Their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico featured
German singer and collaborator Nico and was called the "most
prophetic rock album ever made" by Rolling Stone in 2003.[3][4] In 2004,
Rolling Stone ranked the band
No. 19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".[5] The band
was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996 by Patti Smith.
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| pop art noise goth punk... |
At Warhol's insistence, Nico sang with
the band on three songs of their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. The album was recorded
primarily in Scepter Studios in New York City during April 1966, but for
reasons unclear, some songs were rerecorded at TTG Studios in Los Angeles, along
with the new song "Sunday Morning",
later in the year with Tom Wilson producing. The album was released by Verve Records
the following year in March 1967.
The album cover is famous for its
Warhol design: a yellow banana sticker with "Peel slowly and see"
printed near the tip. Those who did remove the banana skin found a pink, peeled
banana beneath.
Eleven songs showcased their dynamic
range, veering from the pounding attacks of "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "Run Run Run", the droning "Venus in Furs" and
"Heroin", the chiming and celestial "Sunday Morning"
to the quiet "Femme Fatale" and the tender "I'll Be Your Mirror", as well as Warhol's own favorite song of the
group, "AllTomorrow's Parties".[21] Kurt Loder would
later describe "All Tomorrow's Parties" as a "mesmerizing gothic-rock masterpiece".[21]
The overall sound was propelled by
Reed and Nico's deadpan vocals, Cale's droning viola, bass and keyboards,
Reed's experimental avant-garde guitar, Morrison's often R&B- or country-influenced
guitar, and Tucker's simple but steady and tribal-sounding beat with sparse use
of cymbals. Another distinct feature on many songs was the "drone
strum", an eighth-note rhythm guitar style used by Reed. Although Cale was
the band's usual bassist, if he switched to viola or keyboards, Morrison would
normally play bass. Despite his proficiency on the instrument, Morrison hated
playing bass.[22][23] Conversely,
some songs had Reed and Morrison playing their usual guitars with Cale on viola
or keyboards, but with nobody playing bass.
In September 1967, the Velvet
Underground began recording their second album, White Light/White Heat, with Tom Wilson as producer.
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| prophets of doom |
The band performed live often, and
their performances became louder and harsher and often featured extended improvisations. Cale
reports that at about this time the Velvet Underground was one of the first
groups to receive an endorsement deal from Vox. The
company pioneered special effects, which were utilized on the album.
Sterling Morrison offered the
following input regarding the recording:
There was fantastic leakage 'cause
everyone was playing so loud and we had so much electronic junk with us in the
studio—all these fuzzers and compressors. Gary Kellgren, who is
ultra-competent, told us repeatedly: "You can't do it—all the needles are
on red." and we reacted as we always reacted: "Look, we don't know
what goes on in there and we don't want to hear about it. Just do the best you
can." And so the album is fuzzy, there's all that white noise...we wanted
to do something electronic and energetic. We had the energy and the
electronics, but we didn't know it couldn't be recorded...what we were trying
to do was really fry the tracks.[28]
The recording was raw and
oversaturated. Cale has stated that while the debut had some moments of
fragility and beauty, White
Light/White Heat was "consciously anti-beauty." The title
track sets a harsh opening, featuring bassist John Cale pounding on the piano
in a style akin to Jerry Lee Lewis. It was
later included in the repertoire of David Bowie. Despite
the dominance of noisefests like "Sister Ray"
and "I Heard Her Call My Name", there was room for the darkly
comic "The Gift", a short story written by Reed and narrated by Cale
in his deadpan Welsh
accent. The meditative "Here She Comes Now" was later covered by Galaxie 500, Cabaret Voltaire, and Nirvana, among
others.
The album was released on January 30, 1968, entering the Billboard Top 200 chart for two weeks, at a dismal number 199.
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| Who knows about that kid?? |
The album was released on January 30, 1968, entering the Billboard Top 200 chart for two weeks, at a dismal number 199.
Their 3rd album was recorded swiftly in late 1968 at TTG Studios in
Hollywood, California, and was released in March 1969. The cover photograph was
taken by Billy Name. The LP
sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve. Released
on March 12, 1969, the album failed to make Billboard's Top 200 album chart.
The harsh, abrasive tendencies on the
first two records were almost entirely absent on their third album. This
resulted in a gentler sound influenced by folk music,
prescient of the songwriting style that would soon form Reed's solo career.
While Reed had covered a vast range of lyrical subjects on the first two Velvet
Underground albums, the lyrical themes of the third album were more
"intimate" in nature.
During 1969 the band also recorded on and off in the
studio, creating a lot of promising material (both singles and one-offs) that
were never officially released at the time due to disputes with their record
label. What many consider to be the prime songs of these recording sessions
were released years later, in 1985, in a compilation album called VU. The album VU marks the transitional sound
between the whisper-soft third album, and the band's movement to the later pop
rock song-style of their final record, Loaded.»
So ladies & gents
The Essential Recordings
Related Links
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