The WELL: inkwell.vue.354: Richie Unterberger, White Light / White Heat

#150: Richie Unterberger (folkrocks) Wed 10 Jun 09 16:51

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:51:00 PDT

The book was printed by Colorprint Offset Ltd. in Hong Kong. The publisher did the design, so I don't know what tools are used.

I wasn't involved in the cost/production decisions, so I'm sorry, I can't answer the questions about how they got the book out for under $35. The Beatles book was actually designed and produced not by Jawbone or Backbeat UK (of which it's an imprint), but by Backbeat's US office, which is no longer in business, as Backbeat's US branch was sold to Hal Leonard (the publisher) in late 2006. [Read entire topic]

#149: Brian Dear (brian) Wed 10 Jun 09 16:41

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:41:00 PDT

<scribbled by brian Wed 20 Mar 13 18:16> [Read entire topic]

#148: Barry Warren Polley (barryp) Wed 10 Jun 09 16:04

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 16:04:00 PDT

More thanks for sharing your work here. I am going to take a day off soon to revisit the music, and definitely need to check out your book too. [Read entire topic]

#147: Richie Unterberger (folkrocks) Wed 10 Jun 09 14:52

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:52:00 PDT

There are some unlikely Velvet Underground-Grateful Dead connections, by the way. Hetty MacLise, wife of original Velvet Underground drummer Angus MacLise, was briefly a girlfriend of the Grateful Dead's Pigpen, and, in an interview with the fanzine Bananafish, remembered playing tanpura on the Dead's version of "Dark Star" that was released as a 45 in 1968. The Dead and the Velvets also shared the same bill not just once, but twice, in 1969. Coincidentally, both groups also used the name "the Warlocks" before settling on different ones.

It was be reported that when they shared a bill on April 25, 1969 in Chicago, the Velvets played for so long that the Dead only got to play one set, and the Dead returned the favor the following night, playing a set of such length that the VU had to shorten theirs. In the fanzine "The Velvet Underground," though, Doug Yule listed the events in reverse order: *That show the Dead opened for us, we opened for them the next night so that no one could say they were the openers. As you know, The Grateful Dead play very long sets and they were supposed to only play for an hour. We were up in the dressing room and they*re playing for an hour and a half, [then] an hour and 45 minutes. So the next day when we were opening for them, Lou says, *Huh, watch this.* And we proceeded to play a very long set. We did *Sister Ray* for like an hour and then a whole other show." [Read entire topic]

#146: Gary Burnett (jera) Wed 10 Jun 09 14:44

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:44:00 PDT

My thanks as well. I haven't participated at all here, but I've enjoyed every word, and learned a huge amount. I'll be seeking the book out! [Read entire topic]

#145: What is going to amuse our bouches now? (bumbaugh) Wed 10 Jun 09 14:34

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 14:34:00 PDT

Richie, it's been great having you with us. I learned so much from reading your book and visiting with you here. THanks for an enjoyable conversation (and, as Dana notes, everyone is welcome to continue hanging out here, curiously adjacent to the newly started discussion about the Grateful Dead and growing up on tour). [Read entire topic]

#144: (dana) Wed 10 Jun 09 11:39

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:39:00 PDT

Thanks for joining us here in the Inkwell, Richie. While we are indeed beginning a new discussion today, you're welcome to stay on as long as you like -- it's been a great discussion. [Read entire topic]

#143: Richie Unterberger (folkrocks) Wed 10 Jun 09 10:58

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 10:58:00 PDT

I know we're coming to the end of my featured slot on inkwell.vue, so thanks to everyone for all the questions about my Velvet Underground book. A few other items of possible interest to readers:

There's plenty of other information about the book and the Velvet Underground, including excerpts from the book, on my website, at www.richieunterberger.com/vu.html. Readers can continue to ask me questions in this topic, or by contacting me directly through my website, www.richieunterberger.com.

I'll be interviewed about the book tonight on KPFA in Berkeley (94.1 FM, www.kpfa.org) by David Gans from 9:15-10pm.

I'm doing plenty of events for the book this summer in which I'll play and show some rare audiovisual material. There are details on my website at www.richieunterberger.com/whatsnew.html. Since many WELL users are on the West Coast, a few might be of special interest:

On Wednesday, June 17 from 7pm-9pm, at the Park Branch of the San Francisco Public Library at 1833 Page Street;

On Tuesday, June 16 from 7:30pm-9pm at Pegasus Books at 2349 Shattuck Avenue in Berkeley;

On Wednesday, June 24 from 6:30pm-8pm, at the Central Library in downtown Seattle, at 1000 Fourth Avenue. Doug Yule will also be appearing at the event;

On Thursday, June 25 from 7:30pm-9pm at Powell's bookstore at 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd. in Portland, Oregon;

On Saturday, June 27 from 1pm-3pm, as part of the Writers Talking series at the Central Library at 801 SW 10th Avenue in downtown Portland, Oregon. [Read entire topic]

#142: Richie Unterberger (folkrocks) Wed 10 Jun 09 09:26

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:26:00 PDT

Thanks, Neil. Yes, the "Velvet Underground 1969 Live" recordings are addressed in detail in the book. Basically, everything was recorded at the Matrix in San Francisco in November 1969 *except* "I'm Waiting for the Man," "Pale Blue Eyes," "I'll Be Your Mirror," and "Femme Fatale," which were all recorded on October 19 at the End of Cole Ave club in Dallas. There aren't exact dates for the Matrix recordings, other than having been done in the second half of November 1969.

The whole October 19, 1969 show, or close to it, has been bootlegged. Also a few more songs from that show appear on other release, mostly obscure imports. "It's Just Too Much" is on the "Peel Slowly and See" box; "One of These Days" and "I'm Sticking with You" on a bonus EP included with some copies of the 1990 French boxed set "The Velvet Underground, and then on the Australian boxed set "What Goes On"; and "After Hours" on the Australian box "What Goes On" as well.

There are at least four more hours of recordings from their November 1969 shows at the Matrix. Fragments of ten songs (faded prematurely about halfway through; they were probably made as an example of how the tape sounded, to solicit possible record company interest) have circulated, and the sound quality is really good -- a little better, actually, than the November 1969 material on "1969 Velvet Underground Live." Those four hours to me are the holy grail of known unreleased VU material, especially as they include versions of quite a few songs not on the "1969 Velvet Underground Live" album.

Discography details aside, the most important thing about tapes from this era is that I think they capture when the Velvets reached their peak as a live band -- indeed, a peak rarely reached by any other band live. They were becoming extremely adept at not only changing/beefing up/improvising upon the studio versions of the songs in interesting ways, but also in varying these versions and arrangements in interesting ways from performance to performance -- one of many underrated/overlooked skills of the band.

By the way, an excerpt from the book covering the November 1969 Matrix recordings can be read on my website, at http://www.richieunterberger.com/vuexc10.html. [Read entire topic]

#141: (dana) Wed 10 Jun 09 09:10

Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:10:00 PDT

Neil Ingles writes:

Richie,

From your "White Light/White Heat" thread on The Inkwell:

But Martha Morrison told me, "I know that he was often not happy with what he played. He was very hard on himself. He'd come back to the table after a set and he'd say, 'Was that awful?'"

I'm pretty sure it's Morrison who can be heard asking this exact question at the end of "Temptation Inside Your Heart" on VU, presumably referring to the backing vocal track they had just finished, or maybe the whole song. I think it's also he who mutters, near the end of the guitar solo, "It's not a bad solo."

There's one nagging question I've always had regarding the 1969 Live albums, which are among my very favorite concert recordings ~WI rate 'em up there with Ellington At Newport or John Coltrane Quartet's Live At The Village Vanguard~W and it's this: does anyone know precisely which songs were recorded at The Matrix in San Francisco, and which were recorded at The End Of Cole Avenue in Dallas? Obviously, "Waiting For My Man" comes from the Dallas shows, as a Cowboys/Eagles game is mentioned by Lou Reed in his opening banter, but other than that little detail, I don't know which tunes are from which venue. There doesn't seem to be a consistent enough difference in the ambient sound to tip one off immediately, at least not to my untrained ears. (It occurs to me this may be addressed in your forthcoming book, which I haven't seen yet.)

Also, I got to this thread via a link at Salon. The headline reads: "Is the Velvet Underground's music still relevant?" Um, yes. I got on board with the V.U. when I was fifteen, via an Italian import compilation, about two years before VU and the remastered LPs were issued by Verve/MGM, and they immediately knocked then-current favorites the Beatles and R.E.M. to #2 and #3. The Velvets have been on top ever since.

Thanks for helping keep the interest alive. I look forward to reading the new book; Unknown Legends is already a personal favorite, and I love the CD that came with it. [Read entire topic]