The Velvet Underground Matrix tapes to finally see full release

Makes you wonder what other verses were extemporized and have forever vanished into the ether.

it is interesting -- lou was famous for being able to make up lyrics on the spot, but i don't know how many good recorded examples of it there really are. the early "Sweet Jane"s, "Sweet Sister Ray," and that La Cave "Pale Blue Eyes" are the ones that come to mind. I guess parts of the long slow "waiting for the man" on quine and the new matrix set. But they're all kind of weirdly of a piece in some way...

Maybe it's hindsight but I find myself listening so intently to these recordings and hearing countless vistas of unexplored sonic terrain. Mo rules so hard too. Love all the ways she plays "heroin" but especially the version with the heavy toms standing up

Not bet standing up, I mean her Tim parts Stand up like fireworks. Part of me thinks she's the essential component of the VU

Not bet? Not her. iPhones, argh

tom parts.

her Tim parts Stand up like fireworks
Not bet? Not her..
tom parts.
Linger on... yr pail blue eyes...

here's my final bit of VU clickbait for the year -- a defense/celebration of doug yule: http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/976-in-defense-of-the-velvet-undergrounds-doug-yule/

Yeah would be very interesting to hear how much was improvised early on. Or take to take. Wondering if well known covers are based on one off versions of lyrics.

The publishing co they formed was called something like 3 Prong because they could freely improvise and return to the steady backbeat.

nice seasonally-appropriate Yule piece

haha, yes. tidings of Yule!

Classic.

Nice work, Tyler!

let's get high and listen to the velvet underground live

Redux?

i stand with brad

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqZKN9GA2t8

holy shit

what really gets me about that version is that with all the mayhem and sped up Lou Reed verses, the backing vocals are absolutely perfect each time through

doug yule (i think?) was on his game!

The Matrix Tapes set is extraordinary. Ocean is wow. Love them so much.

this isn't matrix tapes related exactly but this show from the same year is astonishing

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7XqY7IhJrk

the twin guitar solo on "what goes on" is like mind expanding

totally. mind expanding / mind splitting (white light / white heat).

Yeah this recording is muddy AF, but that moment really shines thru...

SterMo's solo on "I Can't Stand It" is awesome, too

SterMo!
That'd be Lou on lead on "I Can't Stand It"

Really?!

yeah, the freakier guitar work is almost always lou

I may need to go back VU school... is it Lou who plays lead on album version of "I'm Set Free"? (Also, who plays rhythm gtr on album version of "What Goes On"?)

Lou plays lead on "I'm Set Free" ... I think there's two guitars happening on "What Goes On"

pretty sure that classic hard rhythm strummin' on "What Goes On" is Lou.

OK, thanks, that's what I thought... I always thought those freaky lead gtr lines were Sterling,'s tho!

definitely two rhythm guitars here

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pxq63cYIY1c

and when you hear a guitar freakout (heard her call my name, run run run, i can't stand it etc) it's Lou.

Sterling's solos are very different from Lou's!

xpost
Yeah, I was referring to the hard strummin' in the foreground...

Tom - for my reference, what are some prime examples of Sterling solos?

pale blue eyes, story of my life, first solo in sister ray, foggy notion

Solos on Foggy Notion are immense.

Thanks guys

Back to the Matrix Tapes -- it's funny how, in one take of "I'm Waiting for The Man," Lou clarifies: "...that's Puerto Rican!" (after the line "He's wearing Dior shoes, and a big straw hat").

I think he sings "PR shoes," hence his elucidation of the acronym

ty VU scholars for explaining SterMo vs. Lou guitar parts!

Whaaaat... my mind is being blown today!

the "Legendary Amp Tapes" should shine some light on what Lou plays

studio 'what goes on' has the best rhythm guitar of all time. also i think lou and sterling recorded takes of the solo bit in there and decided they liked how they sounded all layered on one another. i could have made that up but it makes sense

xpost
Apparently the official lyrics (© EMI Music Publishing) have it as "Beat up shoes"(!?)

I found a few other ppl online saying they always thought it was "Dior shoes" (like me), but apparently we are in the extreme minority.

Really ? I thought I heard it as PR shoes and finally had it clarified in a VU companion book after years of wondering what it was.
Some type of special point to the shoe or something from what I remember.

it's definitely p.r. shoes, lou said on several occasions, and that's what's printed in his lyrics collection.

xxxp - i think it's all just Lou on the WGO solo — he took three stabs at overdubbing it and then they decided to mix 'em all together to get that fuzzed out bagpipe sound.

Well, pardon me (SUH) -- I just listened back to the original album track (the one I've been listening to since I was 15)... and I agree it is, very clearly, "PR shoes"!

Here's a gtr question -- on that album track, is it Lou playing rhythm & Sterl playing lead?

guys it's "see your shoes and I see your hat" and i won't be told otherwise

lolz
i think it's sterling playing the riff on "waiting for the man"