The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico

In April 1966, while The Beatles were commencing work on 'Revolver', The Velvet Underground also began recording their debut album at the rundown Scepter Studios in New York City. Whereas 'Revolver' would be released in August 1966, The Velvet Underground & Nico' would have to wait until March 1966 to see its release. The acetates recorded during April were subsequently rejected by a number of major labels before eventually being accepted by MGM Records for their Verve record label. This led to a further session at TTG Studios, Hollywood during which a further three songs 'I'm Waiting For The Man', 'Venus in Furs' and 'Heroin' would be recorded.

The subject matter of many of the songs contained within the album, was controversial to say the least. Openly dealing with drug use, prostitution, sexual deviancy, sadism and masochism, it is astonishing that these topics were even considered for general release in early 1966. A year later, many artists, The Beatles included, were still hiding drug references within obscure titles and phrases although exactly one month before the release of this album, on 12 February 1966, Keith Richards was arrested at his Redlands home, on drug charges. Little wonder that upon its release, this album was largely condemned for breaking virtually every taboo possible. Being banned by a number of record stores and starved of radio play and advertising, it is unsurprising that the album was at the time, deemed a commercial failure. Due to a lawsuit, the album was withdrawn in June 1967 and it was not until ten years later that critics first began to praise the album as the great work it clearly is. The praise continues almost unanimously to this day!

Although the artist Andy Warhol is credited with the production of the album, in truth, he did little more than provide the finances for the initial New York recording sessions. Confusion reigns as to who was responsible for the actual technical production of the music. Norman Dolph was present at the Scepter Studio sessions but he claims that John Cale did most of the musical arrangement. Interestingly Cale credits Tom Wilson who had been appointed by MGM to supervise the Hollywood sessions, as the main producer.

There is of course no doubt as to who provided the artwork for the album cover. Original pressings showed only the name of Andy Warhol and featured a peelable banana, production of which led to further delays with the release of the album. Whatever the problems at the time, the image is now instantly recognisable and immediately associated with both Warhol and The Velvet Underground.

Sunday Morning
This November 1966 recording was the last one completed for the album. Written to feature the voice of Nico at the specific request of producer Tom Wilson who felt that a single was required to promote the album, the final version actually features Lou Reed on lead vocal. It is the most lavishly produced track on the album and features the distinctive sound of the celesta played by John Cale.

I'm Waiting For The Man
The 'man' of the title is of course a drug dealer and the song relates the attempt to purchase 26 dollars worth of heroin. The percussive rock and roll beat coupled with the subject matter has ensured that this song remains one of the most popular numbers in the Velvet Underground repertoire.

Femme Fatale
This track does feature Nico on lead vocals, a feature that added to the allure of the album at the time of its release and perhaps even to this day. It is clear that English was not her first language as her heavily accented vocal delivery shows. ('She'll build you up to just put you darn, what a clarn').
One of the more gentle sounding songs on the album, it was written by Lou Reed about the Warhol starlet, Edie Sedgwick. The song has since been covered by a host of other artists.

Venus in Furs
Here the band get right down to the taboo subjects of sadomasochism and bondage a full decade before X-Ray Spex were yelling 'Oh Bondage! Up Yours!' The song title is taken directly from the book by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch and the track features John Cale scraping the bow across the strings of his electrified viola to the rhythm set by Reed's unusual guitar. Unusual in that all of the strings are tuned to the same note, albeit in different octaves.
Alternate versions show that the song had been worked on since 1965 and then had a very different arrangement with vocals by John Cale. Before the final Hollywood session, the track was also worked on at a quicker pace and with slightly different lyrics at Scepter Studios in New York.
The song features in a handful of movies and has also been covered by a number of other artists.

Run Run Run
The jogging pace of this song matches the title perfectly. Written By Lou Reed it tells the story of a number of New York City characters trying to score drugs. The drug references are mixed with religious imagery but the most outstanding features of the track are the unconventional guitar solos played by Reed. Against the insistent rhythm he plays jagged lines occasionally distorted by squealing feedback.

All Tomorrow's Parties
This song was apparently Andy Warhol's favourite which is fitting as Lou Reed wrote it about Warhol and his entourage (The Factory). Once again Reed used his guitar with all of the strings tuned to D. Sung by Nico with her voice double tracked, the number has featured prominently in the horror film 'The Lords of Salem'.
Curiously when the first CD version was issued in 1987, an original single tracked mix was included.

And so ends side one of the original vinyl album.

Heroin
Recorded in Hollywood during the Tom Wilson produced sessions in the summer of 1966, this track clocked in at just over seven minutes (yet it still wasn't the longest track on the album). The two chords that make up the song help to provide a hypnotic effect as the tempo starts slowly but builds to replicate the high experienced by the heroin user. This effect is repeated throughout the song.
Lyrically one can understand the reluctance of radio stations to play such a song and one can almost hear the screams of outrage when this was released in early 1967. Reed leaves nothing to the imagination as he graphically describes the act of the needle puncturing the skin and the effect that the drug has on him.
When the track is reaching its crescendo, the frantic drumming abruptly stops. Drummer Maureen (Moe) Tucker explained later that it got so loud and fast that she couldn't hear anything and stopped playing thinking that everyone else would stop also. They didn't so she simply started again!
The track is controversial for 1966 or 1967 yet it is astonishing that the earliest recording of the number dates from sessions in Ludlow Street, NYC in July 1965!

There She Goes Again
The Velvets try their hand at a track that seems to have been largely influenced by The Rolling Stones cover of 'Hitch Hike', a Marvin Gaye song released in 1965 on 'Out of Our Heads'.

I'll Be Your Mirror
This track originally appeared as a single in 1966. Sung by Nico, there appear to have been difficulties in her achieving the delicate vocal effects required by the band. After several attempts she broke down in tears and then achieved the desired result at what would have been the final attempt. The band must have been pleased with the result as following her departure from the band in 1967, they replicated her vocal and her accent during live performances of the song.
Andy Warhol is said to have suggested that the record stylus should become 'stuck' thus repeating the line 'I'll be your mirror' continuously until the record arm was lifted. Nothing ever came of this idea which is probably just as well as a large number of 'faulty' discs might have been returned to the factory.

The Black Angel's Death Song
This song appears to have been the one that first brought The Velvet Underground to the attention of Andy Warhol. After playing a long improvised version of it before a small crowd of drunks at Café Bizarre in New York's Greenwich Village on 11 November 1965, they were approached by Warhol who would later fund and produce their debut album.
The dissonance is created by the screeching of John Cale's violin and by him hissing into the microphone as Lou Reed drones lyrics to represent the figure of death, the black angel of the title.

European Son
Commencing with a couple of verses to a Chuck Berry riff, the track quickly dissolves into a free-form piece of improvisation utilising screaming feedback and heavy distortion. This continues for over six minutes and is possibly a precursor to the improvisational rock they played on tracks such as 'Sister Ray' from their next album, 'White Light/White Heat'.
The song is dedicated on the album to Delmore Schwartz a mentor of Reed who had died in July 1966, though the song itself makes no mention of Schwartz.
At over seven minutes in length, this is the longest track on the album.

Like most records at the time, 'The Velvet Underground & Nico' was released in both stereo and mono versions. Both are now readily available on CD reissues and while both have their individual merits, I have a preference for the mono mix simply because the rockier tracks have that bit more punch.

Despite the understandable lack of commercial success in 1967, the influence of the album and of The Velvet Underground themselves, continues to be heard via a range of artists up to this day. As examples I cite David Bowie, Patti Smith, Television, Can, REM, My Bloody Valentine and The White Stripes. 'Nuff said?