March 1, 2013 Playlist

"The Velvet Underground" by The Velvet Underground (1969)
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
The Velvet Underground  "The Velvet Underground"  1969 (USA)
WORT-FM's winter pledge drive continues this week, and Lou Reed turns 71 years old tomorrow, so this week's classic album is one of the legendary masterpieces recorded by the crucially important Velvet Underground.  The group first got attention in late 1966 when they became Andy Warhol's house band for some of the earliest psychedelic "happenings" of the era -- a series of multimedia events called "The Exploding Plastic Inevitable" which combining light shows, films, dancing and poetry with the Velvets' music.  Their debut album followed soon after, which prominently featured Andy Warhol's name on the iconic pop art album cover he designed (on original pressings the yellow banana can be peeled off revealing the pink fruit underneath!)  Their debut was partly produced by unsung genius Tom Wilson (the inventor of "folk rock" who had just produced the debut album by Frank Zappa's Mothers of Invention), and also featured three tracks in collaboration with another important figure from the Warholian underground: the unique German singer Nico.  In spite of all these connections (and the fact that their first record contains some of the most influential music of the 1960's), the group failed to become popular.  Their next two records can be seen as two very different attempts to rectify this situation:  White Light/White Heat is a scorching mess of extreme distortion that was certainly the heaviest rock recording released up to that time -- but it sold even less than the first album.  So for their third time out, Lou had visionary bassist John Cale fired from the group and they changed direction completely for a severely stripped-down folk/pop approach that focused the attention on Lou Reed's lyrics.  The result is a record of "mature" songs which has quite possibly had more impact than anything else Reed or the Velvets ever recorded.  The guitar feedback and tribal rhythms of their first records are easy tricks to learn, and produce "body music" with the immediate impact of the flash of youth -- but the sophisticated moods and emotions on their self-titled third album (music for the heart and mind) stay with you for a lifetime and have inspired countless "alternative" songwriters ever since.  
(N) = New Release
   
Artist Song Album Year (Label) Country
Lou Reed
Vicious
 		Transformer
1972
USA
John Cale
Graham Greene
 		Paris 1919
1973
UK (Wales)
Nico
Frozen Warnings
 		THe Marble Index
1969
Germany
Moe Tucker (with Lou Reed, John Cale & Sterling Morrison)
I'm Not
 		I Spent A Week There The Other Night
1993
USA
 
 
The Velvet Underground
Beginning To See The Light
 		The Velvet Underground
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1969
USA
The Velvet Underground
What Goes On (live)
 		1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed
rec. 1969, rel. 1974
USA
The Velvet Underground
The Murder Mystery
 		The Velvet Underground
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1969
USA
The Velvet Underground
After Hours
 		The Velvet Underground
CLASSIC ALBUM OF THE WEEK
1969
USA
   
 
The Byrds
I See You
 		5th Dimension
1966
USA
The Fugs
Crystal Liason
 		It Crawled Into My Hand, Honest
1968
USA
The Mothers Of Invention
Oh No / The Orange County Lumber Truck
 		Weasels Ripped My Flesh
1970
USA
Captain Beefheart & His Magic Band
Kandy Korn
 		Mirror Man
rec. 1968, rel. 1971
USA
Jefferson Airplane
Plastic Fantastic Lover
 		Surrealistic Pillow
1967
USA
 
 
The Seeds
Up In Her Room
 		A Web Of Sound 1967
USA
NEU!
Negativland
 		NEU! 1972
Germany
 
 
Simply Saucer
Illegal Bodies (live)
 		Cyborgs Revisited rec. 1975, rel. 1989
Canada
Sonic Youth with Lydia Lunch
Death Valley '69
 		Bad Moon Rising
1985
USA
VON LMO
Radio World
 		Cosmic Interception rec. 1980?, rel. 1994
USA
 
  
Lou Reed
Intro / Sweet Jane
 		Rock 'n' Roll Animal
1974
USA
John CaleHemmingway
Shifty Adventures In Nookie Wood (N)2012 (Domino)
UK (Wales)
Nico
Afraid
 		Desertshore
1970
Germany
 
 
Scott Walker
Plastic Palace People
 		Scott 2 1968
USA/UK
Scott Walker
Jolson & Jones
 		The Drift 2006
USA/UK
Scott Walker PilgrimBish Bosch (N)2012 (4AD)USA/UK
      
Back to playlists         Back to main