It’s April 1966 and at the Sceptre Studios The Velvet Underground are working on what will be the most influential record in the history of rock music. On 25th April a rough version of 9 of the albums’ 11 eventual tracks was committed to acetate. Each track is either a different mix or a different version of the completed work. It turns up in a New York flea market in 2002. The story goes that it was bought for 75cents. It later sold on e bay for $ 25,000… I didn't win it.
If you are familiar with the album this is a refreshing change. Obviously there’s a lot of surface noise but some of my vinyl copies of The Velvet Underground and Nico became equally crackly through overplay.
If you don’t know the album I suggest you buy it as soon as possible.
Artistes:
Lou Reed – vocals,lead and ostrich guitar
John Cale – electric viola,piano, bass, backing vocals
Sterling Morrison – lead & rhythm guitar, bass, backing vocals
Maureen Tucker – percussion
Nico – chanteuse
"Velvet Underground & Nico" is a masterpiece, but except for "I'll Be Your Mirror" I actually prefer the versions with Lou Reed vocals.
ReplyDeleteIt's amazing that this acetate was discovered, and not just thrown away into a landfill somewhere.
Thanks for posting it!
Velvet Underground are one of the bands that DOESN'T have a whole ton of live bootlegs floating around out there, so every little bit of original recorded output is treasured.