Guess I'm Polling in Love: The Lou Reed Memorial Velvet Underground (and solo material) Ballot Poll Thread

Cale/Conrad/Young/MacLise/Zazeela's Day Of Niagara's going on my ballot.

"always felt this was underrated gem off an otherwise pretty shitty album"

i don't like it as much as "ride sally ride", "animal language", "n.y. stars", "kill your sons", "ennui", or "sally can't dance", but "billy" is okay. never liked the sax though. would have been cooler if just lou + guitar.

would be v surprised if anyone votes for any of the Pickwick stuff, Albert. well, maybe Why Don't You Smile Now.

the sax on "Billy" is SO 70s singer-songwriter, it's kind of the closest Lou comes to Paul Simon

Sorry, there's just too much stuff to chose from. It's impossible.

What's wrong with having polls with a narrower focus?

Broader focus generally draws more participants. And you get 50 spots on your ballot in this one compared to the usual 20, so how impossible is it really?

What's wrong with having polls with a narrower focus?

not enough people care about the solo careers, apparently

I'm curious what the results are going to be but I must say that if the top 25 is all Velvets tunes I'm gonna be kind of bummed

more participants leads to more predictable results

haha yeah that's true

"Cycle Annie" has a groove, and Lou's sense of humour..

Though Reed's involvement in it was at best peripheral... TIGER IN MY TANK FTW

so how impossible is it really?

As a fan/fanatic, it's impossible

wait so this includes solo john cale too?!
yikes

Big fan of this one. I know it's the big-obvious-rocker on Ecstasy, but I like big obvious rockers, and the guitars and words are so exuberant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3z9MoQadD-o

yes this includes solo John Cale

looooove that long held note in "Big Sky," tipsy

Filling in some gaps in my solo listening. Lou Reed album is surprisingly good, but wow, this version of "Lisa Says" is a real stinkeroo.

Wait to hear his singing on "Ocean". Of course I lvoe that album.

Jesus, typing gone wrong.

man I don't like the debut at all apart from a couple - "Wild Child" is pretty funny

No love for "I Love You"? "I Can't Stand It"?

I forget - the only tracks I kept from that album are Wild Child and Ride Into the Sun. the dry, proggy arrangements just grate on me

I wasn't looking forward to Lou's "I Can't Stand It," since the Velvets' is easily one of my favorite things (and the first song of theirs I heard), but Lou's isn't bad at all.

listening now - ugh those backup singers

I was talking to ILX's Colonel Poo on the night Lou Reed died and he was saying how disappointed he was when he heard the VU version 'cos he loved Lou's version so much. It's the only song on the album where Clem Cattini's irritating clodhopping drumming actually fits.

my main memory of the album is how there is absolutely zero reverb on it - every instrument sounds like it was recorded separately in a closet, totally airless

xp

i wouldn't vote for the gift.

― scott seward, Tuesday, 29 October 2013 17:45 (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

love the gift. also love "a gift" from coney island baby

Yes the album is ineptly produced and features a bunch of players who couldn't play rock 'n' roll if their lives depended on it - thank God for Lou and his songs!

there is not a single song in his catalogue where the solo version is better than the vu version

au contraire! solo version of Sheltered Life is hilarious

The slower, melancholy solo "Ride Into The Sun" is better than VU version.

I can think of a few - mind you, mostly the fairly ropey demos on the expanded "Loaded"

there is not a single song in his catalogue where the solo version is better than the vu version

― iatee, Wednesday,

jazz Lou! flute solo!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtxMgZSKGI8

there is not a single song in his catalogue where the solo version is better than the vu version

― iatee, Wednesday, October 30, 2013 2:26 PM (24 minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I'm finding that out (now onto Transformer). I'm really, really glad I heard the Velvets' versions of these first. Although, I can imagine what a revelation it must've been for those familiar with the Lou versions to hear VU for the first time.

"She's My Best Friend" versions are about equal, to my ears

shakey yr call completely obv (and if you've got ballots where ppl have two different versions of a song on there in different places i guess there's no work around) but i would suggest for tracks where ppl vote for this live version or that live version or the album version or a demo version that you might only allow one vote for the track but if ppl want to specify a specific version they can and then when you roll out the results you note it when you list the totals for that track. basically what they do for remixes on year end polls or w/ a few other artist polls. that way certain tracks don't have their vote watered down or aren't basically competing against themselves. anyhow stoked for this, i'm sure it'll end up velvets top heavy (it should end up velvets top heavy) but i think there will be some great diversity and maybe FACTIONS will emerge. make the rollout as long as possible imo. i mean elton john got a hundred track rollout, would guess you rank the velvets at least equal to elton john. maybe i'm wrong though.

lol you didn't read the elton rollout thread did you

yr suggestion re: various versions sounds good, was mostly waiting til I see ballots to make that kind of call

I think Sally Can't Dance is actually a really fun, underrated album. I don't actively dislike any of the songs, and I can probably only say that about one other solo Lou LP (Coney Island Baby, my fave). It's a weird record. I like weird touches like the "you can just keep it" thing in "Baby Face." I assume Lou was pretty strung out during the making of that LP.

I dig Lou's "She's My Best Friend," "Love Makes You Feel," and "Oh Jim" more than the VU versions.

first ballot received! featuring a song I've never even heard of in the number one spot lol.

Gun vs the gun

http://images1.mtv.com/shared/media/images/amg_covers/200/drf500/f514/f51483unkw1.jpg?width=300&height=300&enlarge=false&matte=true&matteColor=black&quality=0.85

Sally Can't Dance boasts "Kill Your Sons," "Billy," the title track, and "Animal Language." Four more, I might add, than Rock and Roll Heart (his most forgotten album? will anyone defend it?) and Berlin

Drella counts right? the more i listen to it, the more i think it's one of the best albums ever made and totally a one-off within the history of music.

some genius has uploaded the entire live version which astonishingly is *still* unreleased on DVD

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=djwtXCzW5BY

grab it fast before it gets taken down again.

(xp) "Animal Language" is terrible though! I would add "Ride Sally Ride", "Ennui" and "Baby Face" to that list of good tracks though. "Rock and Roll Heart" has been discussed on ILM before.

I listened to the entirety of Drella yesterday and a lot of it is solid but it drags on in the middle. and it's on the whole a huge bummer :(. agree that that live performance is the best, I remember seeing that broadcast on PBS as a teen.

Yeah, I was in college, I made my roommates let me have control of the TV so I could watch it. Thought it was great, but haven't seen it since except a few snippets on YouTube.

In other news, I was listening to "I Heard Her Call My Name" on the way to work today AND MY MIND SPLIT OPEN.

I know the results are gonna end up pretty lou reedy because of circumstance

but let us not forget john cale

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AEpMMMWB3GU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeFYJdW3xDg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D47E4CNWmZc

hey, i wrote that! be gentle with me.

haha missed that! nice work.

uggghhh i haaaate that guy

oh hey tyler

OK, is this the worst piece of music writing ever?

Nice work Tyler, some of the sounds Lou gets from his guitar on that track are... actually indescibable!

thanks! and yeah, some of that guitar/feedback is one of a kind, not really sure what sort of gear he would be using at this point. btw there's one other complete track from that night, which you can grab here: http://ow.ly/vRMJR

Let’s also take a minute to consider the following anecdote from Michael Carlucci, who says the Cleveland fan who recorded the ‘Sweet Sister Ray” tape “(left) it in his car. His sister used the car, saw the tape, put it in a cassette player and started recording her friends laughing and being stupid. He wanted to kill her.” That’s why the tape fades out just as “Sister Ray” begins. Also missing is a half-hour version of “Hey Mr. Rain.” Read it and weep!

*weeps*

seriously

Great piece, tylerw! As for the gear, maybe Lou's guitar was the insanely hot-rodded Gretsch Jonathan Richman described in Up-Tight. Other than that, they were probably using Vox amps, but dunno if it was US or UK Vox (huge difference).

In that Jonathan Richman interview for Lou's birthday earlier this year posted on another thread, he said he was pretty surprised at first to discover that the Velvets didn't use off-brand guitars but the the same makes and models as everyone else.

yeah! also hilarious to hear jonathan talk about how quiet they actually were (at least compared to the volume of bands now). i dunno, i was listening to that guitar amp tape and the dudes sound fucking loud. like, crazy loud. but i guess in terms of actual wattage, they were limited.

hmm as I think abt that tape anecdote, isn't he talking abt Jamie Klimek of Mirrors? iirc he was the dude who taped all those Cleveland VU shows.

(Xp)Truth be told I kind of wanted more detailed anecdotes about his extensive interactions with them but, Jonathan being Jonathan, it was really more about him reiterating how much he loved them and was influenced by them and still can't get over them, which was still something I guess.

xp i believe so, him and mirrors guitarist jim crook. in fact, i found this while i was researching:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVLlSdO539g
pretty sure klimek is at least the guy who taped that later La Cave show with Yule. there are rumors of other tapes, but they might just be rumors.

There was some good stuff about Sterling though: "People talk a lot about Lou Reed, Jonathan, but what they don't realize is that nothing goes on in this band without my say-so."

haha yeah. i thought it was pretty touching when Richman talked about seeing Lou in the 90s -- when Lou said he was proud of him, Jonathan cried! A perfect anecdote.
i do think Richman should write a memoir of some kind, though that might be the last thing he'd ever want to do. i don't know, he's an interesting guy!

I would buy that instantly.

me too. even if it was comprised primarily of lists of his favorite organic grocery stores and long ruminations on slack key tunings

i'd be ok with that. he's just interesting because he really doesn't fit into any narrative that I can think of (even tho he's tangentially related to a lot of different things).

At this point if the "real" Jonathan stepped out from behind the persona, it could potentially be hugely disappointing if not horrifying. We've had a long time to get used to the Jim/Iggy split. Cf "Wakefield" if not Flitcraft.

The journey kicks off with the band (most likely just Cale, Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison; drummer Maureen Tucker isn’t audible here) chugging steadily, slowly over a spare, spidery riff.

Now unless my ears deceive me, when Cale starts up on organ, you have Lou + Sterling on guitars and there is definitely a bass guitar there too (not bass pedals, as far as I can tell, and I'm not sure Cale played those anyway) so I can only assume Mo was playing bass!

i thought it was pretty touching when Richman talked about seeing Lou in the 90s -- when Lou said he was proud of him, Jonathan cried!

Hey, he's an emotional guy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o7mHg0H6sy8

Wonder if Donald Fagen was around to witness that.

Put Jerry on your shoulder.

And
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slaAGS7f0LU

hey it's the hideout!!