FROM WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT: THE VELVET
UNDERGROUND DAY BY DAY
May 11, 1965
RECORDING
PICKWICK STUDIOS, 8-16 43rd Avenue, Long Island City, NY. Producer
Terry Philips.
According to Bob Ragona, Lou Reed today records a three-song demo for
Pickwick on two-track tape that also includes a solo piano piece by
John Cale. The tape includes two versions of Reed’s ‘Heroin’ – probably
the first existing recordings of this landmark composition.
The first song on the tape is a lightweight,
throwaway composition believed to be called ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz’ (a Lou
Reed original, not a cover of the 1957 hit by The Hollywood Flames).
Vaguely reminiscent of Chuck Berry’s ‘Memphis,’ it features a twangy,
out-of-tune guitar and a banal lyric in which Reed calls his baby on a
telephone that just goes “buzz buzz buzz” all night long. There’s an
admonition to “jump dead” toward the end, but it’s all a long way from
the darkness of ‘All Tomorrow’s Parties.’ Only one take is complete,
with another couple of attempts breaking down. There aren’t any drums
on the recording, but another singer harmonizes with Reed on the chorus
– probably Jerry Vance or Jimmie Sims, according to Ragona. The song
also features a bluesy harmonica solo that recalls the early Rolling
Stones, while at one point, in a reminder of Reed’s lack of studio
experience, producer Terry Philips can be heard reminding him to “be
conscious of the mic. Don’t move away from it.”
“It’s got a really cute lyric,” Ragona chuckles,
“and it’s so Lou Reed. But it’s Lou Reed from the very early days,
before he rebelled. He was kind of in the rebellious stage, but he was
still a meek, young, aspiring singer-songwriter – just so far out there
that nobody could really understand the talent that he had.”
More satisfying is the moody soul-pop ballad ‘Why
Don’t You Smile Now,’ credited to Reed/Cale/Philips/Vance and recorded
later in 1965 by The All Night Workers. It’s not a brand-new song – The
Primitives taped a version at Walter De Maria’s loft on December 3. But
this version is far more striking than the relatively tame, blue-eyed
soul of The All Night Workers’ recording of the song. The intro
features a grand, reverberant, Spectoresque blend of guitar and
harmonica, while Reed’s vocals are much gutsier (if still a little
tentative) than those heard on the released version. In another nod to
Spector, the guitar at one point recalls The Righteous Brothers’
‘You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feelin’,’ while the harmonica solo is
reminiscent this time of another early influence, Bob Dylan. (Reed
probably plays guitar and harmonica at the same time on both this song
and ‘Buzz Buzz Buzz.’) Neither of these songs is in the order of the
material that will soon feature on the first Velvet Underground album,
but Reed is certainly getting closer to the group’s raw, personal sound
on ‘Why Don’t You Smile Now.’
The tape’s real revelation comes after this pair of
songs in the form of two complete takes of ‘Heroin,’ with Reed backed
only by folksy guitar and clumsy, rudimentary bass (possibly played by
Cale, who might just about have started learning the instrument). This
version is in even more of a talkingblues style than the renditions
Reed will record with Cale and Morrison at 56 Ludlow Street in a couple
of months – you can almost hear him playing it on his own in a
Greenwich Village folk club. But what’s most amazing is that the
composition is obviously complete, with the lyric virtually identical
to the version the Velvets would record for their debut album about a
year later, and the rhythm accelerating dramatically at the same points
in the song.
A graphic depiction of a heroin user’s very personal
relationship with the drug, the song is unlike anything Reed or anyone
else has ever recorded. Terry Philips is clearly impressed by the first
take, telling Reed, with obvious conviction, “Good performance!” Reed
says he’s blown some words, however, and wonders if he can do it again.
The second take is similar but boasts a more forceful vocal and ends
with a cold stop after the line in which Reed thanks God that he just
doesn’t care. For all their simplicity, both takes are momentous, and
mark perhaps the first time that the Lou Reed with which the world will
soon become familiar is caught on tape.
Less impressive than these two renditions of
‘Heroin’ – but also interesting in terms of the future direction of The
Velvet Underground –
are two takes of an untitled, repetitious piano piece by John Cale, the
second much longer than the first. The droning, circular style is
reminiscent of Cale’s collaborations with La Monte Young (and indeed
his later work with Terry Riley), so it’s absolutely inconceivable that
they could be of any possible use to Pickwick. Philips is presumably
just being kind enough to Cale to grant him some leftover studio time
to work on something of his own. But Cale will soon put this kind of
piano playing to use, not least on the classic Velvet Underground & Nico track
‘All Tomorrow’s Parties.’ (If you took away everything but Cale’s
incessant piano, it would sound very much like this recording.)
Four decades later, this landmark tape has still
not been heard by the public. But its existence confirms that Reed is
still
at Pickwick in May 1965, and indicates that his collaboration with John
Cale has become serious enough to merit this early approximation of a
professional recording. Ragona meanwhile reiterates that he and Philips
“wanted Lou more than anything, ’cause we understood – we saw what Lou
was.”
Hanging onto Reed would prove to be a tall order.
“Lou was also totally uncontrollable in those days,” Ragona says. “So
when you take a
super-conservative so-called record company with all these little old
grey-haired ladies working, and when Lou would come trotting through
there with his girlfriends with their tits hanging out … it was fine to
do it after hours. [But] to get to the studio and where our offices
were, you had to walk through the front office, then through the
warehouse; we were behind the warehouse. So all of these people were
subject to him, and Lou didn’t keep his mouth shut.”
unless otherwise specified.
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