Velvet Underground, 3rd, MGM, UK, Lou Reed "Closet Mix", 2353 022, '69, CLASSIC

$

50

Velvet Underground

3rd

UK Press – Lou Reed “Closet Mix”

2353 022 Select

MGM

1971 STEREO UK LP (MGM RECORDS 2353 022 SELECT) - THE 1ST ISSUE OF LOU REED'S MIX ISSUED IN THE UK

The Velvet Underground third LP. 1971 UK Pressing. Front cover with MGM lion logo on bottom left. Back cover reads "MARKETED BY POLYDOR / Sleeve printed and made by MacNeill Press Ltd. London, S.E.1". 75% blue/25% gold MGM label. Lou Reed's mix.

The Velvet Underground is the third album by American rock group The Velvet Underground. It was their first record to feature Doug Yule, John Cale's replacement. It was recorded in 1968 at TTG Studios in Hollywood, California. This album's softer sound marks a radical shift in approach in style from the group's previous recordings. In 2003, the album was ranked number 314 on Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.

The group's main songwriter Lou Reed said "I really didn’t think we should make another White Light/White Heat. I thought it would be a terrible mistake, and I really believed that. I thought we had to demonstrate the other side of us. Otherwise, we would become this one-dimensional thing, and that had to be avoided at all costs." Maureen Tucker said, "I was pleased with the direction we were going and with the new calmness in the group, and thinking about a good future, hoping people would smarten up and some record company would take us on and do us justice." Doug Yule said the album "was a lot of fun. The sessions were constructive and happy and creative, everybody was working together."[1]

The Velvet Underground was the band's first album for MGM Records, the band's first two albums having been issued by MGM subsidiary and legendary jazz label, Verve Records. The previously strong Andy Warhol influence is diminished, with the most notable ties to The Factory being the cover and back photographs taken by Warholite Billy Name, and opening track "Candy Says," written about transsexual Candy Darling (who would later appear in Reed's 1972 song, "Walk On The Wild Side") The song was sung by Yule at Reed's insistence.

The record was produced by the band themselves, and issued in two different stereo mixes. The more widely distributed mix is the one done by MGM/Verve staff recording engineer Val Valentin. The other mix was done by Lou Reed, and was dubbed the "Closet Mix" by guitarist Sterling Morrison. There are many significant sonic differences in the versions. The most dramatic is that "Some Kinda Love" is an entirely different performance from the same recording sessions.

The LP sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve.

Side one

1.   "Candy Says" – 4:04

2.   "What Goes On" – 4:55

3.   "Some Kinda Love" – 4:03

4.   "Pale Blue Eyes" – 5:41

5.   "Jesus" – 3:24

Side two

6.   "Beginning to See the Light" – 4:41

7.   "I'm Set Free" – 4:08

8.   "That's the Story of My Life" – 1:59

9.   "The Murder Mystery" – 8:55

10. "After Hours" – 2:07’

Lou Reed – lead and rhythm guitar, piano, lead vocals except as noted, verse co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery"

Sterling Morrison – rhythm and lead guitar, verse co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocals

Maureen Tucker – percussion, lead vocals on "After Hours", chorus co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocals

Doug Yule – bass guitar, organ, lead vocals on "Candy Says", chorus co-vocals on "The Murder Mystery", backing vocals

Released in 1969 to an almost total lack of critical acclaim or consumer interest, the Velvet Underground's third album may well be the finest record of the band's career. Without the sonic terrorism of The Velvet Underground & Nico and White Light/White Heat or the ill-conceived commercial concessions that marred Loaded, the album's songs are free to stand on their own merit. And stand they do: "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light" may be the finest flat-out rockers in the band's catalog, while "Pale Blue Eyes," "Jesus," and "Candy Says" are some of the most delicately gorgeous songs Lou Reed has ever penned. There's no evidence here of any of the psychedelic effects and hippie sloganeering that marked most late-1960s rock releases, which is probably why the record still holds up today. --Dan Epstein

Following the departure of John Cale in 1968, and the addition of Doug Yule on bass, the Velvet Underground released their self-titled third LP in 1969. More subdued and lyrically compassionate than the first two records it is nonetheless equally powerful and many consider this to be the band's finest work. The Velvet Underground certainly features some of Lou Reed's finest song writing from the narcotic beauty of Candy Says and I'm Set Free, to the angular jangle of What Goes On and I'm Beginning To See The Light.

This fantastic album is the exact opposite of "White Light/White Heat": where "WL/WH" was loud, this one is quiet; where "WL/WH" was bold, this album is beautiful; where "WL/WH" was an undisputed masterpiece, this album is...um, also an undisputed masterpiece. (Damn, that was going so well...).

For their third album, the self-titled THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, Lou Reed got rid of both producer Andy Warhol and art-rocker John Cale. And the result is a surprisingly melodic collection of soft ballads, thoughtful lyrics, and flashes of flat-out fun rock and roll that echos the sound of the band's previous recordings without actually repeating it in any discernable way.

This is the Velvet Underground's most accessible album, the one that most people first experience and find easiest to enjoy. After opening with the meloncholy "Candy Says," a song suggested by the musings of transexual Candy Darling, the band ramps up into a go-go beat with slightly mid-eastern guitar twists for my personal favorite on the album, "What Goes On"--and then settles into a series of equally memorable cuts that range from the soft beauty of "Pale Blue Eyes" to the mantra-like "Jesus" to the good time "Beginning to See the Light." Whether upbeat or meloncholy, Lou Reed's unique style of talk-singing imparts a chant-like quality to the entire album, and although he has sometimes equaled these vocals in later work, he has never really bested them. Of course, the Velvets wouldn't be the Velvets without out at least one truly far-out-down-right-weird selection, and they offer it with "The Murder Mystery," a collage of conversation-like speech and lanquid singing that changes rhythms from moment to moment and which challenges the listener to sort out the individual voices and words. And then the album wraps up with an unlikely 1930-ish tune, "Afterhours," sung by drummer Maureen Tucker--and her completely unaffected, non-singer and off-key voice has surprising unstudied charm, rather like that of a school girl unaware that she is being recorded.

Even straight-laced pop fans will likely enjoy this particular album--and as such it is the perfect place for the uninitiated to begin a journey into The Velvet Underground. Everything about it is beautifully done, and it is a welcome twist to the band's earlier, much edgier sound. Strongly recommended, especially for first-timers.

The Velvet Underground were such a great band they probably could have made even third-rate material sound interesting. Fortunately, they were never faced with this challenge. During his days with VU, Lou Reed was on one of the all-time great songwriting tears; and nowhere is this more obvious than on the band's eponymous third album. For the ballads alone, Reed's work here is staggering -- "Pale Blue Eyes," "I'm Set Free," "Candy Says," "Jesus." Throw in the two delirious rockers "What Goes On" and "Beginning to See the Light" and the undefinable but wonderful "Some Kind of Love," and you begin wondering which devil Reed made his pact with. No joke, folks: Lou has come up with a batch of songs here as uniformly strong as 'Blood on the Tracks' or 'Plastic Ono Band.' I can't give any higher praise than that.

Condition

Cover:  VG+, scotch tape along top and spine (invisible) and on front right bottom corner; cover slightly “crinkled” (very thin cardboard).

Vinyl: NM.  A few very light scuffs that do not affect play.  Original gloss.

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