The Velvet Underground Self Titled Third Album Song by Song Thread

The Velvet Underground (album)
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Released March 1969
Recorded November–December 1968
Studio T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood, California[1]
Producer The Velvet Underground

The Velvet Underground is the self-titled third studio album by American rock band the Velvet Underground. Released in March 1969, it was their first record with Doug Yule, who was a replacement for John Cale. Recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California, the album's sound—consisting largely of ballads and straightforward rock songs—marked a notable shift in style from the band's previous recordings. In 2003, Rolling Stone magazine ranked the album number 314 in their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".

Background
Lou Reed, the band's principal songwriter, said of the album: "I really didn't think we should make another White Light/White Heat. I thought it would be a terrible mistake, and I really believed that. I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Otherwise, we would become this one-dimensional thing, and that had to be avoided at all costs."[2] Drummer Moe Tucker said, "I was pleased with the direction we were going and with the new calmness in the group, and thinking about a good future, hoping people would smarten up and some record company would take us on and do us justice." Doug Yule said the album "was a lot of fun. The sessions were constructive and happy and creative, everybody was working together."[2]

The Velvet Underground was the band's first album for MGM Records, its first two albums having been issued on Verve, an MGM subsidiary. The previously strong Andy Warhol influence is diminished,[according to whom?]with the most notable ties to the Factory being the cover and back photographs taken by Warholite Billy Name, and the opening track "Candy Says" about Warhol superstar Candy Darling (who reappears in Reed's 1972 song "Walk on the Wild Side"). The song was sung by Yule at Reed's insistence.[3] The LP sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve, with Billy Name's photo of the band sitting sedately on a couch at Andy Warhol's Factory.

"The Murder Mystery" included all four band members' voices. During the verses, Lou Reed and guitarist Sterling Morrison recite different verses of poetry simultaneously, with the voices positioned strictly to the left and right. For the choruses, Maureen Tucker and Doug Yule sing different lyrics and melodies at the same time, also separated left and right.[citation needed] The album's closing song, "After Hours", has a rare solo lead vocal by Moe Tucker, again requested by Reed as he felt the sweet, innocent quality of her voice fit the song's mood better than his own.

The album was produced by the band themselves, and issued in two different stereo mixes. The more widely distributed mix is the one done by MGM/Verve staff engineer Val Valentin. The other mix was done by Lou Reed, boosting his vocals and guitar solos, while reducing the level of other instruments. This version was dubbed the "Closet Mix" by Sterling Morrison, because it sounded to him as if it had been recorded in a closet.[4] The most dramatic difference is that the two versions also use an entirely different performance of "Some Kinda Love", which was taken from the same recording sessions.

Music and lyrics

The restraint and subtlety of the album was a significant departure from the direct abrasiveness of White Light/White Heat.[5][6] Music critic Greg Kot of the Chicago Tribune characterized it as folk rock,[7] and Rolling Stone magazine's Troy Carpenter said that it focused on mellow, melodic rock.[5] According to music journalist Steve Taylor, The Velvet Underground is a pop album because of its more accessible songs and "has been called Lou Reed with a backing band due to the emphasis placed on songs rather than experimental sound work."[8]

Apart from the forceful rockers "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light", the album contains reflective, melodic songs that are about various forms of love,[6] such as "Pale Blue Eyes", "Some Kinda Love", "Jesus", "I'm Set Free" and "That's the Story of My Life". Reed and Morrison's twin-guitar playing became the band's most prominent sound,[6] and the album had spare arrangements that lacked distortion. The only song that exhibited the band's avant-garde roots is "The Murder Mystery", which incorporated a ragarhythm, murmuring organ, overlapping spoken-word passages, and lilting counterpoint vocals.[6]

Critical reception

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau viewed it as the band's best album and found it tuneful, well written, and exceptionally sung, despite "another bummer experiment" in "The Murder Mystery" and some questionable stereo recording.[17] Lester Bangs, writing in Rolling Stone magazine, felt that it is not on-par with White Light/White Heat and has missteps with "The Murder Mystery" and "Pale Blue Eyes", but ultimately said that its combination of powerfully expressive music and profoundly sentimental lyrics will persuade the band's detractors into believing they can "write and play any kind of music they want to with equal brilliance."[18] In his ballot for Jazz & Pop magazine's annual critics poll, Christgau ranked it as the sixth best album of the year.[19]

In a review of the album's 1985 reissue, Rolling Stone's David Fricke remarked that both The Velvet Underground and its predecessor lack the diverse range of the band's 1967 debut album and the precise accessibility of Loaded (1970). However, he felt that the album is still edifying as a tender, subtly broad song cycle whose stark production surprisingly reveals the essence of Reed's more expressive songwriting. Fricke cited the "ironic pairing" of "Pale Blue Eyes" and "Jesus" as the best summary of "the hopeful warmth at the center of the Velvets' rage."[15] Colin Larkin, writing in The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (1998), said that the album showcased a new subtlety because of Reed's larger role in the band and that it "unveiled a pastoral approach, gentler and more subdued, retaining the chilling, disquieting aura of previous releases."[12]

In 2003, The Velvet Underground was ranked number 314 by Rolling Stone on their list of the 500 greatest albums of all time.[20] NME magazine named it the 21st best album of all time in a similar list.[21] In The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Rob Sheffield wrote that after Cale's departure, the band became "acoustic folkie balladeers" and that Reed was unexpectedly charming on the album, whose "every song is a classic".[16] Qmagazine called the album "a flickering, unforgettable band performance".[14] Sputnikmusic's Nick Butler felt that, although it is not as good as the band's debut album, The Velvet Underground is "still a brilliant album."[22]


Track listing
All tracks written by Lou Reed, except where noted. Running times listed are for the Valentin Mix.

Side one
No. Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Candy Says" Yule 4:04
2. "What Goes On" Reed 4:55
3. "Some Kinda Love" Reed 4:03
4. "Pale Blue Eyes" Reed 5:41
5. "Jesus" Reed with Yule 3:24
Side two
No. Title Lead vocals Length
6. "Beginning to See the Light" Reed 4:41
7. "I'm Set Free" Reed 4:08
8. "That's the Story of My Life" Reed 1:59
9. "The Murder Mystery" Reed, Morrison, Yule, and Tucker 8:55
10. "After Hours" Tucker 2:07

 

Candy Says

Opens with a dreamy chord progression with a descending voice. At :18 a blues turnaround. Almost a jazz blues. Doug Yule sounds just weird enough singing the odd confessional lyrics. Call and response sounds ghostly. The verse returns and the turnaround with fine guitar playing ...typical brilliant Lou inversions....no standard chords here. The chorus at :50 has the chords changing in fourths and fits the lyrics. The post chorus at 1:12 changes key and brilliantly fits the lyrics change to uncertainty to perfection. The verse and chorus return and the post chorus but Doug sounds a little more emphatic. At 2:50 a pregnant pause. A bluesy harken back to doo wop but sounding strange and eerie like an out of focus movie. Lou plays some great soul like hammer ons. The song ends abruptly on the G chord mid bar.

Brilliant song. I am not sure if this is the first sort of song where the chords have an inner voice descending from Lou. Probably not. IMO Doug Yule sounds fine. IIRC he sings it because Lou's voice was shot at the time they could get into the studio. A genius mix of beauty and bizarre the way only The Velvet Underground could do it. Lyrics inspired by Candy Darling. Highly influential.

 

I play and sing this song almost everyday with my acoustic guitar. That might be a sign of how much I love it.

 

Amazing chord changes and that descending voice in the chords fits the lyrics perfectly.
I play it a lot myself but most folks don't recognize it when I play it.

 

By far my favourite velvets album.

 

Great. At least I know one person may post on the thread. I figured I would be alone with this one.

 

I'd like to add that it's hard for me not to get goosebumps during the "What do you think I'd see if I could walk away from me?" part.
Inidentally, the "closet mix" is the one.

 

It's my favorite too. I wouldn't say "by far" in my case, but it's definitely my favorite one.

 

We listen alike. That post chorus line when it changes key to C is amazing.
I should have mentioned this is one of my favorite Lou and Velvet songs.

 

I like the velvet underground, but this album has a beautiful soul that the others don't.

 

My favorite song is What Goes On. I absolutely love the Lou Reed "bagpiped" guitar solo which was recorded several times and then multi-tracked to give it that textural and "layered" thick sound. Ironically, it was Moe Tucker's idea. As far as the album goes, it is my second favorite one after The Velvet Underground & Nico. And by the way, it's a legend that their equipment was ever stolen before making the album, thus the "quiet" sound. According to a Doug Yule interview, this never happened.

 

Yes. I can't say it beats the first one for me but I still listen to it quite a lot. Well, I listen to all of the albums a lot.

 

The closet mix is my favorite.

 

I love this album just as much as their first album. It's definitely one of my all time favorite albums. Candy Says is a great start to a sublime album. As someone already mentioned, the "closet mix" is the one.

 

Candy says I've come to hate my body
And all that it requires in this world
Candy says I'd like to know completely
What others so discretely talk about
I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me
Candy says I hate the quiet places
That cause the smallest taste of what will be
Candy says I hate the big decisions
That cause endless revisions in my mind
I'm gonna watch the blue birds fly over my shoulder
I'm gonna watch them pass me by
Maybe when I'm older
What do you think I'd see
If I could walk away from me

Songwriters: Lewis Allen Reed / Lou Reed
Candy Says lyrics © Sony ATV Music Pub LLC

 

I need to listen to this album, as it has been too long since i put it on.
Candy says is a beautiful song, and the internal conversation is not an unknown factor in most of our lives and this is a very deep internal conversation. Being a girl we start with the most typical internal conversation a lot of girls have. It's about how they feel about their appearance because that is too often how the world grades them.
We go through many other facets of the difficulties of life and to me the subtle answer is to enjoy the simple things because they are special and yet overlooked.
One of Lou's very finest lyrics in a package not afraid to be delicate.

 

The last of the big four that I heard (sometime in the spring of '86), but instantly my favorite, and among my most favorite albums of all time. This song is a major reason why.

 

Excellent points. I agree they are some of the best lyrics Lou penned.

 

For the record. I know the song implies candy is speaking out loud, and she may well be, but some our our most important internal coversations involve talking to someone.
I hope that makes sense

 

fantastic song, I heard a boot where lou played a real nice version with a flute accompaniment (sometime round 1977-79) somewhere in Europe? it was not received well at all, tons of whistling etc... he stayed with it though, might've dragged it out even longer to punish them. I don't mind dougs voice (esp here) here, much preferred it if lou had sung it

 

the legendary Warhol coach! the stories it could tell....
courtesy of popshots awesome site

Lou Reed - Velvet Underground - PopSpots

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I wish I could have been at one of those parties.

 

It took me years (and the remastered CD) to realise I'd only ever heard the 'closet' mix. What Goes On, Peel Slowly and See and whatever vinyl I bought in the 70s all had Lou's mix.