the Velvet Underground are one of the handful of essential groups... so many things trace directly back to them... punk rock, new wave, goth, shoegaze... basically all indie and alternative music

@jazzzman8050

8 ай бұрын

Those sub-genres do indeed all trace back to the VU, who gave them permission to skip the part where you become good on your instruments before going public.

@jazzzman8050

8 ай бұрын

@@g.garcia7151 fair point, all the chops don’t necessarily give us meaningful music, but there is plenty of fine music in which mastery of one’s instrument is necessary to communicate it’s beauty and power. Something for us to aspire to : )

A top 5 album for me and a life changer for the 10 people who bought it when it came out. This album is still ahead of it's time.

'One chord is ideal. Two is pushing it. Three, and you're into jazz.' Lou Reed

@axelbaker8737

8 ай бұрын

Dude only knew three chords.

@axelbaker8737

8 ай бұрын

@@g.garcia7151 No i love Lou Reed, just poking fun. Not the most versatile guitarist in the world.

Lou Reed the original punk. It was said at the time that the album only sold 10,000 copies but every one who bought it started a band !

I bought the original album in a Harvard Square record store when it first came out. I had never heard of them, but the cover caught my eye and when I turned over and saw it was an Andy Warhol production, I decided to buy it. Boy was I amazed when I got home and put it on the phonograph! Completely blown away! Just a few months later I got to see their first performance at the Boston Tea Party, and saw them there about fix or six times after that. I also saw them live at the Savoy Theater for the Boston grand premier of the movie "The Happening". One of the interesting lineups I saw was in May of 1969, when their opening act was a new southern rock/blues band playing their first gig outside of the south - The Allman Brothers!

@mythicsin3083

8 ай бұрын

Cool story

@YeungSze

8 ай бұрын

Dude, did you start a band then? 😃

@ptournas

8 ай бұрын

@@YeungSze Haha. I was already doing solo gigs, but if I hadn't been, I probably would have started one 😀

“Heroin… be the death of me”, WOW!

Nice reaction. Like so much to do with the band, one of the greatest moments (and one you talked about) happened purely by accident. The drummer, Maureen Tucker, was playing drums, and at the point when the chaos got out of hand, she couldn't hear anything other than pure noise, so she stopped playing, thinking they would record the song again, and when the noise calmed down, she played it out. However, for whatever reason, they never re-recorded it, and it created an even more intense ending to the song.

@jonathanmurphy3141

8 ай бұрын

A Woman who drummed, was quite rare, back then. Reason why she used Mo Tucker, as her name professionally. She was so vital to the VU sound, even with her minimal kit.

Moe Tucker,, an overlooked genius, this track verifies just how intuitive and emotive her style was .

Velvet Underground was pure Lower East Side grime, street poetry, art, set to lethal rock music. Lou Reed was an an exceptional guitarist and musician - he attended the Juilliard School - and he came from a relatively affluent background. He liked to incorporate screeching feedback to set your nerves on edge the way NYC does. Heroin was always an integral part of that scene although not Lou's drug of choice; he preferred meth. As he said in an interview "I do only pure methamphetamine hydrochloride, not speed. Speed kills." Words of wisdom.

Velvet Undergrounds "I'm waiting for my man'" relates to this song also..waiting for "his fix".."Sweet Jane" by Velvet Underground is my very favorite by them, .not the live version but the original song from the album.

when I was a teenager and I heard the lyrics "when i feel just like jesus's son" i knew to stay away from that drug bc i knew if something could make another man feel that way it could me and if something was that powerful it was dangerous... great song here though one of my favs all time. hope anyone in the crutches of addiction finds a way out

The Rolling Stones said their song “Stray Cat Blues” was built off the beginning of this song. I interpreted this the exact same way. He said, “I have made a big decision. I’m going to nullify my life.” Overdose: Heartbeat, blood rushing in his head, The End. They’re a rock and roll band too. Check out “Foggy Notion”.

You would probably also like their “Loaded” album. Try “What Goes On” or “Rock and Roll”. Velvet Underground were amazing.

@ohfour-seven6228

8 ай бұрын

Rock and Roll is incredible!

@Hartlor_Tayley

8 ай бұрын

@@ohfour-seven6228 it sure is.

I ordered this record. The day it arrived I was tripping my balls off on acid. One of the few songs that captures some of the drug experience. Been straight for many years now but this song always brings me back...

There are a few reactions to the song from people who had actual experience with the drug. They understand that song on the very different level. They not guessing, not interpret wht it all means. For them it is a starightforward, in-your-face song simulating stages of avarage heroin trip.

GREAT JOB!

LP - Rock and Roll Animal live version of Heroin.

So glad to see you reacting to this. VU were so innovative(this particular album is a classic)-to me, this song creates such a picture of what doing this drug is like-unlike any verbal description I've ever heard. It's poignant and sad.

The truest expression of how drugs work ❤

Super reaction! One of my favorite albums. A rollercoaster of moods and emotions. It didn't sell well upon release, but time has been very kind to it. And that album cover...! It originally came with a peel-off yellow banana revealing an electric pink banana. That was all Andy Warhol, bringing art to rock music.

@user-mk5xc4ye9t

8 ай бұрын

As I recall the original cover banana said "Peel slowly and see."

@jons.105

8 ай бұрын

@@user-mk5xc4ye9t Indeed! What a come-on!

Lou Reed didn‘t show off, just played for the song, and that worked! Not the Hendrix way, but he did fit the song!

Although I related as an Artist to the counter-culture more than mainstream. I must have had a guardian angel as I did a lot of drugs but never did the Smack. grateful ........................ Another great song by Lou Reed was "Kicks"

@ShawnSalvadori

8 ай бұрын

This drug sounds really bad 😬 I know some people who have done it, but some how didn't get hooked and left it in the past. That's dodging a bullet it seems

One of the greatest songs

React to Dirty Boulevard and Walk on the Wild side by Lou Reed (the writer and singer of Heroin).

As it's getting near Christmas, you need to listen to The Velvet Underground's "The Gift"🎁Oooo... what could it be?

On this same album is “Waiting for the Man” how to get your drug from the dealer, in NYC. He makes you wait, you pay, drugs. The Man doesn’t care if you’re a drug addict, the money. David Bowie championed the VU, live during his early years playing “waiting the man” and “white light, white heat. Bowie, Reed, and Iggy Pop all became friends, worked on each others music. Only Iggy Pop remains.

You were almost there. When its chill he's high, when it's chaotic he's sober, can't go on without heroin to mellow him down. That changes the perspective. Depressing song. Listen to more Velvet!

Music as art

Hello brother, I thought I'd drop off another suggestion, if interested. Here's a song by John Fogerty during his solo career. I thought you'd enjoy giving this one a listen "John Fogerty - Blueboy" (channel: John Fogerty) --John Fogerty's "Blueboy" is a single from the "Southern Streamline" studio album released in 1997, the album is a blend of southern rock and swamp rock tunes that (IMO) sometimes gives you a nostalgic feeling like there are times you can hear glimmers of "CCR" yet totally stands alone as a strong independent representation of his fine work as a solo artist. This is the only song on the album that features Donald "Duck" Dunn (bassist) along with the backing vocals of the singing group "The Waters" and Fogerty was such a musical genius he used a "danelectro guitar" and a "1962 brown concert amplifier" that gives this song the effect that you hear in this song...beautiful stuff, bro. 😙👌🎸

The nihilist anthem - even if you aren't on that stuff. Such a well-crafted song.

1000 years ago - uncharted territory - hope.

Morrison in the same year made drug use appealing in some ways. The trip. Lou and his NYC was the exact opposite. Two different brilliant albums - two very different parts of the country.

This the group that everyone copy’s they got to bron rock roll hull of fame

As a Brit of a certain age, I associate this song with it being played as a provocation on pub jukeboxes. As often as not the bartender will hit the override and switch it off as soon as Cale lets rip. (They do the same thing if you play 21st Century Schizoid Man - when McDonald rips, the music gets switched off). Fifty-ish years after these records were made, people are even less worldly, even less tolerant - goddam it makes me sick.

The VU, rock's answer to...absolutely nothing. A unique and decidedly anti-status quo band which spawned a whole genre of their own.

Song was quite negative toward heroin. Propaganda of an absurdist requiem.

There’s no doubting Reed’s contributions as a poet lyricist, but even by ‘67 standards, this is piss poor music. There really is something to be said for learning to play your instruments well enough to sound credible before gigging/recording. Now, I know this band and others like them were hugely influential, they had a big artistic impact. But I have prided myself on being a musician all my life, and this is unlistenable.