Searchin’ for my bootleg: The Velvet Underground as Guitar Pop Heroes

Ever since the recent emergence of the “lost” Velvet Underground song “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore,” I’ve been on a huge VU kick, digging through old bootleg recordings and demos, official or otherwise, reminding myself why I fell in love with the band in the first place. I can’t think of any other band that I’d rather listen to in such a raw, unfiltered state (okay, maybe I can think of one other group), where the crackling tape hiss and muffled background chatter actually enhances the listening experience, adding to the group’s rough-hewn, subaltern mystique.

Velvet Underground bootleggers are almost as obsessive as Deadheads, and with good reason: the Velvets were, at heart, a live band but the recorded performances are rare; decent audio quality is even harder to come by; and the captured live versions of various songs are wildly diverse. For a band that reinvented themselves on every album (hell, even their official demo recordings have distinct personalities), it’s no surprise that you can dive into the bootleg repertoire of the Greatest Rock & Roll Band of All Time and come up with a different, and wholly intact, picture of the band each time. You can pick your poison: the Velvets as sadie-masie mirth makers; the Velvets as a country-western band; the Velvets as the second best jam band of the 1960s; or, as I’ve attempted in the mix below, the Velvets as guitar pop heroes.

The following is by no means meant to be a comprehensive or “best of” compilation of Velvet Underground rarities, just a quick mix of some of my favorite upbeat, parsed down VU tunes. The songs are after the jump:

1. “White Light/White Heat”
2. “I’m Waiting for My Man”

It’s incredibly hard to find live versions of any VU song that doesn’t delve into extended jam sessions. It must have been the drugs, or the times. Yes, there are guitar solos here, but we all love Sterling Morrison and, even combined in length, these two songs take up less time than the average organ breakdown of any live cut of “What Goes On.” Both songs are taken from the same live performance at Max’s Kansas City in the summer of 1970, and they must have just known they were on that night. They gallop into these songs with the sort of vigorous gusto that only comes with 110% certainty of your own awesomeness. Lou is clearly jubilant; howling throwaway phrases like “Yeah, she sure is funky!” with the sort of dogged enthusiasm typically reserved for wild and woolly AM disc jockeys. It makes me think that Bowie’s funk-flavored covers of “White Light/White Heat” were more accurate than I had previously realized.

3. “She’s My Best Friend” (from VU)

In the hands of any other man, this fun little pop rock gem would be just another unremarkable late ’60s studio B-side. But with the queerly existentialist chorus and the suggestive comments about making jam and newspaper jokes, Lou Reed injects just enough mystery and whimsy to make “She’s My Best Friend” one of my favorite non-album outtakes. This song is just waiting to be added to a Wes Anderson soundtrack.

4. “Temptation Inside Your Heart” (from Peel Slowly and See)

Just what the hell are Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison talking about here? The pope and the silver castles? Martha and the Vandellas? Electricity comes from other planets? This outtake is as enjoyable for the unintentional overdubbing of Lou and Sterling’s giddy studio chatter as it is for the surprising use of bongo drums and “doo-do-doo-do”’s.

5. “Guess I’m Falling in Love”

This is the closest the Velvet Underground has ever come to sounding like a California band: the optimistic, westward bound chug-a-lug riff; Sterling’s pulpy surf guitar solos; Lou’s goofy over-enunciation. It’s only Moe Tucker’s primitive backbeat drumming that keeps the song rooted firmly in the grime of New York City’s seedy underbelly. This track was recorded live at the Gymnasium in 1967.

6. “I’m Waiting for the Man”

The same song twice on the same mix? Well, I figured since the last song ended with an announcement of “I’m Waiting for the Man” it was only fitting to tack on another demo. And besides, I could never get tired of this song. While I’ve always been partial to the long, groovy 12-minute versions, this stripped-down April 1966 Scepter Studio demo from the Norman Dolph acetate is a real find. It’s so sparse and jangly it makes the album version seem busy.

7. “Heroin”

I know, I know. “Heroin” on a mix meant to demonstrate the Velvets as parsed pop progenitors? You’re incredulous. Just listen to it; it’s nothing like the damaging electric viola version that’s made its way into the canon of rock & roll. A pumping, carnival-like organ drives the melody here, and Moe Tucker’s drumming is unusually upbeat (not to mention the use of tambourines). Plus, I could be wrong here, but I’m pretty sure that’s John Cale handling the lead vocals. How cool is that? Of course, if you really wanted an upbeat version of “Heroin,” you’d have to check out Lou Reed’s surf rock version that he used to play with his glam rock band in the early 1970s. This demo comes from 1966.

8. “Over You” (from The Official Bootleg Series, Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes)

Apparently, this song is available on other recordings, but I’ve never been able to find it. Thankfully, Bob Quine’s Official Bootleg Series (a fanboy’s dream that has sadly yet to see a second volume) included it on the third disc, and I’m so grateful to have had a chance to hear it. “Over You” is a simple song, with the sort of wistful, melancholic lyrics more commonly associated with Reed’s Coney Island Baby days. It’s not a tear-jerker, but the way Lou sings “I keep chasing yesterday’s rainbows” strikes a blue note deep inside of me. This was recorded at The Matrix in San Francisco, November 1969.

9. “Satellite of Love” (demo from Peel Slowly and See)

Ever wonder what Transformer would have sounded like without David Bowie? Well, this is it. As much as I adore the glam rock production and Bowie’s glorious backing vocals, there’s something refreshing in hearing a four-piece rock band attempt such a playful, imaginative tune.

10. “We’re Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together” (from 1969: Velvet Underground Live, Vol. 1)

This is what it’s all about:

We’re gonna have a real good time together
We’re gonna have a real good time together
We’re gonna have a real good time together
We’re gonna laugh and dance and shout together
Na na na na na na, na na na na na na!
Hey, hey, hey, baby!

The Rocky Horror Picture Show version on Street Hassle is great, but this is better.

So what’d I miss? Obviously there are some unstoppable album rockers like “Beginning to See the Light” and proto-Transformer gems like “Andy’s Chest” that would feel right at home on this mix, but if there are any other particularly excellent VU rarities that make your pop heart swell with pride, please feel free to list them in the comments.

-Posted by Todd