![]() Once again, Morrison is the star, stepping out from the shadows to deliver two absolutely ripping (yet somehow quite elegant) solos, landing somewhere between Chuck Berry and Steve Cropper. This live version, also taped live at the Gymnasium, will do nicely, though, offering righteously heavy choogle from start to finish. ![]() The VU attempted “Guess I’m Falling In Love” during the White Light / White Heat sessions but for some reason Reed neglected to record his vocal. But despite this sketchiness, the Velvets transform it into something magical and hypnotic, a rough-edged R&B number bolstered by Sterling Morrison’s monomaniacal guitar figure, going round and round into infinity. It’s definitely a rough draft, with Reed repeating a simple lyric over and over, perhaps waiting for inspiration to strike. Recorded at NYC’s Gymnasium during a long 1967 residency, “I’m Not A Young Man Anymore” was unknown to all but the most hardcore of VU fanatics until it surfaced on a bootleg in the mid-2000s. White Light / White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor, 2013) As her comrades rumble menacingly behind her, Nico sings obliquely of lost innocence and “shattered minds.” A preview of her darker work to come - and a tantalizing glimpse of unrealized collaborations between this combustible trio. It’s not officially a part of the VU canon, but it may as well be Nico’s accompaniment here is none other than John Cale and Lou Reed. When it all comes together towards the end, it’s as beautiful as it gets - the Exploding Plastic Inevitable in all its bizarro glory.Ī disquieting, skeletal drift, “It Was A Pleasure Then” sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the lush flutes-‘n’-strings of Nico’s Chelsea Girl debut. “Melody Laughter” is a thrilling example of the VU at their most sonically adventurous, with Tucker’s proto-motorik thump providing a sturdy bedrock for the rest of the gang (Nico included) to make some terrific noise. “Twenty-nine minutes of torture” is how Moe Tucker described this freeform excursion, recorded live by an audience member in Ohio in late 1966. But it’s a blast, occupying that no man’s land between Bo Diddley and Sonic Youth, with impossibly raw guitars crashing up against Reed and Cale’s lusty harmonies. The 10-minute boogie was captured during a rehearsal in early 1966 at Warhol’s Factory and then never heard from again. Three chords and you’re into jazz.” Reed took his minimalist ethos to its logical extreme with “Miss Joanie Lee”, a brutal thud that makes “Run Run Run” sound like Steely Dan. Velvet Underground and Nico, 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition (Polydor, 2012) Despite its deeply derivative nature, it’s more charming than you’d expect, offering up a weird alternate universe where Reed never met Cale or Warhol and became just another Greenwich Village folkie. Recorded in mid-1965 at John Cale’s Ludlow Street Loft, it’s practically a Freewheelin’ outtake, with wheezy harmonica, earnestly anti-establishment lyrics and a Reed vocal that earns the Dylan-esque sobriquet. Lou Reed would often downplay Dylan’s influence in later years, but this early acoustic Velvets number certainly bears the unmistakable imprint of Bob.
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