The self titled third album from the Velvet Underground will be given the super deluxe treatment in November 24.
The Velvet Underground 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition will include 6-CDs with three different mixes of the album (Val Valentin Mix, Closet Mix, Promotional Mono Mix), a disk of additional music from the 1969 recording session that was to become the group’s fourth album and two discs of live music from November 1969 at The Matrix in San Francisco.
Release formats include a single CD with the remastered Val Valentin mix, a 2-CD set with the Valentin mix and highlights from the Matrix shows, and the 6-CD set. The single disc and Super Deluxe Editions will also be available through digital retailers in a number of audio formats.
The Velvet Underground was the first album produced and arranged by the band themselves. Disc One of this collection contains the album stereo mix by MGM house engineer Luis Pastor “Val” Valentin, a veteran of sessions for Ella Fitzgerald and Stan Getz, recorded at T.T.G. Studios in Hollywood, while the band was staying at the Chateau Marmont. The second disc features what Sterling Morrison dubbed “The Closet Mix,” which Reed described as a way to “get directly to somebody, unfiltered… So, if you listen to the record, it’s like sitting across from you.” This was the original version on the 1969 pressings of the album, later replaced by yet another Val Valentin stereo mix. The third disc features “the promotional mono mix” of the album, including a mono version of the first single, “What Goes On” b/w “Jesus.”
The fourth disc in the set offers a version of the never-to-be-released fourth album, recorded in October 1969 at the Record Plant in New York City, and intended to get the band out of its contract with MGM. The sessions include 10 previously unheard mixes – four original 1969 vintage mixes and six new mixes, including 2014 mixes of Lisa Says and I Can’t Stand It, and the original 1969 mix of Ocean, which eventually were re-recorded for Lou Reed’s 1972 self-titled solo debut. Also included are the original 1969 mixes of Andy’s Chest, which appeared in a different version on Transformer, and Rock & Roll, redone for Loaded.
The last two discs feature performances by the Velvets from their stay at San Francisco’s The Matrix, owned by Jefferson Airplane’s Marty Balin, on November 26 and 27, 1969. These performances are, for the first time, compiled and mixed from the legendary, original 1969 multi-track recordings made by club manager Peter Abram and now owned by The Velvet Underground. Tracks include a nearly 37-minute-long Sister Ray and a version of There She Goes Again, interpolating the opening guitar quote from Marvin Gaye’s 1962 hit, Hitch Hike.
Track List:
DISC ONE: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (“The Val Valentin Mix”)
CANDY SAYS
WHAT GOES ON
SOME KINDA LOVE
PALE BLUE EYES
JESUS
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
I’M SET FREE
THAT’S THE STORY OF MY LIFE
THE MURDER MYSTERY
AFTER HOURS
DISC TWO: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (“The Closet Mix”)
CANDY SAYS
WHAT GOES ON
SOME KINDA LOVE
PALE BLUE EYES
JESUS
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
I’M SET FREE
THAT’S THE STORY OF MY LIFE
THE MURDER MYSTERY
AFTER HOURS
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (alternate “Closet Mix”)
DISC THREE: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (“Promotional Mono Mix”)
CANDY SAYS
WHAT GOES ON
SOME KINDA LOVE
PALE BLUE EYES
JESUS
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT
I’M SET FREE
THAT’S THE STORY OF MY LIFE
THE MURDER MYSTERY
AFTER HOURS
WHAT GOES ON (Mono Single released April 1969)
JESUS (Mono Single released April 1969)
DISC FOUR: 1969 SESSIONS
FOGGY NOTION (original 1969 mix) +
ONE OF THESE DAYS (new 2014 mix) +
LISA SAYS (new 2014 mix) +
I’M STICKING WITH YOU (original 1969 mix) +
ANDY’S CHEST (original 1969 mix) +
CONEY ISLAND STEEPLECHASE (new 2014 mix)+
OCEAN (original 1969 mix)
I CAN’T STAND IT (new 2014 mix) +
SHE’S MY BEST FRIEND (original 1969 mix) +
WE’RE GONNA HAVE A REAL GOOD TIME TOGETHER (new 2014 mix) +
I’M GONNA MOVE RIGHT IN (original 1969 mix)
FERRYBOAT BILL (original 1969 mix)
ROCK & ROLL (original 1969 mix)
RIDE INTO THE SUN (new 2014 mix) +
+ previously unreleased mixes
DISC FIVE: LIVE AT THE MATRIX (November 26 & 27, 1969 (Part 1))
I’M WAITING FOR THE MAN *
WHAT GOES ON *
SOME KINDA LOVE **
OVER YOU *
WE’RE GONNA HAVE A REAL GOOD TIME TOGETHER *
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT **
LISA SAYS **
ROCK & ROLL **
PALE BLUE EYES *
I CAN’T STAND IT ANYMORE *
VENUS IN FURS *
THERE SHE GOES AGAIN *
DISC SIX: LIVE AT THE MATRIX (November 26 & 27, 1969 (Part 2))
SISTER RAY ***
HEROIN *
WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT **
I’M SET FREE *
AFTER HOURS *
SWEET JANE **
All mixes previously unreleased.
* previously unreleased performance
** different source mix of this performance appears on 1969: The Velvet Underground Live
*** different source mix of this performance appears on The Quine Tapes Box Set
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