Velvet Underground Trainspotting Question

Time machine, anyone?
http://23.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_krdkn9t3mi1qa5w86o1_500.jpg

so far these books are GREAT. The Reed/Tucker intvw in NY ART is odd and wonderful though too short. And those photos!!

yeah I think I'm going to have to get it. Was trying to convince myself I didn't need a VU coffee table book, but I do, I do!

$30 and change @ Amazon.

On-the-money review by David Keenan in last month's Wire of both books, effectively skewering the received wisdom that the VU were like a monochrome alternative to late 60s hippydom.

http://z.about.com/d/classicrock/1/7/I/9/velvetundergroundc.jpg

... none more monchrome

http://lineout.thestranger.com/files/2006/12/velvet-underground.jpg

xp exactly, that pic illustrates Keenan's point perfectly.

hey it was the VU at the Zoo, whaddaya want? That's usually what I look like when I go to the Zoo.

Going to see the rock 'n' roll animals I suppose

They may have gotten all bright n' paisley by '69 but they were certainly no fans of hippies or West Coast rock of the time.

i think mainly they weren't Bill Graham fans. Reed loved "Eight Miles High" and Sterling Morrison loved Quicksilver Messenger Service. Can't get more West Coast rock than that!

http://media.nypl.org/audio/live_2009_12_08_velvet_underground.mp3
^^^ audio from this week's NYPL VU talk ... Haven't listened yet ...

This was a fun listen though D. Fricke is a bit of a Phil Schaap-y creepy fanboy

What other tune is "Ride Into The Sun" reminiscent of? I think it's classical but can't place it. Help!

I'm listening to it on the Another View compilation, btw, if you want to dig it out & listen.

dunno what it's reminiscent of ... but it is lovely, isn't it?

This was a fun listen though D. Fricke is a bit of a Phil Schaap-y creepy fanboy
He would fit in perfectly on this thread! David, are you out there?

oh goddammit this is like one of the most famous classical pieces ever it gets used all the time and I can hear it in my head but I am blanking on the title arrrrrgghghghghghgh

haha, glad it's not just me, someone will put us out of our misery shortly i'm sure

Pachelbel's Canon?

YES

i guess it is kinda like pachelbel's ... Ride Into The Sun would make a good wedding processional, too!

aha

thanks mark g

Ride Into The Sun would make a good wedding processional, too!

^^^did this

(actually it was Bron-y-Aur for the entrance and Ride into the Sun for the exit but whatever)

haha, nice ...

got the New York Art book for xmas -- man, it is gorgeous! i get so used to seeing the VU in black and white, but there are amazing color shots in there, too. Haven't fully explored it yet, but early thoughts: Moe Tucker = hero of the universe.

speaking of which, in the 2008 conversation with him and Moe, Lou says he saw all these bands at SXSW with drummers standing up a la Moe. Is this true? I don't think I've heard of many bands doing this recently. I saw the Raveonettes doing it a few years back -- i think the drummer was a hot chick with just a low tom and a snare. But are there others? It is interesting -- for all the talk of the VU being super influential, how many drummers actually played like Moe?

Mimi in Low plays standing up.

Stray Cats = standing up with vv simple drum set (do they still exist? no idea)
Mimi from Low = standing up with vv simple drum set
Butthole Surfers in the '90s = standing up (two drummers, '80s)
Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds = vv simple drum set (but sitting down drummer, late '80s)

xpost :-)

er... B surfers = late 80s, early 90s I guess. :-/

ah, right, Low. Probably the best example.

saw someone else just recently who does this too...tyvek.

They may have gotten all bright n' paisley by '69 but they were certainly no fans of hippies or West Coast rock of the time

Not really – they shared stages with the Fugs, the Dead, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Sly & the Family Stone &c. As Keenan argues in the review I mentioned upthread, the Velvets were a product of their times and they played their part as wholeheartedly as anyone else.

The art book neatly showcases their transition from "art band" to commercial rockers(or at least aspiring commercial rockers), I think. The clash between their art beginnings and their rocker aspirations is one of the things that makes them so classic.

in the ny public library talk, David Fricke quotes Dean Wareham as saying that Sterling Morrison was the only person he knew who could hold forth on Moby Dick and Moby Grape with equal knowledge and passion ...

Lou says he saw all these bands at SXSW with drummers standing up a la Moe

http://www.slovenly.com/debaucha-reno/subsonics.jpg

Subsonics. And they actually really pull of a VU vibe, complete with minimal instrumentation and crazy psych shredding solos.

for all the talk of the VU being super influential, how many drummers actually played like Moe?

― tylerw

i that Fricke interview I think Lou said something to the effect that "nobody can play like Moe" - in a groove type sense, i concur

ooh subsonics sound kinda good.
and yeah, Lou is effusive in his praise of Moe. He talks about trying to get a drummer to play like her for years, but failing. Would be kind of cool if they played together again -- don't really know if Moe plays at all these days.

Cowboys vs Eagles game a replay of the one described by Lou on the 1969 album.

Is there a Velvets bootlegs thread? Couldn't find one. Anyhow - just got a hold of the 1969 Hilltop Festival one and it's up there in my top VU boots. Unterberger whetted my appetitie for this one in his book and it doesn't disappoint. Funny to listen to the crowd response to Reed's "This next one's called 'Heroin'" (distant hoots of approval and some giggles) as well as an amazing "Run Run Run" , etc. VU boots are some of my favorite listening right now.

yeh hilltop is my fave VU boot, guitar on 'Run Run Run' kills

there was a smattering of VU bootleg talk in some other VU thread a week or so ago ... Hilltop is definitely great! love that Run Run Run -- Lou shredding at its finest. You might also be interested in this: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/325332296/pre-vu-ive-been-od-ing-on-the-velvet-underground

hilltop link please? can't find the site with all the VU stuff that was mentioned. Currently reading the VU + Nico 33 1/3rd book and the Untrberger. Hopefully will get the Kugelberg for xmas! Right now it's all Velvets and Devo all the time. Strangely the Devo kick started prior to the recent thread revivals.

thenunsareontheseawall.blogspot.com
should have the Hilltop show somewhere ... and everything else!

Favourite Velvet Underground album (with extra facility) right here.

Run Run Run To The Hills

interesting that the VU were headlining over Van Morrison at the Hilltop Festival ...

fella over at thevelvetforum.tk has posted some innnnnteresting upgrades on the Boston Tea Party shows ... Just look at the thread called "professor tapes" ...