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

Here She Comes Now.

"Lady Godiva's Operation"

Right, because something that's not "Sister Ray" has a chance of winning.

Voted WL/WH, but which there were an option for "Everything except "The Gift," the worst song ever recorded by VU and in fact a song so bad in conception that it sometimes makes me wonder whether I'm wrong about the great genius of the rest of their output."

Wow you really hate "The Gift".

xp You're RONG about the gift, but I'm torn between WLWH and I Heard Her Call My Name.

i don't hate The Gift but i agree that it is the only song not in contention. i am either going to go short or long on this one.

I like The Gift. I voted for I Heard Her Call My Name though.

For some reason the lyric "here she ever comes now" bugs me.

it's not 'if she ever comes now'?

what is is then g00blar?

This is tougher than I thought:

- "White Light/White Heat" is maybe my favorite album opener of all time. No foolin' around, no intro, it's almost like the needle landed somewhere in the middle of the record to start things off.

- Sucker for stereo tricks like "The Gift". It's why I can't completely dis on "Party For Your Right To Fight" by P.E. And I'd be lying if I said I hadn't tried the whole "I've got a tune but no lyrics, so I'm just going to read a nice little story over it."

- But yeah, in the end, I guess there's only one pick I can make.

xpost oh nevermind i'm sorry...voted Call My Name...

Nothing worth voting for, but I'd go for "Sister Ray" as the worst.

come on geir yo know you love here she comes now!!!

yo = you

On this one, there is really nothing. The other albums all have a "Sunday Morning"/"Candy Says"/"Here Comes The Sun", but this album didn't have any song like those.

"Who Loves The Sun", I mean

Here Comes the Hongro

I actually kind of adore 'The Gift' but WL/WH is a deserved classic.

it's not 'if she ever comes now'?

Here Comes The Hongrostepper

Voted for "Sister Ray," but "Here She Comes Now" might be the creepiest VU song of all.

this is album is muy perfecto, but today, i'm voting for the title track. still absolutely insane and absolutely awesome. not sure if anything else really sounds like this. FUZZ.

I liked The Gift until I sat down and actually listened to the words. It just so reeks of some show-off 15 year old trying to be "clever" in English composition class or something.

yeah that's exactly what it is! still funny, though.

greatest thing abt The Gift = Booker T.

Well, not according to most lyric sites.

Whaaa, really? I can't imagine anyone hearing that as anything other than "now, if she ever comes now, now, if she ever comes now, now, if she ever comes nooooooooooow", not "now, here she ever comes now, now, here she ever comes now, now, here she ever comes noooooooow".

You're right though, the first 4-5 google hits have it as "here she ever comes now". lyricstime manages to not screw up completely.

see, i was always confused by the whole "booker t./gift" thing. the song they called "booker t." on the Peel Slowly box set does not really sound like the "booker t." that is the backing track for "The Gift."

xpost, yeah i'd think it was "if she ever ..." i mean, that's what the song's about, right?

I went for "Lady Godiva's Operation", btw, if only for that moment where the heart beat comes in, the yawning sounds of death approach, then the sound crashes back in with "one goes here....one goes...there!", followed by "the ether tube's leaking, says someone who's sloppy".

Also because Cale+Tucker on that song are fucking unstoppable. That is THE groove of all times.

^on the money

yeah, the bass/drum interplay on that song is nuts. i've also always been in love with the weird, whirring percussion on "Here She Comes Now" -- what the hell is that?

but Call My Name is the one...everyone raves about Reed's free-jazz guitar but it's the call-and-response vocals which make that track.

But this whole album is wonderful. Easily on my top 10 of all time.

however I think it is Morrison playing bass on that track perhaps? bcz Cale is playing viola?? (he could be dong both I'm not sure)

"that track" = Godiva (sry, I'm jumping around)

I liked The Gift until I sat down and actually listened to the words. It just so reeks of some show-off 15 year old trying to be "clever" in English composition class or something.

Right, exactly! I've got no beef with the SOUND of "The Gift," but I truly believe it's a short story one of them published in their high-school literary magazine and then set to music, and if I were the editor of a high-school literary magazine (which I was, actually!) I would have turned it down. People should have the self-control to leave their juvenilia in the closet. (Though just to contradict myself, I think "Kings" is actually something Stephin Merritt wrote when he was a 15-year-old wannabe surrealist and it's one of my favorite things in the whole MF catalog.)

Oh, you're right about Morrison - he played bass on track, according to this

Major props to unstoppable Morrison+Tucker rhythm attack, then.

voted the gift

White Light/White Heat

shit, slipped and voted for the gift when i meant LGO!

dude, if Sterling played bass on The Gift then he & Mo made the first side of this album.

"I Heard Her Call My Name" - three reasons:

1) Reed's all-over-the-place demented vocals
2) "...and then my MIND split open!" especially for the SKRREEEEEE!!! feedback noise that immediately follows it
3) Tucker's drumming propelling the whole song BOOMBOOM BOOMBOOM BOOMBOOM BOOMBOOM

that'd be cale on bass on the gift, right?

could be...i don't know...that's cale reading the story, but the story and the music are recorded on the two separate tracks, so conceivably cale could have played bass live with the band and then (or prior to the recording) recorded the story...

i like cale's vocals too actually

Here She Comes Now, the record's most endearing pop moment, at least for me. Love the the sleepy gentleness, the dissipated yearning in Lou's voice on the chorus ohs, the woozy buildup through the verses. I guess everything I like about it exists in stronger form in Lady Godiva's Operation, which really oughtta win this, but I love the the offhanded vibe. Dunno what that that mechanical ticking/buzzing noise is. It's always reminded me of a clock, but it doesn't really sound like that at all.

Whole record's, great, even The Gift, which is funny because of its juvenile goofiness, not in spite of it. Have to admit that, these days, I'm much less often inclined to listen to Sister Ray all the way through than I once was.

i actually like sister ray a lot more than I used to...before it was the first three minutes and then ...zzzzzzzzzzz... but recently after playing it in a bar, I've come to realize just how fucked it reallyis. The noise is like venomous wraiths slowly wrapping around your brain...

also...it is great at the end of Brick.

The noise is like venomous wraiths slowly wrapping around your brain...

― insufferably annoying

OTM. Only it's like tense, uncomfortable wraiths with scabby forearms and gray teeth who won't stop talking about bugs in the microcircuitry. A feeling I'm only occasionally up for.

After hearing the renditions of "Sister Ray" from the Quine tapes and other live shows, the versioon on WLWH seems relatively tame. It's still great, obviously, but when I get to song 6 I tend to either switch to live stuff.

I like the gift :-)

but I abstain

I changed my mind about this album. I love "Sister Ray", but voted "The Gift" :-)

recently after playing it in a bar

You mean on a jukebox, right? What happened? Did the bar clear?

no nothing happened. it's a weird bar...and me and some close associates usually mess around with the jukebox.

xxpost..LOL eman I actually thought it was Geir making that joke for a minute.

in response to questions about two things on this album that sound fairly obvious to me:

- Cale's vocal for "The Gift" was overdubbed after the backing track had been cut. That does not sound like a live vocal track AT ALL.
- the ticking sound that runs through "If She Ever Comes Now" is a a drum track being run through a spring echo/reverb effect (Space Echo, Echoplex, or something similar). Mo's hitting the rim of one of the drums with a drumstick.

1. Yes, that's obvious.

2. That, not so obvious. But, a bit.

"I Heard Her Call My Name," for those wonderful hilarious guitar solos.

Not a big fan of "The Gift" -- there's barely a reason to listen to it a 2nd time, and no reason at all to listen to it a 3rd time. I hated "Sister Ray" the first time I heard the album, and have loved it a little more each time since. That Lawrence Welk video and Brick helped seal the deal.

I actually prefer the version of "The Gift" on Live MCMXCIII.

OH GOD, TOO HARD TOO HARD SO MUCH CHOICE, ARRGGGHHH!!!

I love love love If She Ever Comes Now, but I'm going to have to go with Lady Godiva's Operation because of all that mental channel switching that makes it sound like Cale and Reed are swapping one mic back and forth between them.

Doctor is coming, the nurse sings... SWEETLY ... turning on the machines that ... NEATLY PUMP AIR ... the body lies the-eh-ere. (those may be wrong, I'm doing them from memory.)

i love how the niggling lyrics debate has turned into everyone referring to the song as "If She Ever Comes Now"...ILM--just when I'm ready to break it off, your little quirks just charm the hell out of me...

CALL MY NAME

wl/wh

Hear She Comes Now TS: VU vs Cabaret Voltaire

Definitely one of the best cover versions ever.

Galaxie version also awesome

Nirvana version is horrid.

i like the nirvana version

i don't think i've heard the cabaret voltaire or the nirvana versions ... i do like the galaxie 500 version!

Velvets fans! go nominate VU in Sven's best band ever thread! do it right now! Please!!!!

dude, if Sterling played bass on The Gift

He didn't, that's obv. Cale and some of my favourite bass playing of all time. Also the rhythm guitar is obv. Sterl and some of my favourite rhythm guitar paying of all time. Also on this track, Lou plays some of my favourite lead guitar of all time. Mo, never better. If you don't like or are bored with the vocal then just play the channel with backing track, it's one of my favourite Velvets' tracks of all time, "Keep On Chooglin'"!. Even so, I voted "Heard Her Call My Name".

voted 'i heard her call my name' and all the songs on this album are awesome

gift

i dont get how anyone can get aspie "arghhh i hate that song!" about these trax -- its like either u like the vu or you dont why fight it? this is what they are

"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.

http://www.sendspace.com/file/ejpcnn

I'm at work, so I can't look at that link -- what is it?

lou reed having sex with batman

"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."

otm ^^^. This whole album was like this for me. Although I didn't hear it until that fairly decent CD remastering job released in the nineties, nothing, not even The Velvet Underground and Nico prepared me for how transgressive and fun this album was.

while we're at it, let's hear it for the guy on the far right:
http://www.britannica.com/psychedelic/images/opsyroc099p1.jpg
Tom Wilson! A guy who knew how to get outta the way and let people like the VU, Zappa and Dylan make awesome records. (From what I hear, this pic is pretty representative of his hands-off production style).

Also produced Sun Ra!

too tough can't pick

And Cecil Taylor! And Simon & Garfunkel! Yeahhhhh!
xpost

Tom Wilson, RIP

It is kind of interesting -- I wonder how much biz collateral Wilson had because of his big hits with Dylan/S&G, and whether that made a big difference in getting records like the VU's and Zappa's released? Because honestly, especially, WL/WH -- it's kind of amazing that a big label released that in 1968.

Should have been out in 1967 of course.

It got delayed in the release schedule when the Mothers album was pushed up.

What, again? Didn't that happen to the 1st Velvets's album too?

Thought the first one was delayed because of the picture of the dude on the back of the cover -- he wouldn't give them permission to use it or something. Eric's Trip. Also, problems with the Banana.

link above is the Cabs cover version.

The organ in Sister Ray...the moment when Cale plays this Riley/Glass-esque bassline and seems to just decide to turn it up to 11, I'm looking at you 12 minutes and 26 seconds, that's it for me.

No, no, not a second time, I made that up.
(xxpost)

He invents Suicide in the course of that song too (xp)

ha

sweet -- thanks for the mp3, dan. What are some other WL/WH covers? Joy Division/New Order do Sister Ray ... Feelies do the title track. I heard Yo La Tengo do Heard Her Call My Name. Has anyone ever done Lady Godiva? Or The Gift? That last one probably not ...

i guess i'll vote the title track. i love the call-and-response-ish vocal lines. also how cheerful it is -- not enough drug songs (including most of lou's) make drugs sound fun. "tickle me down to my toes"! but the album's pretty flawless. even "the gift," which for me is in the library of great '60s absurdism.

Has anyone ever done Lady Godiva?

Oh yes, the Fatima Mansions!

hmm! never heard that one! what's it from?

Some tribute album, I think

"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)?

Booker T on Peel Slowly is pretty much just a blues progression jam thing. It's got some cool guitar work, but it doesn't have the nasty fuzz bass riff that the Gift has.

I dont like the Velvet Underground, but "Heard Her Call My Name" is awesome.

I fondly recall staring, mouth agape, at my stereo the first time I heard "I Heard Her Call My Name." Most of the times since that an air-guitar fit accompanied by hysterical laughter has been the result.

hey one of mine got revived :D

i'll be honest here: as far as I Heard Her Call My Name goes, call & response vocals > guitar feedback (not >>>>>>, just >)

the fact that they coexist on the same song....sheer amazement.

The "single" version of Heard Her Call My Name is kinda interesting. Tones down the mix so the song's a little more musical, and the solo doesn't smack you in the face as much. Not an improvement...

John Cale OBE, apparently

Yeah, John Cale OBE!

Disappointing....not that he gets one, but that he accepts.

Don't have a problem with him accepting it at all. It's a recognition of his achievement. It doesn't mean he's turned into an Establishment lickspittle.

The "single" version of Heard Her Call My Name is kinda interesting.

Wasn't that box set just a way of sneaking out an alternate version under Lou's nose?

Apparently, Lou was the only one who wanted that original version/mix out, the rest wanted this 'new' mix.

John Cale OBE, apparently

He'll certaiinly be welcome back in Chipping Sodbury now

here she ever comes now now

n-nah nah

Last place for "The Gift". That's a real shame.
For those put off by the "story" in the left channel, all you have to do is concentrate on the fantastic lead guitar on the right. Starts as a nice little Cornell Dupree "Memphis Soul"-type figure and slowly mutates into feedback skronk.

i think someone's done a mix of "the gift" that's just the backing track, but i don't have it. anyone?

There's a live version on the "Peel Slowly and See" box.

i know some people disagreed with me upthread, but these sound pretty different to me ...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHgGnl4Hd_o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egFezSPH4D8

They're both in the same key of D, but that's about it.
Boggles my mind that anyone would hear them as "the same".

45 years old today - still one of the greatest avant-rock records

^^^^

this was the first vu record i owned
probably listen to it least but still have a certain fondness for it

Here She Comes Now probably most in line with my tastes these days

was just thinking about this album after making my own 100 Most Influential Albums list on FB at the behest of AG. This was at the top (tho I did it chronologically, sort of)

anyways: still ride for Heard Her Call My Name. super-classic

hmmm
http://www.amazon.com/White-Light-Heat-3CD-Anniversary/dp/B00FH3UI66/?tag=vglnkc4192-20
so it'll be regular mix, mono mix ... gymnasium tapes? wonder if there'll be anything previously unheard.

Cool, saw that the other day. Isn't Cale sitting on a couple of Velvets tapes from around then? Thought I remembered reading that somewhere.

yeah, though those might just be the gymnasium tapes that surfaced a few years back ... not sure! i think he talks about a tape of them playing "walk it and talk it" at the gymnasium, which isn't on the bootleg.

there is a rumor of a studio version of "story of my life" w/ cale, I believe. GET EXCITED. or maybe it was "beginning to see the light"?

Whichever, yay!

That's what I was thinking of; supposedly Cale has some '67-'68 studio tapes that he's hiding from Reed. Can't remember the titles, but I think there were one or two that ended up on Yule Velvets records.

xp

But damn, $100 for 3 CDs? That's Neil Young pricing.

So, this is out early December?

Need News.

xp 3CDs with additional, what? Big Book?

xxp yeah according to the VU web page -
May 29, 1968
T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, California

1441 N McCadden Pl, Los Angeles, CA 90028

John Cale - Sterling Morrison - Lou Reed - Maureen Tucker

Hey Mr. Rain [Version I] (4:40)
Hey Mr. Rain [Version II] (5:25)
I'm Beginning To See The Light

i would hope that the price on that comes down considerably (which is usually the case w/ these early amazon things?)

but that "beginning" really seems to be the only (documented) cale studio outtake from this period... hopefully they prove me wrong and there's an insane "what goes on" w/ cale they've unearthed.

More details, you guys..

http://akson.sgh.waw.pl/~kg23187/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95921

Hi guys

I have been collaborating a bit with Universal on the project and now I am allowed to share some of the information with you:

Stereo and Mono mixes of the Album plus the singles, and the material already iussed in VU & Another View will go in Cd 1 and 2.
No alternate take of "Sister Ray" i am afraid , but there are fantastic surprises for the fans: the alternate take of "I Heard Her Call My Name" and the long time rumored "Beginning to See the Light" recorded May 29, 1968 with Cale at fuzzy bass!! Those alone are exciting enough to warrant the set.

The Gift will have some special "treatment" on the issue with Vocal and Instrumental versions.

Cd #3 will be "Live at The Gimnasium April 30, 1967" with a previously unreleased (not in the bootleg) "The Gift", similar tempo than the studio version but live!!!

As always thanks to Levenson and Mercuri for the great job done to keep the VU catalog alive and make these gems finally available

It should be availble by end Nov early Dec.

Enjoy!

There is also some mention about how WLWH mono is just a fold-down on side 2, but side 1 has proper mono mixes.

Random observation, but the 67 Velvets were on some kind of unsettling vibe. "Here She Comes Now" and "Hey Mr Rain" are two songs that genuinely creep me out, unlike anything else in their (glittering) catalogue.
Also, I miss Sterling Morrison.

I've heard the fold-down, and it's actually ok. There's nothing in the mix that makes it obvious it's a fold-down (which is odd, considering the meticulous, Steely Dan-like approach they took with the recording and production of this album).

Well, I have one, and it's fine.

There's the 'single' mix on the single box of "I heard her call my name", that's fine too.

so this alternate "i heard her call my name" won't be the so-called "single mix" that came out on the sundazed thing? kind of wild that there is a live "gift" w/ vocals (i assume)! all in all, not an amazing selection of unheard things, but who am i kidding, i want it.

Yeah, I want it too. I don't have the Gymnasium dealie, have never heard the alternate "Beginning To See The Light," and if the 45th VU/Nico set is anything to go by, the book will be fantastic.

(If there's a book.)

But I still think it's hilarious that this happened:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31JBMSGDBZL._SL500_AA240_.jpg

yeah haha.
hopefully the format of the box will be the same as the vu & nico one, that felt pretty definitive. and yeah, the book was very nice.

& if you haven't heard that gymnasium material, tarfumes, you are in for a treat. it is killer.

Cool! I really dug the Columbus show on the VU/Nico box (was shocked at how close they stuck to the studio arrangements), and they didn't try to fuck with the sound.

gymnasium tapes are much better recorded (pretty sure it's a soundboard) -- probably the best sounding VU bootleg in existence (til someone bootlegs the full matrix tapes at least).

John Cale on the VU on Aussie TV in 1983:

"Well however innovative it was it never lived up to its promise."

@00:14 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W6af7Cj05I

Agree/Disagree? Love the 3rd record but obviously curious about what Cale's involvement could have been.

@2:40 "The band went out on the road and developed a whole different style of playing. It wasn't based on hard work and a certain amount of musical extrapolation... It really turned into a road band, it turned into a drag... tedious."

i dunno, even though cale is known as the avant garde influence on the band, i can see him going along with the quieter stuff on the 3rd VU record -- it's not like he didn't explore that side of things in his own subsequent solo work.

OTM. Also, "Stephanie Says."

a certain amount of musical extrapolation
if what we have to go on re: the final period of cale being in VU -- the Sweet Sister Ray recording -- is anything to go by, there was plenty of musical extrapolation going on!

rolling stone piece. kind of questionable/confusing info -- new mix of "beginning to see the light"? "never-before-heard live set"?

The Velvet Underground's masterful second LP, White Light/White Heat, turns 45 this year – and to celebrate, Universal Music will release a three-disc anniversary set on December 3rd.

Initially recorded over a few days in New York at the end of the summer of 1967 and released on January 30th, 1968, White Light/White Heat was a stunningly innovative, challenging LP. "No one listened to it," frontman Lou Reed said in a statement. "But there it is, forever – the quintessence of articulate punk. And no one goes near it."

Reed and John Cale, the Velvet's former bassist/organist/violist, helped curate the White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition. Remastered versions of the original record in both mono and stereo will appear on the set, as well as a slew of bonus material, including alternate versions of tracks like "Hey Mr. Rain," new mixes of "Beginning to See the Light" and "Guess I'm Falling in Love," and previously unreleased vocal and instrumental versions of "The Gift." Tracks cut during Cale's last studio session with the Velvet Underground will also appear.

In addition, fans will be treated to a never-before-heard live set recorded at the Gymnasium in New York on April 30th, 1967; the setlist from that show includes favorites like "I'm Waiting for the Man," "Sister Ray" and "Run Run Run." Rolling Stone's own David Fricke contributed new liner notes to the White Light/White Heat reissue.

Read more: http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-velvet-underground-to-reissue-white-light-white-heat-20131001#ixzz2gV0OBUQa
Follow us: @rollingstone on Twitter | RollingStone on Facebook

pretty sure the "remix" of BGTSTL was booted on a 7" single but hey all bets are off at this point.

i think they're just confused. the "beginning to see the light" with cale (mentioned above) has never been released or bootlegged afaik, so a "new mix" would not make sense.

including alternate versions of tracks like "Hey Mr. Rain," new mixes of "Beginning to See the Light" and "Guess I'm Falling in Love,"

Would be curious to see if "Hey Mr. Rain" and "Guess" are the same takes on Another View or (hopefully) something different.

(btw, the "Guess" on Another View is probably my pick for all-time greatest occurrence of the Velvet Underground doing anything, ever)

would be nice if they turned up a vocal for the studio version of "guess i'm falling in love" -- always wondered why the band went in and recorded that track but then just left it unfinished when all it needed was for lou to stand there and sing for a couple minutes.

I did wonder if it was a backing track for a TV appearance (They did the Marvin/Tammi show, long lost), but the people that know all tell me no.

(They did the Marvin/Tammi show, long lost)

!!!!

quite

And "Guess I'm falling in love" is what they did!

yeah, the backing track for a show maybe makes sense:
January 8 [& July 15?], 1967
Upbeat, WEWS-TV (channel 5), Cleveland, Ohio

Velvet Underground appearance with Guess I'm Falling In Love performance.

The Cleveland TV Guide lists for January 8, 1967: "Upbeat - with Marvin Gaye & Tammie Terrel, The Music Explosion, Velvet Underground, 5th Estate and Donna Sears."

In Psychotronic #33: The Velvet Underground (!) were on twice. Jamie Klimek (of the group Mirrors) saw them play many times. "In the period April 67 to March 69, The Velvets played Cleveland 7 times. After and appearance with the EPI at the Public Hall, they returned 5 times to play at La Cave. In early 67 they did Guess I'm Falling in Love (not on LP) on Upbeat! with Cale. On Oct 2 1968 [sic], the VU came in for another 3 day stand. This marked Doug Yule's first public appearance with the band. They played Run Run Run (from the first LP) with different lyric-live on Upbeat!"

except the dates don't match up? at least according to olandem's guide to studio recordings:

December 5, 1967

Guess I'm Falling In Love (instrumental version) (3:35)

MYSTERIES

That's what I mean.

I do wonder if that "live" version on "and so on" was actually taped off the tv

i think that's the rumor. it's definitely different from the gymnasium version -- and has always sounded like it's slowed down... but maybe i'm just used to the faster version.

just that odd reverb/echo on it.

Still, that version Moe did with Jad fair was the biz

http://www.efeeme.com/wp-content/uploads/velvet-underground-02-10-13.jpg

Should come in a box with a little Waldo Jeffers.

Disc: 1
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (STEREO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (STEREO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (STEREO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (STEREO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (STEREO VERSION)
7. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)(ALTERNATE TAKE)
8. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (STEREO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
9. TEMPTATION INSIDE YOUR HEART (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
10. STEPHANIE SAYS (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
11. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION)(VERSION ONE)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
12. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION) (VERSION TWO)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
13. BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (STEREO VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED EARLY VERSION)
Disc: 2
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (MONO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (MONO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (MONO VERSION)
7. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
8. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
9. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(VOCAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
Disc: 3
1. BOOKER T. (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
2. I'M NOT A YOUNG MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
3. ANYMORE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
4. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
5. I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
6. RUN RUN RUN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
7. SISTER RAY (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
8. THE GIFT (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

hmm, seems a little weird they're not including that acetate/demo thing that is on peel slowly and see, just for the sake of being definitive, but oh well.

I wish they would include the VU in Boston film they discovered/cleaned up a few years ago, filmed around the time they were recording WL/WH. Not the best document visually or sonically, but I'll take whatever's out there.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JsD1nb8vnKM

I don't think Reed was too happy with those demos coming out. Or, he had no problem with them being released at the time, but lashed out when they were subject to criticism. He probably doesn't want to draw any more attention to those.

xp

3 discs is relatively skimpy...you'd think they could've cobbled together some kind of mini-documentary with any/all existing footage, new interviews, etc.

Tracks 2 and 3 on disc 3 is a typo: Song is "I'm not a young man anymore"

DUH

Should come in a box with a little Waldo Jeffers.

― hopping and bopping to the krokodil rot (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Wednesday, 2 October 2013 16:39 (4 hours ago) Permalink

YES

So I guess next year we'll get a s/t album box w/the rest of the VU/Another View/box set stuff and a sampler of the era's live tapes?

can't let a 45th anniversary slip by!

Seem to have come rather close to it though. Came rather close to only releasing it in time for 46th anniversary.

Looks like a nice release wonder what price is like? THink I was seeing something exorbitant being talked about elsewhere.

& what was the story on the mono only being a different mix on half of it and a fold down on the other half was that mentioned here or elsewhere.

elsewhere.

kind of an interesting tidbit from the velvet forum
"Guess I'm Falling in Love recording date is Sept 5th and not Dec 5th as informed before, so [it is] actually an outtake of the Wl/Wh recording sessions"
which seems kind of nuts to me considering the drum sound on the "guess I'm falling in love" on another VU

I was thinking that too, but "Guess" was mixed in the 80s for Another View; I don't think a mixdown existed prior. The drums being low in the mix on WL/WH could be more down to mixing than recording.

And if that's the case, I wouldn't be opposed to a full remix of WL/WH if it'll come out sounding like "Guess."

yeah, would be interesting/weird to hear the whole album mixed like "guess" on another vu. maybe for the 90th anniversary edition.

how the hell can the gift finish last here? i love it. lyrics & music. just about perfect. sister ray is rubbish, i have never understood it's appeal. it's so bloody repetitive and one-dimensional.

Why does everybody hate the story of "The Gift"? I think it's really cool! Sure, it could use a little editing here and there, but I love the idea. More songs should just be really long stories instead of singing.

sister ray is rubbish, i have never understood it's appeal. it's so bloody repetitive and one-dimensional.

I just don't understand people sometimes

The Gift? Well, when you've heard the story, you've heard it.

I was right, checked the Amazon.com pre-release price for this and it's just short of $100 for the 3cd with book Super Deluxe Edition. That's actually higher than the 6cd & Nico so I wonder if it is right.

What's on the non-Super Deluxe 2cd version? The Mono and the Stereo? Found the place where somebody was talking about only half of the lp being true mono, 1st 1/2 seems to have been recorded that way & 2nd 1/2 is apparently a fold down of the stereo version.
Subsequently wondering if they're going ahead and doing the 2cd that way or rearranging it further.

Would be nice to have a version of the Gymnasium in best possible sound even with having the circulated bootleg. But no way I could afford the € equivalent of that $100 for the set.

looks like the non deluxe 2cd version is discs 1 and 3 of the super deluxe. which maybeeee is all i want?

Yeah, me too. Particularly as I own a mono LP already, and :

9. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(VOCAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

.. is a fib: Take one stereo CD, etc.

i like 'the gift' but it definitely has less replay value than the rest of the album.

But if you listen enough you can even appreciate the musical qualities of Cale's narration - like the way the phrase "...finally submitting to the final caresses of sexual oblivion" syncs up perfectly to the beat.

ha, yeah, obviously once you know the end of the gift, the story itself might not be that interesting, but i like cale's speaking voice mixing it up with the backing track. don't think i need the "vocal" version, but the backing track by itself is fucking great.

It's on "Peel Slowly" innit?

the backing track? no, it's never been officially released afaik.

There's a live version of "The Booker T" ("The Gift" backing track) on the box.

ah.

"booker T" on the peel slowly box set is pretty much a different thing than "the gift" tho

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdBwxDBXQSk
vs.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egFezSPH4D8

Will have to dig it out.

I have that New Zealand "What goes on" set also

In fact, what haven't I got?

I just found out that the UK Universal edition of the box comes with a free flexidisc of Booker T from the Gymnasium for the initial batch of orders from the website
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/the-velvet-underground-to-reissue-white-light-white-heat-20131001#ixzz2gV5XHFqJ

I thought it was already on the Gymnasium disc supposedly. & on the Peel Slowly & See box.

I thought the track was an improvisation on a theme so open to pretty wide difference gig to gig and it has always been put forward as the track that The Gift was read to. Don't remember having read or seen anything about the story recitation being played live, as I've come across being talked about elsewhere since this box set was announced. Which may be triggered by the tracklisting that's been announced.

They certainly played it live at the gig I was at!

Yeah, they did it on the '93 tour. It's funny, on the live album you can hear the cheers as they build up to the climax of the story.

I was thinking more of the original Cale era. Was Murder Mystery done live in the Yule era?
Both strike me as studio experiments. Very wordy to remember during a gig.

I love this album too much to participate in this thread.

they did bits of the murder mystery at the end of various sister rays in the yule era.
iirc cale read the gift off of a sheet of paper at the 93 gigs.

Yeah was thinking that it must have been read off something.

But also that something done by the reunion band after the track had had several decades to sink in with the audience wasn't necessarily the way that it would have been presented originally.

& both Booker T and The Gift instrumental appear to be approaching something based on the same groove/riff whatever from different focuses.

But one's a fairly boring 12-bar and the other's an awesome one chord choogle

(... well it's not one chord, but no changes nonetheless)

iirc cale read the gift off of a sheet of paper at the 93 gigs.

― tylerw, Sunday, October 6, 2013 10:15 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, he did. I remember from Ira Kaplan's adorably gushing review of their Paris show in Spin something like, "A music stand is being brought out. 'The Gift'? Yep, called it!"

Looks like they're also putting out a 2-disc Deluxe Edition of WL/WH that surprisingly doesn't include the mono version of the album but does include the Gymnasiuim concert!

Disc: 1
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (STEREO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (STEREO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (STEREO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (STEREO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (STEREO VERSION)
7. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)(ALTERNATE TAKE)
8. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (STEREO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
9. TEMPTATION INSIDE YOUR HEART (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
10. STEPHANIE SAYS (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
11. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION)(VERSION ONE)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
12. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION) (VERSION TWO)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
13. BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (STEREO VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED EARLY VERSION)

Disc: 2
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (MONO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (MONO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (MONO VERSION)
7. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
8. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
9. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(VOCAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

Disc: 3
1. BOOKER T. (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
2. I'M NOT A YOUNG MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
3. ANYMORE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
4. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
5. I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
6. RUN RUN RUN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
7. SISTER RAY (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
8. THE GIFT (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

That was supposed to look like this:

Disc: 1
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (STEREO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (STEREO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (STEREO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (STEREO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (STEREO VERSION)
7. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (STEREO VERSION)(ALTERNATE TAKE)
8. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (STEREO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
9. TEMPTATION INSIDE YOUR HEART (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
10. STEPHANIE SAYS (STEREO VERSION)(ORIGINAL MIX)
11. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION)(VERSION ONE)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
12. HEY MR. RAIN (STEREO VERSION) (VERSION TWO)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
13. BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (STEREO VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED EARLY VERSION)

Disc: 2
1. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)
2. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)
3. LADY GODIVA'S OPERATION (MONO VERSION)
4. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)
5. I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (MONO VERSION)
6. SISTER RAY (MONO VERSION)
7. WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
8. HERE SHE COMES NOW (MONO VERSION)(MONO SINGLE MIX)
9. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(VOCAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
10. THE GIFT (MONO VERSION)(INSTRUMENTAL VERSION)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

Disc: 3 2
1. BOOKER T. (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
2. I'M NOT A YOUNG MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
3. ANYMORE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
4. GUESS I'M FALLING IN LOVE (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)
5. I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
6. RUN RUN RUN (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
7. SISTER RAY (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)
8. THE GIFT (LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967)(PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED)

I went for "Lady Godiva's Operation", btw, if only for that moment where the heart beat comes in, the yawning sounds of death approach, then the sound crashes back in with "one goes here....one goes...there!", followed by "the ether tube's leaking, says someone who's sloppy".

― Z S, Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:31 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Also because Cale+Tucker on that song are fucking unstoppable. That is THE groove of all times.

― Z S, Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:34 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

^on the money

― insufferably annoying (Drugs A. Money), Wednesday, December 17, 2008 10:35 AM (4 years ago) Bookmark

i cannot stop listening to and thinking about (and playing! so easy!) this song!! there is something wrong with me.
i have been humming and whistling it around school for days. in addition to the relentless groove, props to lady godiva herself, peeping tom, and all related legends.

30 sec teaser of that unreleased/unbootlegged "beginning to see the light" here:
http://cdnapi.kaltura.com/index.php/extwidget/openGraph/wid/0_klogtddq

and here's the whole of that "beginning": http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/velvet-underground-raid-the-vaults-for-light-premiere-20131205

love that picture:

http://assets-s3.rollingstone.com/assets/images/story/velvet-underground-raid-the-vaults-for-light-premiere-20131205/1000x600/120313-velvet-underground-600-1386099215.jpg

haha yeah... high concept photo shoot! "here is the band ... with their record!"
the outtake "beginning" is very cool, tho it sounds like Lou hadn't quite written the lyrics in full yet.

ahhh, the live "gift" on the new reish (which wasn't on the gymnasium bootleg), is soooooo good. just an instrumental, but a nasty, feedbacky ride. i love it.

not sure how they're getting away w/ calling the "heard her call my name" an "alternate take" though. definitely a different mix (basically like the sundazed single) but definitely the same take.

dudes aren't quite hitting the harmonies on the "original mix" of "Stephanie Says" though... nice to hear anyway.