First, let me start off by saying “SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!”
Holy crap, it’s a Velvet Underground covers record by my favorite band! I had no idea it was coming until they released a few singles. I think I might have seen that they played an all-covers show (this is a live album), but I try not to pay too close attention to live shows they play on the East Coast, because it makes me bummed I’m not nearby to see them.
They had a recent show where their alter-ego band The Willies opened. I seriously talked with my wife about buying a ticket to see them. I didn’t, though. [sad face]
Anyways, where was I? Oh yeah. Squeeeeeee!! This isn’t a review so much as a celebration, and me just talking about songs I love being played by a band that I love. SO LET’S GO!
Track 1 – “Sunday Morning” – from The Velvet Underground & Nico
Ahh, “Sunday Morning”. First song off the first album. I’m assuming Dave is playing the xylophone. One of those uncommon songs where Lou Reed sang in super-tender mode. The guitar solo near the end is great.
Track 2 – “Who Loves the Sun” – from Loaded
Love “Who Loves The Sun” coming right after “Sunday Morning”. Love the backup vocals. This is my favorite VU song sung by Doug Yule.
Track 3 – “There She Goes Again” – from The Velvet Underground & Nico
Kind of weird to hear this, as the R.E.M. cover has been the dominant “There She Goes Again” cover for me for decades. A lot closer to the original, but Glenn doesn’t sing “Better hit her!”. It takes a lot of the (misogynistic) snarl out of the song, and I don’t know how I feel about that. I know I very well might not sing it either – maybe I’d sing “Better hit her – [gesturing broadly to the audience] BUT YOU KNOW, THOSE WERE DIFFERENT TIMES.”
Either way, it’s better than Michael Stipe’s indecipherable treatment of that line. What the heck was he saying, anyways?
Another great guitar solo in this cover. The song has wonderful momentum.
Track 4 – “What Goes On” – from The Velvet Underground
SO different than the more sped-up, march-like version on Only Life. This has more of the irresistible swing of the original. And that two-guitar solo is [chef’s kiss emoji]! I know they have played this song live with Lou on at least one occasion, wondering which version it was closer to.
Track 5 – “Sweet Jane” – from Loaded
I wasn’t watching the tracklist, and didn’t realize what the song was with the intro. After they kicked in, I realized they were doing the intro from Loaded. If there is a groove that is perfectly made for the Feelies, it’s this song.
I noticed they stuck with the original, non deluxe boxed-set version, which doesn’t have the restored “Heavenly wine and roses” part. Admittedly, that bridge fits better with the slower rendition of the song found on 1969, as well as the Cowboy Junkies cover (which I assume is covering the 1969 version).
I think the “Heavenly” bridge does kind of detract from the faster version, though I love when they kick into the “La La La La” part on the VU original. Still, the “La La La” part might not be good enough to warrant the slower bridge [shrugs]. Why am I still talking about this? It’s not in the Feelies version. MOVE ON.
Track 6 – “Head Held High” – from Loaded
“Head Held High” has never been one of favorite Velvets songs, but the Feelies make it into a nice barn-burner.
Track 7 – “I’m Waiting For The Man” – from The Velvet Underground & Nico
This cover of “I’m Waiting For The Man” is more frantic than the original, like the singer is waiting for his speed dealer instead of weed. Wait, Wikipedia says the man was a heroin dealer. What the hell? I was sure it was about a weed dealer – I thought I read that in an interview somewhere. This recording is an interesting contrast to the pounding-piano version on the first Velvets album, and the much looser and languid one found on 1969.
Side note: Why did Lou Reed never record a song called “Wikipedia Says”?
Track 8 – “White Light/White Heat” – from White Light/White Heat
I never really liked the song “White Light/White Heat”! Yes, I’m a monster. I like this version better than the Velvets’ one. Did I mention I’m a monster? Because I am.
Track 9 – “I Heard Her Call My Name” – from White Light/White Heat
I didn’t hear Glenn sing “And then my mind split open” which is my favorite part of the original. Still, the mind-splitting guitar in this cover was lovely.
Track 10 – “New Age” – from Loaded
I’ve always thought “New Age” was kinda corny. Didn’t change my mind with this cover. I think a buddy of mine might have made me embarrassed to like this song many years ago and I never recovered. (see also “Like the Weather” by 10,000 Maniacs)
Track 11 – “That’s the Story of My Life” – from The Velvet Underground
Oh man, I love this song so much. Every band should cover this. Okay, maybe not Coldplay. Coldplay, you stay away from this song.
Track 12 – “All Tomorrow’s Parties” – from The Velvet Underground & Nico
So happy they covered this. So great. Wasn’t surprised they hit it so hard, it’s in the same vein as “Tomorrow Today” off The Good Earth. If I could take a brief detour from this listening party to direct you to another awesome cover of this song by the under-mentioned Athens, GA band The Method Actors, it’s here for the listening.
Track 13 – “Rock and Roll” – from Loaded
Love to hear a fast version of “Rock and Roll”!!!!
Track 14 – “We’re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together” – from Another View
I’ve seen them do this live before! For whatever reason, in previous posts I’ve written about seeing The Feelies live, I’d use a cover they played that night as the post title. Love the original, love this cover.
“NAH, NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH, NAH NAH NAH NAH NAH!“
Track 15 – “Run, Run, Run” – from The Velvet Underground & Nico
Not one of my favs on the first album, but it’s got so much kinetic energy here, a nice rave-up,
Track 16 – “I Can’t Stand It” – from VU
Probably my favorite opening song to any Velvets record, and it’s not even a real studio release. They could do this for 20 minutes and I wouldn’t get tired of it.
I was trying to work out how the Feelies did the chorus different than the original. It was driving me a little crazy.
The “I can’t stand it any more more” chorus of the Feelies’ cover and the original both last for 6 measures of 4/4. For sanity’s sake, let’s divide the chorus into 3 musical phrases of 8 beats each. “I can’t stand it any more more” is sung in each of the 3 musical phrases.
The chorus of the Feelies cover is sung on the second beat of every 8 beat phrase. It’s pretty straightforward and easy to keep time with.
The rhythm of the chorus sounds way different in the VU original. Lou Reed does something in the original that always knocks me off balance. WAIT. Holy crap. He sings it in the exact same places as the cover – he starts on the second beat of each 8-beat phrase.
I think it’s the guitars that throw me off in the original — they stop doing a steady 4/4-based strumming and just kinda go crazy. Wait, it’s the guitars AND the bass too. The bass has solid hits on beats 5 and 6 of the 8 beat phrase. That’s what always me throws me off. I catch myself trying to count out a time signature like 6/4 because of the juxtaposition of the vocals on beat 2/8 with the bass notes on beats 5/8 and 6/8.
Oh, while writing this post, I realized Lou Reed covered this himself on his first solo album. I knew he had re-recorded VU songs that never made it onto studio releases, but I hadn’t sought them out, and I honestly am not familiar with all his catalog (I know Transformer/The Blue Mask/New York really well, the others less so or not at all).
His solo version of the song starts like they are going to rip into Steppenwolf’s “Born To Be Wild”. He sings the chorus in the same place as the other versions, but there are drum hits on beats 7/8 and 8/8 which make it really easy to follow and not get your ears scrambled.
Wow, that was a digression. Well it’s one of my favorite songs, I like talking about it.
Oh, one more thing! I notice the Feelies say “it’s hard being a man/living in a garbage can”, while on the original and Lou’s cover it’s “garbage pail”. I always loved how they didn’t go for the obvious rhyme, but when the hell did people ever call anything a garbage pail? Okay, there’s at least one I can think of.
Track 17 – “After Hours” – from The Velvet Underground
“After Hours”. Ahhhhh. Lovely. I like this song a lot. Who doesn’t? Happy to have it here, but also happy that it’s not the last song.
Track 18 – “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'” – from Loaded
I always kinda thought this original song wasn’t the best. Unlike “Who Loves The Sun”, I didn’t like Doug Yule’s vocal performance nearly as much here. Kinda maudlin. I liked the cover version a lot better, and loved it as a closer to this completely (by me) unexpected record.
********************
Not to look a gift record in the mouth, but here are a few covers I’d love to have seen:
From the Velvet Undergound & Nico:
Nothing, you got ’em all covered for me!
From White Light/White Heat:
“Here She Comes Now”
From the The Velvet Underground:
“Beginning To See The Light”
“Pale Blue Eyes” (Mostly because Dead Letter Office had a cover of this too, I could take it or leave it otherwise)
“Some Kinda Love” (It’s right there in the album title fer cryin’ out loud!)
From Loaded:
“Cool It Down” (this is my probably favorite song off the album, even more than “Sweet Jane “or “Rock and Roll”!)
From VU:
“Foggy Notion”
“Andy’s Chest” (THIS WOULD BE SOOO DAMN FAST)
From Another View:
Nothing really from here. Luna covered “Ride Into The Sun” on their first EP. I didn’t really see the charm in the original that it needed to be covered, but what do I know. Their cover of Beat Happening’s “Indian Summer” on the same EP is one of my all-time favorites.
From Squeeze:
I do not know this album! HOWEVER: I was in a prog rock band in college (I’m sorry), and there was this guitarist in my band whose absolute favorite band was Yes. He was trying to relate to my slightly different music tastes and was showing me some of his vinyl collection. He said, “Hey, you like the Velvet Underground, right? I have one of their albums right here!” [holds up Squeeze]
********************
To conclude this listening party, I want to leave you with two things.
- I am so, so thankful for this record. I’m so thankful that I have been able to see my favorite band multiple times, who for a long time I thought were broken up forever and had given up seeing live in any context, or getting any new material for that matter.
- Listen to how Siri pronounces “The Feelies”