Velvet Underground Adepts/Experts needed

[Shuzzit]

Hi there,

Been listening to "1969: VU Live" a lot lately, especially to "What goes on", and just now it sorta struck me there is apparently one musician NOT mentioned in the liner notes. They read: Lou Reed - vocals, guitar; Sterling Morrison - guitar, vocals; Mo Tucker - percussion; Doug Yule - bass, organ, vocals. BUT: on this track, there are clearly two gits, one bass PLUS an organ. I think Doug is a great musician, but did he play bass and organ at the same time? Was there a fifth musician at one or some of the gigs? Know theres more important things, but this starts eating me... anyone got a clue? Anyone having seen the concerts at The Matrix still alive and comprehensible? Help an old stoner out here please...

BTW: no use upping an mp3 cause the bass is hardly audible even on a 320 k rip. But when you play the cd on a decent system, there it is...

Tks alot
Shuzzit

 

[Clackamas Coot]

Holly came from Miami, F.L.A.
Hitch-hiked her way across the USA
Plucked her eyebrows on the way
Shaved her legs and then he was a she
She says, Hey babe
Take a walk on the wild side
Hey honey
Take a walk on the wild side

Take a Walk on The Wild Side - Velvet Underground

 

[Shuzzit]

tksalot for the helpful reply. So did Holly play bass or organ?

BTW: walk on the wild side is pretty nice but post VU. whatever...

 

[Clackamas Coot]

tksalot for the helpful reply. So did Holly play bass or organ?

BTW: walk on the wild side is pretty nice but post VU. whatever...

Walk On the Wild Side was first recorded by VU on their (in)famous album with the peel-off banana deal.

The song was later recorded by Lou Reed long after the VU was disbanded - if you want to call it that.

CC

 

[guest456mpy]

Shuzzit,
That's the magic of multitracking. A musician can play another part while listening to the playback of already recorded parts.

 

[Shuzzit]

true, but thats a four-track live recording. No overdubs here.

Walk On the Wild Side was first recorded by VU on their (in)famous album with the peel-off banana deal.

No, it wasn't, the banana-peel record is "Velvet Underground & Nico" and Walk on the wild side is NOT on it. Dude, i have it here right in front of me, go and google it. "Walk on.. " first appeared 1972 on "Transformer", Lou's 2nd solo.

No offense man, but when i wrote "expert", this apparently didn't mean you...

 

[Shuzzit]

ocmon... so many hits and no idea?

 

[yesum]

No idea, but The Doors had no bass player and the organist did do the bass part with his organ. Ray Manzarek.

 

[Gypsy Nirvana]

John Cale?....bass player...

....I remember having a Lou Reed pre Velvet Underground E.P......he was in some other bands before V.U.....If my memory serves me right the Beachnuts and the Roughnecks....

 

[Shuzzit]

Yesum, i had thought of that too, but I doubt it. Problem is, you really have to listen to the cd on a good stereo to even hear the bass, no mp3 will get that across, there its just a rumble in the low frequency range. What I hear as bass lines appears to me as too much glissando and sort of mechanic distortion for a keyboard. But I am not a musician nor a technician, so what the heck do I know? Seems to be the only explanation to me... as I said, Doug is a great player, so maybe...

Gypsy (what an honour btw ): Well, in fact the basswork actually reminds me of John Cale, specially in his later, post VU recordings. However this live bit was taped in 1969 and at that time Lou and John hated each other sooo much, I can't imagine John would have joined them for a gig. Lou hated his guts for being the way more profound and creative artist (I mean, listen to both their post-VU stuff), John hated Lous sorta hitlerish ways plus what happened in the triangle with Nico and shit... I don't quite see this...

Guess I need to "find" an uploaded *.wav of that track and post the link here later. Maybe I'm just totally off it, and there is no bass at all, the sound is pretty much like a mobile phone on loudspeaker - but the song is a total killer in this version.

 

[mosstrooper]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1969:_The_Velvet_Underground_Live

 

[Shuzzit]

*sigh* trust me, I know this source, and it states four (4) musicians whereas five (5) can be heard on this track.

 

[dc1]

I think it's a combination of a bad mix, shitty equipment and the bass drum catching some of the lower frequencies the other instruments are putting out and "echoing" them into the drum mic. I've been playing with the equalizer, trying to filter out some of the higher freqs and still can't be certain there's a bass on this track.

 

[Shuzzit]

wow, that really makes a lot of sense... from what i read it had been recorded with the club's "house equipment" which is usually quite crappy. I guess i will stop trying to find the bass line there, cause after what you said, its likely there is none and that is some sort of relief as well.

thanks from my wife who already got seriously pi$$ed of me for playing that track time after time... and pretty loud too...

 

[hurdy gurdy man]

wow, that really makes a lot of sense... from what i read it had been recorded with the club's "house equipment" which is usually quite crappy. I guess i will stop trying to find the bass line there, cause after what you said, its likely there is none and that is some sort of relief as well.

thanks from my wife who already got seriously pi$$ed of me for playing that track time after time... and pretty loud too...

According to the All Music Guide:

Sadly, outside of a handful of audience tapes of extremely variable fidelity, no one thought to make a live recording of The Velvet Underground during their 1967-68 peak period with John Cale prodding Lou Reed into remarkable flights of noise rock fancy. However, in 1969 a VU fan who was a recording engineer brought a reel-to-reel tape machine to two shows the band played during an engagement at a club in Dallas called The End of Cole Avenue; a few months later, the band played The Matrix in San Francisco, where a tape machine had been installed into the hall's sound system, and the band was allowed to record their set. Five years later, long after The Velvet Underground had collapsed and Lou Reed's solo career was on the rise, Mercury Records compiled highlights of the Dallas and San Francisco tapes into a two-record set, 1969: Velvet Underground Live, and it is without question the best (legally-released) document of this band's considerable strengths as a live act. While they were a somewhat more sedate band with Doug Yule on bass rather than Cale, they still had plenty of life left in them at this stage of the game; there are few voyages into the sonic unknown here, but Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison had matured into one of rock's most potent guitar combinations, Maureen Tucker was as distinctive a drummer as even picked up a pair of mallets, and with Doug Yule at her side they comprised a truly superb rhythm section. Sounding tight, confident, and passionate on every cut, this set finds the band visiting highlights from all four of their studio albums, as well as a handful of previously unreleased numbers. From the delicacy of "New Age" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" to the rave-up energy of "What Goes On" and "White Light/White Heat," 1969: Velvet Underground Live captures the many sides of their musical personality with commendable skill, and while it isn't their best album, it's one of the best places for a beginner to explore their body of work. (For CD release, Mercury has unfortunately divided 1969: Velvet Underground Live into two separate albums, 1969: Velvet Underground Live, Vol. 1 and 1969: Velvet Underground Live, Vol. 2; thankfully, both are budget priced, and bonus tracks have been added to each.)

So, does that just make matters more confusing?

 

[Shuzzit]

So, does that just make matters more confusing?

ummhh... nope? Lou, Sterling, Moe and Doug, built-in tape (= lots of distortions and echoeing), nothing new or did i miss it?

Thanks though, still pretty interesting to read, and still helluva live recording

 

[mrcreosote]

I can't help you with your question as I haven't heard VU Live since I had the album when it came out all those years ago. Maybe a left hand bass line from the organ?

I'm still trying to find a copy of a live Lou Reed that featured a brilliant long guitar intro by whoever, that segues into Sweet Jane. Simply the best iteration ever done that I have heard. I spent a few hours you tubing with no luck but it made a lot of radio play in So. Cal in late 70's early 80's (?).

If you could have only one track of Lou Reed, this would be the one you would want.
It's that good and I can't find it anywhere.