The Velvet Underground - Norman Dolph Acetate (1966)

Quand cet artefact du Velvet Underground est apparu, ça aura été l'affolement chez les amateurs, davantage encore lorsqu'il a été authentifié. J'ai toujours quelques doutes, mais j'avoue que je ne suis pas allé vérifier. Heureusement, comme rien ne se crée, rien ne se perd et tout se transforme, l'objet s'est vite retrouvé diffusé sur le Net ou sur des bootlegs. Et on y entend quoi, au juste? Des versions alternatives du premier album du Velvet Underground, le tout avec une copieuse couche de craquements. Si vous l'aviez loupé à l'époque, c'est à mon tour aujourd'hui de le proposer.

The Velvet Underground
Norman Dolph Acetate
Bootleg LP/CD XTV 122 (Sweden, 1966 - released 2007)

01. European Son [alternate mix]
02. The Black Angel's Death Song [alternate mix]
03. All Tomorrow's Parties [alternate mix]
04. I'll Be Your Mirror [alternate mix]
05. Heroin [alternate take]
06. Femme Fatale [alternate mix]
07. Venus in Furs [alternate take]
08. I'm Waiting for the Man [alternate take]
09. Run Run Run [alternate mix]

Note : This record is an exact copy of the original acetate with different mixes than the original released album.

Bootleg liner notes :
"The Most Influential Debut Album"
Available for the first time, in it's original form.
What you are holding in your hand is what the first Velvet Underground album would have sounded like had it not been rejected by the powers that be.
Andy Warhol's objective was to capitalise on the buzz surrounding the bands debut gigs under the guide of the Exploding Plastic Inevitable shows. A Music - art - freak out - happening. Andy, wanting to keep the band's abrasive sound and seedy subject matter , arranged for a session at a run down New York studio called Scepter Studio's , under the watchful eye of a Mr. Norman Dolph. Payment for the four day recording session in April 1966 was one of Andy's paintings. Which in time would prove very financially rewarding for Mr. Dolph.
The recording cut onto acetate were listened to by Columbia Records and rejected. As was all the great era defining music, check out The Beatles and The Rolling Stones for similar tales of woe. The group would later that year be dispatched to Los Angeles to re-record the bulk of these tunes, 'Heroin', 'Venus in Furs', and 'I'm Waiting for the Man' with another producer Tom Wilson at a studio called TTG. The other tunes would be remixed and a recording of 'Sunday Morning' cut in New York would be added alongside 'There She Goes Again'. The Track Listing changed around to give a more user friendly feel to the album.
Here we present the original album taken from the acetate version with it's original running order. ‘European Son’ opens the album, which is a completely different take than the released version. It has a bluesier structure that builds more gracefully and is several minutes longer. “Black Angel’s Death Song’ is a different mix to the finished tune. ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties’ again is a different mix to the released version. ‘I’ll Be Your Mirror’ has a radically different sound that has less echo on Nico’s vocals and the backing vocals are lower in the mix. ‘Heroin’ is a completely different version. The guitar line is different, vocal inflections are different and contain some different lyrics. The drumming is more primitive and runs parallel with a tambourine. ‘Femme Fatale’ is also a radically different mix. The percussion is more prominent and the background vocals used in a peppier way. ‘Venus In Furs’ is a completely different version. The vocal accents are different. Instrumentation more based around John Cale’s violin than the guitar, as in the released version. ‘I’m Waiting For The Man’ is a completely different version. The guitar line is completely different and some of the lyrics also. No drums, just tambourine and a bluesy guitar solo. ‘Run Run Run’ is a different mix to the released version.
What also changes the feel of the Album is the running order. This original version starting with 'European Son' and with the absence of the lighter cut 'Sunday Morning' that opened the released version, gives the album darker feel. Which one is better? that is up to you to decide. But now for the first time since 1966 you can hear the dreamscape that the band and Mr. Andy Warhol had in store for us.
So sit back, peel slowly and listen to this lost masterpiece in all it's unripened? glory........

[old link is in prison, new link later, maybe]

Moe Tucker - I Spent a Week There the Other Night (New Rose, 1991)

Un quart de siècle après avoir tenu les fûts du Velvet Underground, Moe Tucker est toujours verte! Et avant la reformation officielle du Velvet, elle réunit - presque - toute la bande sur ce disque, puisqu'on croisera au détour d'un morceau John Cale, Lou Reed ou Sterling Morrison. On baille parfois poliment dans les albums de messieurs Cale ou Reed, mais là ça envoie du bois et ça fait sacrément du bien!

Moe Tucker
I Spent a Week There the Other Night
CD New Rose Rose 273 (France, 10-1991)

01. Fired Up
02. That's B.A.D.
03. Lazy
04. S.O.S.
05. Blue, All the Way to Canada
06. (And) Then He Kissed Me
07. Too Shy
08. Stayin' Put
09. Baby, Honey, Sweetie
10. I'm Not
11. I'm Waiting for the Man

Note : Recorded & mixed at Toxic Shock, N.Y.
''I Spent A Week... was recorded in New York. I was lucky enough to have lots of volunteers playing on this, and I think the result is pretty interesting. I love Brian's bass on 'B.A.D.'; Cale's viola on 'Kissed Me'; Lou's making noise on 'Fired Up'; Victor's drumming; Sterling's wife, her sister, and my cousin making their vocal debut as backup singers; and I'm proud of my saxophone arrangements! I think this is a fun little album and think it sounds pretty damn good, considering the small amount of time we had, and the quality of the studio.'' (Moe Tucker)
With more help from her indie-rock bigshot pals (Don Fleming, Brian Ritchie), Week also featured the first (sort of) Velvet Underground reunion, with Cale, Reed and Sterling Morrison guesting on separate tracks. Covering "And Then He Kissed Me" was inspired, as is the inclusion of the accusatory (and appropriately titled) "Fired Up." From start to finish, it rocks like crazy. (All Music Guide)

http://www.mediafire.com/?aze772d2ud6hges

Bettie Serveert - Plays Venus in Furs (Brinkman, 1998)

Le mois dernier, j'avais posté l'album Squeeze du Velvet Underground, en fait le premier disque solo inégal de Doug Yule. C'est mon blog, j'assume mes choix. Pour les fans qui auraient préféré que je laisse ce cadavre dans son placard, je tente une réconciliation avec cet album live des néerlandais Bettie Serveert. Le temps d'un concert, ils reprennent le répertoire du Velvet Underground. D'autres ont eu la même idée avant eux (comme les Feelies), ces reprises n'égalent pas les originaux, et les transcendent encore moins. Pas grave, ce n'était pas le but! Le but était de passer un bon moment en rendant hommage au Velvet. Et à ce niveau, le groupe assure. Si elles ne brillent pas spécialement, ça ne veut pas dire pour autant que ces covers soient ternes!

Bettie Serveert
Plays Venus in Furs and Other Velvet Underground Songs
CD Brinkman 74 (Netherlands, 1998)

01.Beginning to See the Light
02. Stephanie Says
03. What Goes on
04. Venus in Furs
05. Sunday Morning
06. The Black Angel's Death Song
07. I Can't Stand It
08. European Son
09. Rock & Roll
10. After Hours

Note : Recorded live on 11|27|1997 at the Paradiso, Amsterdam.
Tackling a touchstone like the Velvet Underground invites comparisons that aren't flattering. Carol van Dijk's bassy alto lacks the sweetness and knowing naivete that Nico brings to her tracks ("Sunday Morning," "Stephanie Says" are tackled), nor does she quite nail Reed's dark, understated swagger. The playing is pretty reverential, and the band seems hesitant to put their own stamp on the songs. In the end, Bettie Serveert sounds too much like a competent bar cover band and doesn't add enough to the musical sensibility to be anything else. At the same time, it's understood that it'd be hard to improve on the Velvets, especially after these songs have been so imprinted on the consciousness after years of loving homage that served as the basis for large swaths of alternative rock. The band does do a better job with the longer, free-flowing, less pop pieces ("Euopean Son," "Black Angel's Death Song," and "Venus in Furs"), accurately capturing the dark hypnotic tones, thanks to Peter Visser's smoldering guitar work which complements van Dijk's own smoky vocals. Indeed, the band begins to hit their stride about midway into the live set, roaring through the rocking rave "I Can't Stand It" on to "Rock'n'Roll," and the letter-perfect, appropriate closer "Afterhours."

http://www.mediafire.com/?ewh546umi2q49am

The Velvet Underground - Squeeze (Polydor, 1972)

Je ne suis pas un escroc, je ne vais pas vous vendre une contrefaçon. Sur Squeeze, il ne reste plus rien du Velvet Underground d'origine. C'est l'oeuvre du seul Doug Yule (accompagné du batteur de Deep Purple!), qui enregistre en Angleterre une suite de Loaded. La réputation de Squeeze est catastrophique. Objet de honte, il n'a jamais été réédité. Doug Yule mérite pourtant mieux! Sa participation aux deux derniers albums du Velvet n'est pas négligeable. Il a eu le tort de céder à sa maison de disques, qui voulait utiliser le nom du Velvet et l'orienter vers un son plus commercial. Squeeze est une copie lisse de Loaded, plombé par une production balourde et sans âme. Production qui en plus vient ruiner des chansons pas mauvaises, mais pas géniales non plus! Bref, c'est le premier album solo moyen de Doug Yule, ça n'a plus rien à voir avec le Velvet Underground (Ian Paice de Deep Purple à la place de Moe Tucker?). Pas fameux, mais c'est quand même moins mauvais que sa réputation! Je vous donne l'occasion de juger sur pièce ce disque très rarement entendu. Soyez indulgents avec lui!

The Velvet Underground
Squeeze
LP Polydor 2383 180 (UK, 1972)

01. Little Jack
02. Crash
03. Caroline
04. Mean Old Man
05. Dopey Jo
06. Wordless
07. She'll Make You Cry
08. Friends
09. Send No Letter
10. Jack and Jane
11. Louise
  
Note : Written by Doug Yule, arranged and produced by The Velvets.
Doug Yule : guitar, bass, keyboards; Ian Paice : drums

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=VTCUSXRU