The Velvet Underground: One Of The Most Unique And Underappreciated Bands Of The 60s | Amplified
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- Опубліковано 20 гру 2021
- Rare musical performances never available before as well as obscure footage, rare interviews and private photographs of and with Lou Reed, Andy Warhol, Sterling Morrison and John Cale.
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This is fantastic. I love Maureen’s story about stopping the drums in Heroin.
1:22:51 Nice sentiment at the end there too.
Me and my homies used to smoke the bong and listen to the Banana album everyday back in 82 - 83, we'd all be far to stoned to flip the vinyl over so we would argue until someone got up and done it, every song is a banger on that album, and btw great documentary.
It's a stoners album for sure.
Nico is often overlooked when it comes to her career after TVU. Her first 4 albums as a solo artist are excellent.
Agree
I’m absolutely in love with her singing on her debut album
@@tvalles22 I like the following albums more than the debut
She is so fascinating. She could have coasted through life as a model yet seemed obsessed to live an artist's life of depth and expression instead of just image. Despite the self-destruction and addiction, she always seemed like a hugely courageous person.
Marble index and desertshore are so good
I'm 72. Still a fan of Velvet Underground
You sir are a legend, long may you rock on. Hope you're still listening and discovering some of the amazing new bands too.
My mum loves them too and she's 75.
71 me to
unique? yes. Underappreciated? Not so much. At least not by critics - they are widely held as the most influential band of all time aside from the Beatles or something
I wouldnt' say they were THAT influential, but the kind of guys who went into rock music 'criticism' certainly laid on the love for them for decades. It would be better to say 'the most underappreciated by those other people.'
yeah, you can only be so underappreciated when you are at the top of every "greatest [...] of all time" list, have dozens of documentaries about you and have 3 million listeners on spotify.
they were maybe underappreciated in their time and later got praise, same with the Stooges both bands were ahead of their time
@@JonFrumTheFirst Arguably The Velvet Underground are the most influential band ever: Iggy Pop & The Stooges, Nico, David Bowie, Patti Smith, Roxy Music, Brian Eno, Bryan Ferry, The Modern Lovers, Can, The Yardbirds, Roky Erickson (13th Floor Elevators), Mick Ronson, Suicide, Ramones, Sex Pistols, Wayne County & The Electric Chairs, Wrecless Eric, Motörhead, Throbbing Gristle, Sham 69, Talking Heads, Siouxsie & The Banshees, Cabaret Voltaire, Joy Division, Bauhaus, The Fall, Echo & The Bunnymen, Sonic Youth, The Jesus And Mary Chain, Einstürzende Neubauten, The Psychedelic Furs, Psychic TV, Violent Femmes, Half Japanese, The Birthday Party, Teardrop Explodes, Jim Carroll, Julian Cope, UK Subs, Television Personalities, Squeeze, Hüsker Dü, The Creatures, Spacemen 3, Gang Of Four, The Runaways, Loop, Clock DVA, Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, Simple Minds, Duran Duran, Dead Can Dance, Billy Idol, Cheap Trick, Blondie, Debbie Harry, Nina Hagen, Björk, Susanna Hoffs, The Black Crows, Marc & The Mambas (Marc Almond & Matt Johnson), Martin Gore, Japan, Les Rita Mitsouko, The Dandy Warhols, Beck, Opal, Mazzy Star, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Nirvana, Melvins, Jane's Addiction, Swans, Christian Death, Slaughter & The Dogs, Sisters Of Mercy, Suzanne Vega, REM, U2, Hole, James, The Beat Farmers, Buffalo Tom, Suede, Screaming Trees, Kasabian, Jarvis Cocker, Edwyn Collins, Angry Samoans, Mark Lanegan, Smashing Pumpkins, Garbage, Oasis, Red Hot Chilly Peppers, Happy Mondays, Teenage Fanclub, Monster Magnet, Manic Street Preachers, Throwing Muses, Tom Tom Club, Tori Amos, Mercury Rev, The Wedding Present, Super Fury Animals, Galaxie 500, Radiohead, Hector Zazou, Jeff Buckley, Leonard Cohen, Pearl Jam, Luna, Queens Of The Stone Age, The White Stripes, Metallica, Steel Pole Bathtub, Jesus Lizard, Brian Jonestown Massacre, Trash Palace, LCD Soundsystem, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, TV On The Radio, The Libertines, The Strokes, Girl In A Coma, Paz Lenchantin, Kula Shaker, Yo La Tengo, Art Brut, Franz Ferdinand, Beth Gibbons, Bettie Serveert, Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, Wilco, The Feelies, Arcade Fire, Adam Green, Melissa Auf der Mauer, Soap & Skin, Kurt Vile, Adam Green, Bobbie Gillespie, Crystal Stilts, The Black Angels, The Kills, The Killers, The Kooks, MGMT, Blind Melon, Saul Williams, Amanda Palmer, Belle & Sebastian, Miley Cyrus, David Sanborn, Mitch Ryder Madrugada, Barenaked Ladies, Babyshambles, The Primitives, Propaganda, Eater, Pulp, Emmanuelle Seigner, Vanessa Paradis, Cat Power, Ambulance LTD, Ultra Orange, Animal Collective, Fat White Family, Marissa Nadler, Kelly Owens, Andrew Bird, Matt Berninger (The National), Sharon Van Etten, St. Vincent, The Bootlegers, Thomas Bartlett, Fontaines D.C., King Princess, Matt Sweeney, Sky Ferreira, Chris Coco, Caroline Polachek, Courtney Barnett, Jeff Beck & Johnny Depp, Keith Richards and surely plenty plenty more could sing a song about how The Velvet's inspired them.
P.S.: for anybody doubting this list, all of these musicians have either covered songs of the Velvets, or their band members, collaborated with any of them, been produced by John Cale, cited them as an influence, or simply have adapted elements of their sound, such as the drone or the minimalistic use of instruments, such as Cale's repetetive piano hammering, or Moe Tucker's tribal drum patterns.
If you want to convince yourself here's a playlist of Velvet Underground covers that might astound you, that, as if "What, they covered the Velvets!"
So I hope there is something in there you will enjoy: ua-cam.com/play/PLNINWcxxj9hEpLo4bVLlAMBn8uZ7Hwv0K.html&feature=shared
Hmmm, in their time they were pretty much ignored by the machine. Perhaps making a comment so out of context with what happened historically makes some feel a certain way. History is history. Very influential amongst musicians, unknown to the general audience. Research matters.
Love The Velvet Underground music they were ahead of their time.
I bought their first album in 1967 and loved it. I saw them live several times at the Boston Tea Party in 1968 and 1969. I was fortunate enough to live in the Boston area, and lucky enough to pick up their first album in a Cambridge record shop shortly after it was released (primarily because of curiosity when I saw Andy Warhol was involved). Lou Reed said Boston was his favorite place in the whole world to play.
They played a lot of frat parties in Boston in those early years. And they did a show at the Savoy Theater in Boston that I saw as part of the Boston premier of the movie "The Happening", which I thought was kind of odd, considering that the Supremes had a hit song with the theme of the movie, but the VU were great. They were so popular in Boston I didn't realize at the time that weren't yet nationally well known. I imagine there were probably a lot kids in New York who had the same experience.
You must of been younger then the rest ,as that photo of u u look young to say you was there (I'm not doubting you)
@@waynesilverman3048 Haha, I should update my photo. I'm 73 (74 in a few months), I was about 62 in that photo and using "Just for Men" in my beard and "Grecian Formula" in my hair!
@@ptournas lol.i did get the feeling it might of been someone else as some people use different names .photos ect not just hackers
You are very lucky to have seen them at that time. Based on the tapes kicking around those are awesome shows! They famously refused to play New York during those years, so Boston was kind of a second home for them.
@@hiraeth1340 Interesting, I knew they loved Boston, but I wasn't aware that they refused to play New York back then.
Nico Hungarian? She was born in Cologne and brought up in Berlin.
I remember hearing Venus in Furs on a car ad in Britain and it absolutely blew me away. I was only a kid but I knew what I heard was amazing and became the biggest Velvet Underground fan. They were light years ahead of their time.
Wasn't it an advert for tyres? - yeah I just checked - Dunlop tyres.
As a Velvet Underground fan of about 36 years, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised as to how excellent this documentary is. A much broader, insightful scope than the Haynes doc. The non-members of the band are on point with their comments, and of course Moe Tucker is too. RIP Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, Andy Warhol and Nico.
Well said.
Wow you've managed to name all original members, and even mention Nico and Andy, but have left John Cale in the namedropping out. Some achievement, suppose it's to do with his minor contribution towards the band.
@@ForARide Wow, well now aren't you a bitter little pill?! Maybe your New Year's resolution should be to work on that. Good luck.
@@ForARide Wishing you a full recovery brother…. hang tough… better days are coming 🌅
@@Zepster77 cheers mate, wishing you all the best and stay safe in these diabolical times
The day Lou Ree died, I went in to my bar job early, locked the basement venue, cranked up "Pale Blue Eyes," and cried for the duration of the song. Thank you Lou.
been a Velvet fan since the first time I heard them in 1969. there was nothing like them then nor has there been anyone like them since. they were one great rock band
Second time watching this in two days. One of the best looks at the Velvets that I’ve seen, though I need to see the recent doc. This one is incredibly well done, and Mo Tucker is a vital force of life -as a drummer, a person, and a savvy historical spokesperson for rock and roll.
Maureen's drums are what make Heroin the impressionist thing it is. The heart beating in arhythmia...
I never thought of that, and I should have; I have a heart condition. Thank you for pointing it out. The heart beating in arhythmia. I will remember that.
JAMES
@@Eoraptor1 Yeah, I have always thought that Maureen's drums represented an overdose, which many of my contemporaries considered a hip emblem. Ho hum, such is life.
THANK U so much for this, thank you SO !
This is a great documentary on the Velvets.
The interviews are full of insight and tightly integrated with explaining their music.
Even though I thought I knew the band and the history, it was full of fresh perspectives from many associated people. I especially loved hearing Mo Tucker and Doug Yule's take all these years later.
Yes, although I winced at the omission of Cowboy Junkies’ cover of “Sweet Jane,” especially considering how it included the bridge of which Lou was so rightly proud.
@@austintrousdale2397 You are right. I saw the Cowboys Junkies live just after the Trinity Sessions and Lou would have undoubtedly been very proud. It gave me goosebumps!
I'm with you on that all the way, it's a great documentary. 😁
Kind of ironic one of the early names for the VU in 1965 was the Warlocks, which they shared at the same time with another very influential, sometimes looked down upon SF Bay area band who played the Electric Kool-Aid Acid Tests sponsored by Ken Kesey. Eventually both bands changed their names due to a third band called The Warlocks with a record contract, so the West Coast band changed their name in Dec 1965 to the Grateful Dead which is another chapter in rock history.
Lou HATED the Dead too haha....but I love them both!
@@fmellish71 this is the way
Damn I did not know that
@@fmellish71 this is the way but VU better
What’s ironic about that?
The book, "Nico, the songs they don't play on the radio anymore".
Nico a true icon of mid 60s..RIP X
Man! This is an eye opening documentary. What an incredible group of talented musicians. Seems impossible to typecast their music. What a unigue group!
I first came across the VU in 1972, in a German compilation. By the time I started at Warwick University in 1974, quite a few of my friends had the banana album and the Warhol Coke cover double compilation, so they were far from obscure even that early on. Punk, of course, made them much more well known.
Bowie boosted Lou and Iggy . So did Alice Cooper .
@@mikehouser2518 Very true. I certainly hadn't heard of them before 72, and none of my music savvy fellow teenagers. It's a nice documentary, but there's far too much Doug Yule (he and Maureen being the survivors, I suppose). The recent film about the VU featured a lot of discussion with Cale and Reed, and got the balance right (Yule as foot note is appropriate, imho). It's good that Sterling M gets the credit he always deserved.
My first hearing of them was as an 18 yr old when “ Venus “ was being played on the pirate radio station - right amongst the police transmissions at 100 MHz - my being inside a scorching hot Tent and completely away on Acid at Stonehenge in 1982 . Very recognisable or unique & fantastic tune. 😁❤️
@@newforestpixie5297.......Hawkwind played there sometimes.
@@mippim8765'Hawkwind played there sometimes'... That's hilarious: an obtuse comment for sure.
loving this docuseries
My neighbour who is 81 went to school with Cale in Wales. She is still well into The VU. So am I.
Thanks for this great documentary on V.U.
Er, ‘Nico a beautiful Hungarian chanteuse’. She was from Germany.
I have always since I discovered this band's music have appreciated them and supported them in buying their music. I have been a fan for well over 40 years now and I still listen to the music The Velvet's did.
Unbelievably good. Great counterpoint to the Haynes documentary (which I also love). Moe and Doug are absolutely charming.
The solo guitars on What Goes On is one of the shining moments in rock history. So many of the college rock bands of the1980s took their aesthetics from this
Totally agree. Bands like the Jesus and Mary chain went to school on that ethereal energy wave
@@michaelwills1926 well The Jesus And Mary Chain's screechy guitars are a lot more related to John Cale's screechy and screaming viola drones on Heroin, The Black Angels Death Song, Hey Mr. Rain or Venus In Furs. Reed's guitar playing on What Goes On is far to lame for the JAMC.
If you listen to CAN, you can definitely hear the influence of What Goes On. To me , much like with the Sex Pistols later, the less iconic version of the group, once Nico was gone and Cale had left, was the best version. For the Pistols, the band became more notorious with Sid Vicious, but they were far better with Glen Matlock.
From roughly 2002-2006 I had myself a band (False Face Society) in Salt Lake City, UT, playing live shows at a host of varying local bars, festivals, and even a Iraq War protest or two. We performed mostly original numbers, but one of our go-to covers was VU's 'What Goes On', as have innumerable other bands. We typically used the song as an opening number--when an unknown music act is up on stage, plugged in, reeling to go, it was very effective at getting even those in the back of a bar shooting billiards to give notice...and then the guitar solo...
My fav song by them next to 'White Light/White Heat'.
2:55 Nico was GERMAN, not hungarian. Born in Cologne, Germany (October 16, 1938).
Outstanding doc. I remember back in the 70's hearing this band on an exceptional radio station in SA TX and seeing them in the rock mags. I had wished that I could get to where they were performing but a penniless kid had very few to no options. This sort of makes up for it. Makes me ache to go back in time when music didn't all sound the same, before emptyV.
I was born, raised, and still live in san Antonio. Im 44 years old, what radio station was that was it, an a.m. station?
My first exposure to the Velvets was "Who Loves The Sun" and then I got "The Velvet Underground" album. Doug Yule gets snubbed, but he was responsible for some of the better later tracks, and it was his voice on "Sun" and then on "Candy Says" that got me interested. I think Doug deserved to be in the HoF, but the rest of the original band had harsh feelings.
I heard Sterling wanted him to be there. The HoF is a sham anyway.........
@@Mandrake591 The so-called HoF really is bullsh^t . Lou was a brilliant musician but was kind of a douchebag, as great musicians often are.. Lou used Doug on a few of his solo albums, so it must be some personal crap that happened well after VU broke up between Lou and Doug. Music is the only thing that really matters.
He didn't do himself and favours when he toured as "The Velvet Underground" in 71 and 72, playing guitar and singing Lou's songs, and then releasing a 5th so-called "Velvets" album in 1973. He completely ruined his reputation with that opportunistic behaviour.
@@hiraeth1340 Wow - I remember the album, didn't know about the tour. The LP was weak, used similar artwork than "Loaded" for instant recognition. I get it, similar to some of the Badfingers and Bad Company's that were touring after the main members left.
@@hiraeth1340 I have a box set called Final VU which has 4 CDs from those tours.( Yule is very honest in the accompanying booklet about it all). Mo Tucker was in the band for 2 of them, so presumably you have the same negative opinion of her?
Sister Ray - One of the coolest songs in existence. When it comes in at the end of 'Brick' (great film) it's so great.
Sister Ray is one of my favourite songs. Even though it's so long, as soon as it's finished I want to listen to it again.
All four of those albums are great. One for each season. Treasured in my collection. Lots of fun to listen to.
Unquestionably one of the top ten bands of all time. Much respect and more love to all of them ✌️🕊️
those first two albums are really somethin else man
Probably the most important rock band EVER, along with The Beatles & The Who of course. US psychedelia, raga rock (Venus In Furs), avant garde, protopunk, noize (White Light / White Heat), dream pop (Sunday Morning). Jesus, all this elements in ONE band
Don't forget the Kinks, You Really Got Me from 1964 has such a great proto punk riff that had a massive influence on bands to follow. And back in the days The Kinks were always well respected men among us punks, which couldn't be said about a certain band you mentioned.
@@ForARide agreed The Who are a little lackluster imo
What about the Best of them All, the STONES?!
The Who are just awful. Never understood their appeal at all. Mediocre at best IMO
The Stones & The Kinks were the best British bands of the 1960's, their output from 1971 onwards never reached the same highs though. Black Sabbath are the best British band of the 1970's and the 1980's had the Stone Roses and Primal scream tied.
Just my opinion of course, others may disagree. The 1990's had a few great bands but Gomez, Oasis, Radiohead were the best. British guitar bands from 2000 onwards haven't had such a big impact and I can't think of any essential band from the time period to today. Greta van fleet are making some good music so all hope is not gone
they have one of the best ever 4 album runs
Moe is a national treasure.
I saw her perform at a small club in 1999, I was in awe but the rest of the crowd seemed distracted, chatting with each other and ignoring the music. Afterward I bought a cd and told her, "That was really cool." She signed my cd, I wanted to ask her all about everything but Im not a big talker with people I dont know. Amazing though that I spoke to someone who knew Jim Morrison, Nico, Warhol, etc, all the mythical people from that time Im sure she at least encountered.
2:56
Nico wasn't Hungarian.
She was German.
Indeed. Scrolled down to make this point myself. She´s from Köln
Heritage fail
then to outside of Berlin to escape the bombing. she was a Kriegskinder, or child of war. she must have witnessed death early on, and probably played in the ruins.
@@kalevala29
She was born in Cologne.
@@HenningDiesel I know, but she was taken to the outskirts of Berlin by her mother when she was two or three. she eventually became a model there; she probably didn't discuss her upbringing much. there was shame for many of her generation. and you have that putz lou reed who acted all tough and punk and streetwise. please. her shock therapy was war.
I just realized the Cowboy Junkies used that bridge in their version of 'Sweet Jane'. Mind blown....
Read something once that said "the velvet underground didn't sell that many records , but every one they sold, resulted in a another band.
Brilliant. I was very influenced by them when it was all happening. I was 16 and living in Australia. Being marginalised at school for liking them had it’s moments. Your documentary helped me put it in perspective. Ironically it led me to play “Songs for Drella”. A fitting epitaph in my opinion.
Agreed. 'Songs For Drella' a super way of presenting a life and one's relation to it... Clear writing and the live performance the best version imo...
2023: This is wonderful. The best that I have seen about any band. Thank You. Sad that we lost Lou. RIP
Theirs was a niche sound. As such, it is NOT "underappreciated". They went out of their way to make their music not very accessible to the standard rock and pop audience. They are appreciated by exactly the people they should be appreciated by and that's it. Just because you like a band, doesn't mean the rest of the world should and if the rest of the world doesn't, it does NOT mean the band is "underappreciated".
Tom Wilson, introduced at 9:35, also was involved in the production of the early Mothers of Invention albums and appears on the rather hilarious cover of their "We're Only In It For The Money" album standing all the way to the left
Saw them the first time at the Hippodrome in San Diego. In 1967 or 68 and three more times after that. Still a fan 46 years later.
Excellent documentary but I wish it had included interviews with Reed, Cale and Morrison as well.
Regardless of music they are some of the coolest figures of that era, moe is a legend
She was a great drummer , enough said .
I've been a drummer since 1964 and I agree with you. Also a wonderful person.
As i was always mesmerizing by The Velvet Underground since their first album with Nico and those to follow + the solo albums by Lou, Nico, John. Amongs of my favorite to life which i still always discover something each time i'm listening to. Mesmerizing i am. Daniel Boutin Quebec City
貴重な動画をありがとうございます。
I have the VU with Nico album with the cover that is known as the Emerson torso cover. It preceded the banana cover.
Is it valuable as a collectable?
My Velvet addiction has started with „Live 69“…in 1984/85. This is the/my ultimate „lonely Island“ Record!
Sterling Morrison=Guitar Hero:)
Just got interested in VU, after buying a used book, I found a concert flier and backstage pass in the pages.. Kinda cool..
a treasure!
I have to thank Asda for introducing me to the VU.
Their vinyl section was pretty good at the time.
💕👍 my favorite group since 1967 😁
I would happily give away the rest of my years, to live one year of that 60's energy. It's totally seen in many of the bands of that time. That's when there was this do whatever and whenever. That whole time, you got The Doors going strong, Dylan, Velvet Underground, The Beatles, The Beach Boys dropping Pet Sounds. Just wow. Yup, if we ever start zipping around in time, that's where I'm gonna go, and break the travel vessel. Some of that stuff is timeless.
Excellent! when was it made?
I love The Velvet Underground. My old band Xaos played a cover of "Femme Fatale" :)
David Bowie got his hands on the acetate cut of the first record a couple months before it was out.
Mo Tucker deserved better than to end up working as a cashier at Walmart tho
for YEARS..you know it mustve been so frustrating, it sounds like what would happen to me if I ever hit the big time..it wouldnt last somehow and Id be back where I started.
@@joejones9520 Right? Except I’d have been waaayyy grumpier when they came to interview me about my drumming 40 years too late.
I came across the VU by accident. I remember the banana album from years ago but didn't really pay any attention to it. Years later, I was reading Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh and it kept mentioning the VU and John Cale's screaming viola on the song Heroin. So I thought they must be good if a famous author keeps mentioning them in one of his books. I can tell you that I was not disappointed! I haven't stopped listening to them since. I only wish that I had discovered them much sooner because they have changed my life completely!
At least you got there eventually. I got to know them in the early 80's, the NME and Melody Maker cited them as a huge influence in what was going on at that time. Also Joy Division covered Sister Ray, so I fairly soon got to know them. I then went to see John Cale live in the early 80's, and boy, I had seen nothing as intense and insane as the Welsh Wizard. And I've seen plenty: Iggy Pop, Siouxsie, The Stranglers, Sonic Youth, Hüsker Dü, Cabaret Voltaire, Suicide,The Gun Club etc. I even saw The Velvets Redux tour in 93, which was ok.
The more I explored Cale's music, the more fascinated I got by his sheer versatality and the influence he had on other artists, so it was inevatable, he had to become my absolute music God. I must have seen him about 20 times now, and each gig was different, as if it was a different artist each time. IMO he is the most overlooked and therefore most underrated musician in Rock history.
Sorry about my little excursion on John Cale, but needless to say, The Velvets are the most important band in the Punk/Alt. Rock universe, setting the tone for future things to come.
This is great- over the past 50 years Ive heard about individual members of the VU. Mo was in " Reform School Girls" film, Sterling lived not far from me ( PoughkeepsieNY) of course Reed, Cale Warhol and Nico have their own popularity. No such documentary existed. That was sad the portrayal of Nico in The Doors film.... Ive heard that the Jimmy Page lead Yardbirds covered " Waiting For My Man"( live- only available on bootleg ages ago) " White Light, White Heat" Ive seen and heard Mick Ronson perform live. This documentary is anazing. Joe Harvard Ive read your 33 1/3 series book on the VU debut. Thanx everyone involved!!!!
Man John Cale is a great bassist and violist and keys player
Absolutely. The Velvet's sound was mainly Cale's input and should have been co-credited for the music, but selfish Reed would have none of that.
Great doc!!! But who are all the people who are speaking here? Maybe I'm missing something?
Best and longest concert I ever saw
They were one of the House Bands at Andy Warhol's club The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, that was on St. Mark's Place in the East Village. I lived on St. Mark's Place, directly across the street at the time. The Dom was next door. The Velvet Underground's album, which I still own .. bought new at the time ... and every cut is outrageous. Listen to Heroin! Prior to Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, there was The Balloon Farm ... and afterward, it turned into The Electric Circus. Those were the best of times.
Nico was from middle-west Germany Aken. The city from Karel De Grote, just one hour from my place in The Netherlands.
Even now im post Soviet time it's a total different world inbetween Hongaria. But im kindly thankfull with this documentary:)
Music blew my mind "STONE COLD SOBER." Bought "Velvet Underground and Nico" on my 18th Birthday.
Lady Godivas Operation by VU is mindblowing.
As well as introducing a " Descriptive Pragmatism " Of there Environment hitherto unheard of , they were also able to display a " Type Of Musical Landscape " Which has clearly " Solidified Their Reputation " As being " One Of The Most Innovative Bands Of All Time " !!! From Adrian Browne 1965
I’m 70 and still a big fan. Lou Reed, the Velvets, Those were the days my friend! And after we could go on to talk about glitter, satellites, short hair, And walking on the wild side
When they were talking about the black on black album cover for White Light/White Heat I immediately thought about Spinal Tap. Now I wanna watch that movie
I don't believe that the Velvet Underground was simply copying and pasting from previous bands. They have a unique sound that never occurred previously and hasn't occurred since
Their sound on TVU&N and WL/WH was mainly created by John Cale who brought his expertise of avant-garde and classical structures and elements into the Velvets, such as the drone, or those repetetive piano chords that made their sound so unique and groundbreaking. Cale should have been co-credited for the music, but unfortunatly Reed's enormous ego got in the way.
@@ForARide all the band members contributed profoundly. Reed continued to make good music after the Velvets
God bless Moe...saw her ...I believe...the Moe's Tucker Band...back in the 1996...mabey 97....at a bar /restaurant called the ...Hunter and Gatherer...they were great ...and during a break...I was smoking a cigarette out front...More was doing what she was ...and ...of course...I was gobsmacked to talk with her...ran my mouth about her great part and contribution to the V.U. and especially the drum crescendo on Heroin ...thanking her as the young fool I was...she nodded...and smiled...and went back in to kill it ...what a beautiful lady😊
Nico was Geman
couldn't you fit maureen tucker there in the description? she was also in interviews and pictures.
Saw Lou once at a music festival, dying to hear some Velvet tunes. I seem to remember he was angry and not in fine form. I do not recall if he did any song I recognized...
I forgive him because he is an artist that has always been himself(Transformer and Glam/Bowie influence aside)
Im happy to say i saw him in the flesh.
Saw The Stooges at the same festival the day before or after. Between both, it was a proto-punk, archetype of alternative dream
Contrary to what most believe, I hold the debut as far and away their best, so much so that I rarely listen to the others, certainly not as one complete listening experience of track 1 through to the final track.
John Cale is a Pisces as well.
Oh c'mon Guys this can't be a coincidence! Anyway another well put together video of a superb band Now have you heard of a New York duo called Suicide?. Nice work and 'ave a good holiday
A Suicide doc would be pretty cool
One of the most collectable albums, with the banana poster included.
Listen to all their demos, bootlegs, and alternate recordings to get the big picture
Also early Lou stuff -
Sneaky Pete , The Ostrich et al
NYC!!!
I especially loved the song “Jesus”, one of Reed’s best songs from the third VU album. It’s a great song; help me find my proper place they sing. I recently saw a compilation of Lou Reed performances on David Letterman’s show. Lou performed Jesus with the Blind Boys doing most of the singing. This song along with Guardian Angel ( from The Raven album) are wonderful Lou Reed songs that show his sometimes spiritual nature.
I hate it when people say someone had no choice. Nico was 100 percent empowered to carve out her path. Unfortunately we cannot control the consequences.
Venus and furs is the Song from other plannet. Hello from Slovenia.
I saw their video of white heat, just awesome
Im addicted to these! please do one of The Strokes or The Libertines!
How in the world can you call what is probably the most lauded, influential and universally adored band in the entire history of indie music “underappreciated”?? Perhaps some artists are just so good and so important that no matter how popular they get and no matter how much adoration they receive, it will still just never really be enough. VU could definitely fit that category at least…
Hindsight is 20/20. They were definitely under appreciated at the time. In spite of Warhol’s stamp of cool approval, VU albums didn’t appeal to the mainstream. They didn’t sell.
Their mindset was 180 degrees diametrically opposed to the peace and love, flower power movement of the late sixties. It was the complete antithesis of what was safe, acceptable and popular. If you listened to their music, you were considered weird and iconoclastic by the normies who were digging the latest Beatles album. Even The Doors, with all of their mainstream pop success, were thought of as “dark and subversive” by a large segment of the record buying public. It’s really kind of quaint when you think about what was lurking just around the corner, musically and culturally.
The same can be said of seminal bands like The Stooges and The New York Dolls. They were so far ahead of the curve that they became victims of their own foresight (and copious amounts of drugs and alcohol). Too much too soon, indeed.
Cale"s replacement bassist, sorry I forgot his name .. his goatee is off centre and I can't unsee it
Nico is German, not Hungarian
Andrew Warhola Jr. aka Andy Warhol had Austria-Hungarian origins though - his parents being emigrants from the town Miko, now called Mikova, located in today’s northeastern Slovakia.
@@indigenousnorwegianeuropa4145 Austria-Hungary ceased to exist in 1918...
Born in Berlin and very much German was Nico.
and died in ibuza...and make a commercial for spanish brandy...riding a white horse...what a goddess...rip
I always considered Venus in Furs more folk with touches of the medieval and modernist.
In this documentary people keep saying, "everybody forgets..." I am thinking, 'I didn't forget, I just never knew who these people were". I always thought that Andy Warhol was some artist who painted soup cans. Lol
What's jarring is that I am 47 years old and I have asked other people my age who the Velvet Underground or Lou Reed were and most of them had no idea what I was talking about. I have to say that this music is in danger of being forgotten.
An excellent documentary, only missing a contribution from the Welsh maestro himself.
10:40 lol he sounds like Howard Hamlin from Better call saul
Louis Reed was his real name?? I dig the fact you tell, here, about Velvet boicotting N.Y.. & only doing concerts in Boston! New Yorks got everything! And it was in Boston where it all began! So, this was good news, guys!!!!! Thank you so much for this Documentary video! Its so informing!
In that book punk book please kill me theirs some embarrassing stuff wrote about him by the author who interviewed reed
I think he had a Jewish name did reed like Bob Dylan had a different name
@@waynesilverman3048 Lou Rabinowitz
Love all the people ” Nico German not Hungarian...” *insert faux outrage*, failing completely to listen that they were just quoting how Warhol introduced her, and he was never that bothered by fact if it got in the way of the story.