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September 06, 2006
Retrohump Day - (not) the Velvet Underground, 1972
By 1972 the Velvet Underground were little more than records on a shelf. Unable to stay together past the sixties due to popularity that lagged far behind their already growing influence, the individually iconic members were scattered to the winds. Lou Reed was about to release his best solo record (Transformer) with Bowie, John Cale had one classic album (Vintage Violence) under his belt in addition to upping his art rock cred even further by producing the first Stooges release, and Nico had retained her gaunt power on a string of records as well. Somehow, they all found themselves with holes in their schedules (and possibly arms) and in Paris on the same night. What resulted was a one-off non reunion at the Bataclan club filmed for Euro TV, with the three old (ex?) friends supporting each other through solo material, and taking a victory lap for the wider recognition of their exalted group work.
Despite the amount of times the original line-up must have been filmed by Warhol and his cronies, not alot of complete performance footage from the group in their prime seems to be Tube available. While waitin' for the mystery man with all of that footage to appear (the first thing you learn is that you've always got to wait, after all), this is the best crop of near vintage (not) VU. Enjoy, with minimal commentary.
Lou Reed & John Cale - "Heroin"
(live at the Bataclan, Paris, 1972)
John Cale's viola is so key to this song's particular grandeur that it seems impossible to me for Reed to nail this song without it. In this faithful but truncated version, Lou never gets around to naming his drug of choice, or falsely predicting the death of him, but the song's screeching edges and stop start haze always made those things implicitly clear.
Lou Reed & John Cale - "I'm Waiting for the Man"
(live at the Bataclan, Paris, 1972)
I like this goofy acoustic and piano take on the classic well enough, but I'm not sure I ever want a VU song to remind me of Randy Newman. Not even a little bit.
Lou Reed, John Cale, & Nico - "Femme Fatale"
(live at the Bataclan, Paris, 1972)
This is not the end of the concert, but the end of the French TV boradcast. Nico sounds as good as she ever did, and the black hair makes her less of an untouchable dominatrix, I think. The three voice harmony of "She's a Femme Fatale!" is the best part. I also love that the Velvets myth apparently developed fairly quickly after their demise, as the ardour of the cheering from the French faithful suggests that they were well aware of what kind of a untoppable trump card story they'd have over their old time-y hipster friends for years to come.
Tags: Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico, Bataclan
Posted by Jeff Klingman at September 6, 2006 12:32 PM
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