975/The%20Method%20Actors-All%20Tomorrow%27s%20Parties.mp3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=99PeJShwZis

I was collecting every VU cover I could find a few years back. I've got 300 songs and 11 full albums saved. It all fits on a 2GB flash drive--if you're interested, e-mail me and we can work something out.

Not bad!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8XjOtkHlXxg

I'm fond of Thalia Zedek's cover of Candy Says. It's a fairly straight-up rendition, but she has a way of making songs like this hurt.

I stopped actively searching these out a few years ago, limiting myself to occasional tracks I stumble over. This thread got me searching again, and I've caught up with four albums I wasn't aware of:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51BqFfaufpL._SY300_.jpg

https://d3e94wzv4dpoqy.cloudfront.net/g4/676b52a860637a40132741aba42d423b_g4.png

http://rymimg.com/lk/f/l/0bf738480927e4173ed694db269d323d/1706615.jpg

http://o.scdn.co/300/3458fa4faf7e05c623ad4a933a17c99608c4787a

As with Beatles and Neil Young covers (and Dylan, too, though I don't collect those), there's no end to them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CmpAZ3zkfQw

I posted about it above, but I still love that Voices Factory covers album. Reminds me a lot of first album Slapp Happy at times.

Waiting for something I ordered online called The Warrior Heart of the Velvet Underground, a double-CD of Japanese covers. That will bring me up to 21 tribute albums--20 more or less legitimate, plus a bootleg of the Feelies at Maxwell's in 1983--and I assumed that was the end of the road. But yesterday I found this really cheap downtown:

http://i1.sndcdn.com/artworks-000005468343-kcj0d5-crop.jpg?3eddc42

Didn't know this existed--live covers recorded between '77-'81 by a Toronto quasi-punk band. (I have their one album that turns up everywhere, but don't remember what it's like--more new wave than punk, I think.) So maybe there's still more out there, it's hard to know.

http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/83998338.html

http://s3-ec.buzzfed.com/static/2013-12/enhanced/webdr01/6/15/enhanced-buzz-28719-1386361426-23.jpg

I didn't see anybody mention the rocked up version of All Tomorrow's Parties on Nick Cave's Kicking Against The Pricks. Not heard it in ages but thought it worth a mention.