The Velvet Underground (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) | 2LP
The Velvet Underground | The Velvet Underground (Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack) - 2LP
The VELVET UNDERGROUND – ” The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film By Todd Haynes – Music From The Motion Picture Soundtrack “
This soundtrack is curated by the documentary’s director, Todd Haynes, and music supervisor Randall Poster. It includes well-known and rare tracks from the band as well as songs and performances that influenced The Velvet Underground, including the doo-wop of The Diablos, the ground breaking rock and roll of Bo Diddley, and the avant-garde compositions of La Monte Young. Its booklet also features exclusive liner notes by Haynes.
Featuring some of the band’s most well-known tracks, rarities and songs that influenced them, the soundtrack serves as the perfect introduction to the band and companion piece to the film and features such favourites as “Sunday Morning,” “All Tomorrow’s Parties,” “Pale Blue Eyes,” “I’m Waiting for The Man” and “Sweet Jane,” as well as the mono version of “Heroin” and the rare cut “Foggy Notion.” Also featured are live versions of “After Hours” and “Sister Ray,” Nico’s “Chelsea Girls,” and the tongue-in-cheek novelty song “The Ostrich” by The Primitives, an early band formed by Lou Reed and John Cale.
Recording the first Velvet Underground LP at Scepter Studios New York in April 1966. Sterling Morrison is playing a rare Jennings built Phantom Mark III which would have been gifted by Thomas Organ in the period prior to their Italian stock arriving – note the ‘Vox’ sticker on the body that was often applied to artist loan stock. John Cale’s JMI Phantom bass had this sticker too. Hard to be certain which tracks – if any – this guitar appeared on (Sterling also used Lou’s Gretsch and a Kent Copa 532). But listening to the record (and owning the same model Kent which has the destinctive tone clearly audible on ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’) I’d put money on the Mk III or Sterlings Phantom VI being used on ‘Heroin’ behind Lou’s strummed Gretsch. Food for thought anyway.
“The Velvet Underground: A Documentary Film By Todd Haynes – Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack” collects a lot of the music that we hear and watch in the documentary. The set opens with the Velvet Underground’s classic “Venus In Furs” (from the fabulous and unparalleled 1967 debut album “The Velvet underground & Nico”). We then go back in time and get a number of older tracks which heavily influenced the band members, such as the delightful 1954 “The Wind” by the Diablos and later a scorching 1963 live track “Road Runner” by Bo Diddley. In between we get a 6 minute. experimental instrumental by the Theater of Eternal Music. Best of all, we get a rollicking “The Ostrich”, a 1964 single by the Primitives, a pre-VU band, fleshed out by several early VU track, all from the 1967 debut album, including an interesting “Heroin”, here from the original mono version from the album. And we even get a Nico solo track, the wonderful “Chelsea Girls”, from her 1967 debut solo album.
Side two opens with the 19+ minute live track “Sister Ray” (originally from the band’s second album “White Light/White Heat”). This live track was recorded in New York on April 30th, 1967 and the audio quality is not the greatest, but it’s obviously an important historical recording to have. I must admit, “Sister Ray” never was one of my favourite VU songs. “Pale Blue Eyes” (from the 1969 “The Velvet Underground” album) follows. We then get “Foggy Notion”, which first appeared on the “VU” outtakes album released in 1985, but this is the remixed version (from “The Velvet Underground 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition”). It is followed by and excellent “After Hours” live track (recorded on November 6th, 1969 in San Francisco). The last side is rounded out by the classic “Sweet jane” (from “Loaded”), “Ocean” (from the “VU” outtakes album), and lastly, one more track from the band’s 1967 debut album “All Tomorrow’s Parties”, which plays over the documentary’s closing credits.
