Grant McPhee has launched a website with contemporary press clippings about The Velvet Underground, organised by year. If anything, the bulk of the articles make it abudantly clear that the band was misunderstood by most writers during their short tenure.
Included are also links to a few in-depth essays he wrote on the most popular stories that have been making the rounds for decades. Did Beatles manager Brian Epstein wanted to manage them? How well did their debut album sell?
Cam Forrester made an in-depth 3-part documentary about Sterling Morrison, the Velvet Underground's understated guitar hero, who became a teacher and a tugboat captain before returning to music.
Back in 1993 tyres manufacturer Dunlop gave Tony Kaye the green light to make an ad ("Tested for the Unexpected") to sell their product, using Venus in Furs by The Velvet Underground. Crows, a gleaming car, fires and plenty of S&M references.
English musicians and music geeks extraordinaire Steven Wilson and Tim Bowness have posted a new episode of their podcast The Album Years. They talk about 1968, discussing albums by Nico, The Velvet Underground, Van Morrison, Johnny Cash, and a whole lot more. This is part #4, the final episode, about this year.
On what would have Lou Reed's 82nd birthday Keith Richards has unveiled his cover of I'm Waiting For The Man. Pretty much a perfect gift. It will be included on the tribute album The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed, which will be released on Record Store Day (April 20).
English multi-instrumentalist Cam Forrester played all the parts of his version of The Velvet Underground's Sister Ray. He made a matching video as well, using a backdrop of the band playing at the Boston Tea Party in 1967. Play almost as loud as the original.
Yet another book about The Velvet Underground sees the light of day on August 31. Written by English journalist Dylan Jones, this one also covers the band members' career after the band folded:
Dylan Jones' definitive oral history of The Velvet Underground draws on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, film-makers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, to celebrate not only their impact but their legacy, which burns brighter than ever into the 21st century.
Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground is published by White Rabbit.
The Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh will be playing a resurfaced reel-to-reel ¼” mono tape of the recording sessions of The Velvet Underground at Scepter Studio in New York in 1966 during an exhibition that opens on May 12. An acetate was used for the 45th anniversatry box the of The Velvet Underground & Nico, but this one is supposed to sound a lot better:
The Velvet Underground & Nico: Scepter Studio Sessions highlights the Velvet Underground and the music from their first recording sessions in April 1966 at Scepter Studios in New York City. Recently identified while processing Andy Warhol’s archive at The Warhol, the nine initial tracks recorded by the band were the bedrock of their debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967, Verve Records), which became one of the most jarring and influential albums in rock music. These monophonic reel-to-reel ¼” tapes feature alternate versions and mixes of songs later issued on the 1967 release, which was produced by Warhol, and often referred to as the “banana album”, as it featured a peel-away banana on the cover designed by Warhol.
Another example of Lou Reed's early demos has hit the streaming services. This May 1965 version of Men of Good Fortune is folkie in a Bob Dylan kinda way, with a bit of harp thrown in for good measure. He is out of tune more often than not, It will be included on Words & Music on August 26 via Light In The Attic Records in conjunction with the Lou Reed Archive. Words & Music contains homemade lo-fi recordings of songs that would turn up on albums by The Velvet Underground and his solo output. John Cale features on some of the tracks as well. Men of Good Fortune would see the light of day on Berlin in 1973.
Another example of Lou Reed's early demos has hit the streaming services. This May 1965 version of Heroin comes close to country rock. It will be included on Words & Music on August 26 via Light In The Attic Records in conjunction with the Lou Reed Archive. Words & Music contains recordings of songs that would turn up on albums by The Velvet Underground and his solo output. John Cale features on some of the tracks as well.
Early demos of Lou Reed penned songs will see the light of day on August 26 via Light In The Attic Records in conjunction with the Lou Reed Archive. Words & Music contains recordings of songs that would turn up on albums by The Velvet Underground. He recorded them with John Cale in May 1965 and on his own at home in 1963/64. Reed mailed the five reel-to-reels to himself to get the copyright for early renditions of tracks like Pale Blue Eyes, Heroin and I'm Waiting for the Man. Also of note is the Cale sung Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams, a song that would wind up on Nico's debut album Chelsea Girls. The true oddity however is the inclusion of Gee Wizz, which Reed recorded by as a teenager in 1958.
The trailer for The Velvet Underground documentary is up on YouTube. Directed by Todd Haynes it will tell the tale of the most influential band, bringing avant-garde to rock 'n' roll. John Cale and Maureen Tucker are among the interviewees, as well as über fan Jonathan Richman who saw them performing countless times in Boston. The documentary had its premiere at Cannes Film Festival on July 7 this year. It will be up on Apple TV as of October 15, coninciding with a theatrical release.
Watch Matt Berninger (The National) tackle I'm Waiting for the Man on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. The studio version will be released on the forthcoming I’ll Be Your Mirror: A Tribute to the Velvet Underground & Nico album, due for release on September 24 via Verve. He turned the song into a post-punk rave up and somehow made it sound quite joyous.
Watch Australian surf garage trio Skeggs perform the Pixies classic Here Comes Your Man for Like A Version, a segment on Australian radio station triple-j. They kicked things off with a snippet of the Velvet Underground's I'm Waiting for the Man.
Watch French singer and pianist Emily Loizeau pay tribute to the works of Lou Reed at Le Festival Temps d’Images in Paris on September23, 2014. Additional vocals by Julie-Anne Roth and guitar by Csaba Palotaï. The performance was taped by Arte TV.
Setlist.Watch a pro-shot early R.E.M. show filmed @ Capitol Theatre in Passaic, NJ on June 9, 1984. After kicking off with The Velvet Underground cover Pale Blue Eyes they played songs from their first two albums and their debut EP. A couple of very famous guests join them during the second all covers encore. Roger McGuinn nailed his parts, while John Sebastian was obviously having fun, but came up short in the end.
It was broadcast on 17 July 1984 as an MTV special Rock Influences: Folk Rock.
The Velvet Underground - New York Extravaganza opens on October 10 at 718 Broadway. John Cale wil be doing a Q&A on October 11. From BrooklynVegan:
The Velvet Underground Experience opens week in NYC and they’ve been lining up special events for opening week. One of those is with actual VU member John Cale who will participate in a Q&A on October 11 at 5 PM. That event is first-come, first-served and is included with admission to the exhibitions.
Two years after The Velvet Underground - New York Extravaganza exhibition in Paris, the artefacts, sounds and movies get another outing in the band's hometown New York. Renamed The Velvet Underground Experience it opens on October 10 at 718 Broadway. Caveat: the official website contains a truly awful I'm Waiting For The Man (64Kbps MP3 or something like that).
John Cale performed Shanghai Symphony Hall, Shanghai, China - July 11, 2018. Billed as a Velvet Underground 50th Anniversary Memorial Concert.
The band:
John Cale: vocals, electric guitar, keyboards, viola
Dustin Boyer: lead guitar, samples
Joey Maramba: bass
Deantoni Parks: drums, samples
Setlist
