The Velvet Underground (album)
Encyclopedia
The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock group The Velvet Underground
. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule
, John Cale
's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios
in Hollywood
, California
. This album's softer sound marks a radical shift in approach in style from the group's previous recordings. In 2003, the album was ranked number 314 on Rolling Stone
s "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
" list.
said "I really didn’t think we should make another White Light/White Heat
. I thought it would be a terrible mistake, and I really believed that. I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Otherwise, we would become this one-dimensional thing, and that had to be avoided at all costs." Maureen Tucker
said, "I was pleased with the direction we were going and with the new calmness in the group, and thinking about a good future, hoping people would smarten up and some record company would take us on and do us justice." Doug Yule said the album "was a lot of fun. The sessions were constructive and happy and creative, everybody was working together."
The Velvet Underground was the band's first album for MGM Records
, the band's first two albums having been issued by MGM subsidiary and legendary jazz
label, Verve Records
. The previously strong Andy Warhol
influence is diminished, with the most notable ties to The Factory
being the cover and back photograph
s taken by Warholite Billy Name
, and opening track "Candy Says," written about transsexual
Candy Darling
(who would later appear in Reed's 1972 song, "Walk On The Wild Side").
The record was produced by the band themselves, and issued in two different stereo mixes. The more widely distributed version is the one done by TTG staff recording engineer Val Valentin. The other mix was done by Lou Reed
, and was dubbed the "Closet Mix" by guitarist Sterling Morrison
. There are significant sonic differences in the mixes, but the most dramatic is that "Some Kinda Love" is an entirely different performance in the two versions.
The LP sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve.
The first U.S. version contained the Lou Reed "Closet Mix," although the track times listed on the first U.S. issue more closely match the Valentin mix. This may indicate that the Reed mix was issued by mistake or that it was substituted after the covers were printed. The original U.K. release used the Valentin mix.
All CD versions, as well as the 1985 vinyl re-issue, are copies of the Valentin mix. Other LP re-issues vary but most also use the Valentin Mix. The "Closet Mix" is available on disc four of the 1995 CD box set Peel Slowly and See
.
. Running times listed are for the Valentin Mix.
Side one
Side two
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule
Doug Yule
Douglas Alan Yule is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of The Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.- Early career :Yule began playing with various bands in Boston in the 1960s...
, John Cale
John Cale
John Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios
TTG Studios
TTG Studios was a recording studio in Los Angeles, California, founded by Ami Hadani and Tom Hidley.-Studio:"TTG" stood for "two terrible guys." The studio was first established in 1965 at the intersection of Sunset Boulevard and Highland Avenue, in Hollywood section of Los Angeles...
in Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. This album's softer sound marks a radical shift in approach in style from the group's previous recordings. In 2003, the album was ranked number 314 on Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
s "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
"The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is the title of a 2003 special issue of American magazine Rolling Stone, and a related book published in 2005.Related news articles:...
" list.
Context
The group's leader Lou ReedLou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
said "I really didn’t think we should make another White Light/White Heat
White Light/White Heat
The album briefly appeared on the Billboard 200, although only peaking at number 199. Despite its poor sales, the distorted, feedback-driven, and roughly recorded sound on White Light/White Heat became a notable influence on punk and experimental rock...
. I thought it would be a terrible mistake, and I really believed that. I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Otherwise, we would become this one-dimensional thing, and that had to be avoided at all costs." Maureen Tucker
Maureen Tucker
Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
said, "I was pleased with the direction we were going and with the new calmness in the group, and thinking about a good future, hoping people would smarten up and some record company would take us on and do us justice." Doug Yule said the album "was a lot of fun. The sessions were constructive and happy and creative, everybody was working together."
The Velvet Underground was the band's first album for MGM Records
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
, the band's first two albums having been issued by MGM subsidiary and legendary jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
label, Verve Records
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
. The previously strong Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
influence is diminished, with the most notable ties to The Factory
The Factory
The Factory was Andy Warhol's original New York City studio from 1962 to 1968, although his later studios were known as The Factory as well. The Factory was located on the fifth floor at 231 East 47th Street, in Midtown Manhattan. The rent was "only about one hundred dollars a year"...
being the cover and back photograph
Photograph
A photograph is an image created by light falling on a light-sensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic imager such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are created using a camera, which uses a lens to focus the scene's visible wavelengths of light into a reproduction of...
s taken by Warholite Billy Name
Billy Name
Billy Name, , is an American photographer, filmmaker and lighting designer. He was the archivist of the Warhol Factory, from 1964 to 1970. His brief romance and subsequent friendship with Andy Warhol led to substantial collaboration on Warhol's work, including his films, paintings and sculpture...
, and opening track "Candy Says," written about transsexual
Transsexualism
Transsexualism is an individual's identification with a gender inconsistent or not culturally associated with their biological sex. Simply put, it defines a person whose biological birth sex conflicts with their psychological gender...
Candy Darling
Candy Darling
Candy Darling was an American actress, best known as a Warhol Superstar. A male-to-female transsexual, she starred in Andy Warhol's films Flesh and Women in Revolt , and was a muse of the protopunk band The Velvet Underground.-Early life:Candy Darling was born James Lawrence Slattery in Forest...
(who would later appear in Reed's 1972 song, "Walk On The Wild Side").
The record was produced by the band themselves, and issued in two different stereo mixes. The more widely distributed version is the one done by TTG staff recording engineer Val Valentin. The other mix was done by Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
, and was dubbed the "Closet Mix" by guitarist Sterling Morrison
Sterling Morrison
Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
. There are significant sonic differences in the mixes, but the most dramatic is that "Some Kinda Love" is an entirely different performance in the two versions.
The LP sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve.
Release history
Early copies of the album were released on MGM, but re-issue versions are on Verve.The first U.S. version contained the Lou Reed "Closet Mix," although the track times listed on the first U.S. issue more closely match the Valentin mix. This may indicate that the Reed mix was issued by mistake or that it was substituted after the covers were printed. The original U.K. release used the Valentin mix.
All CD versions, as well as the 1985 vinyl re-issue, are copies of the Valentin mix. Other LP re-issues vary but most also use the Valentin Mix. The "Closet Mix" is available on disc four of the 1995 CD box set Peel Slowly and See
Peel Slowly and See
Peel Slowly and See is a five-disc box set of material by The Velvet Underground. It was released in September 1995 by Polydor.-Compilation:...
.
Track listing
All tracks written by Lou ReedLou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
. Running times listed are for the Valentin Mix.
Side one
- "Candy Says" – 4:04
- "What Goes On" – 4:55
- "Some Kinda Love" – 4:03
- "Pale Blue EyesPale Blue Eyes"Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground. It was included on the band's eponymous 1969 album The Velvet Underground....
" – 5:41 - "Jesus" – 3:24
Side two
- "Beginning to See the Light" – 4:41
- "I'm Set Free" – 4:08
- "That's the Story of My Life" – 1:59
- "The Murder Mystery" – 8:55
- "After HoursAfter Hours (song)"After Hours" is a 1969 song written by Lou Reed and originally performed by The Velvet Underground. It is the tenth and final track on their self-titled album. It is one of few songs with lead vocals by drummer Maureen Tucker, as Lou Reed stated the song was "so innocent and pure" that he could...
" – 2:07
Personnel
- Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
– leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
and rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, pianoPianoThe piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, lead vocals except as noted, verse co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery" - Sterling MorrisonSterling MorrisonHolmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
– rhythm and lead guitar, verse co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Maureen TuckerMaureen TuckerMaureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, lead vocals on "After Hours", verse co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocals - Doug YuleDoug YuleDouglas Alan Yule is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of The Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.- Early career :Yule began playing with various bands in Boston in the 1960s...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, organOrgan (music)The organ , is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet. The organ is a relatively old musical instrument in the Western musical tradition, dating from the time of Ctesibius of Alexandria who is credited with...
, lead vocals on "Candy Says", chorus vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocals