LOU REED CLAIMS FOURTH LP “ LOADED WITH HITS ”

“Buzz” Aldrin in spacecraft Gemini 12
splashes down safely in the Pacific Ocean
(1966)
First modern revival of the Olympic Games
takes place in Athens (1859)
In 1969, 250,000 protesters staged a peaceful
demonstration against the Vietnam War in
Washington D.C.
Intel releases the first commercial single-chip microprocessor (1971)
Elvis Presley plays live at the San Diego
Sports Arena wearing a white chain suit
with a red macramé belt (1970)
Space Shuttle Atlantis launches on Flight
STS-38 (1990)
In 1970, the New York Nets defeat the Texas
Chaparrals in the American Basketball Association. In other sports news the Detroit
Red Wings tied with the Los Angeles Kings,
while the New York Rangers defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-2. The New York Giants
defeated Washington in the N.F.L. and in
Los Angeles, over 76,000 fans turn up at the
Coliseum expecting to see Joe Namath start
as QB for the New York Jets in their game
against the Rams.
”
”
- Spiral Stairs (Pavement)
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yeah, i was always white light white
heat and nico in the beginning. even
took acid to those records. and yes, they
changed my life. thanks REM! but when
i finally got to loaded and the acid wore
off, rock and roll made sense. and thank
fucking god. there’s only so many beatles and beach boys one could listen to. it
took me in another direction. a beautiful rock and roll journey.
SEAN YEATON, PARQUET COURTS
“Finding the words to describe what makes the Velvet
Underground so infatuating and intoxicating is more
difficult than I thought it’d be. On the one hand, here’s
this band who established a legacy long before I would
ever develop my own personal spellbound connection
with their music, meaning somehow that maybe my
consternation holds less value than that of someone
who actually shared the same slim frequency of time as
them, or furthermore that I’m sequentially prohibited
to “get it” based on a generational technicality; I didn’t
live in the Velvets’ New York City but their pioneering
spirit and vision mass-produced the paraphernalia with
which I would eventually consume the New York City of
my dreams--a love it or hate it freak show isolated in
an myth and governed by reckless determination; and
drugs and sex and all that fun stuff, too. So I guess on
the other hand I feel humbled to have inherited whatever puzzling relic left behind by these groundbreaking
maniacs and I’ll honor it forever wherever I go because,
for better or worse, it helped guide and shape the person I’ve become.” In commenting on “Loaded: Reloaded” Yeaton adds, “These 45th anniversary box sets
aren’t just thrown together for any band so you know
you’re holding something important in your hands. Maybe why you think it’s important is different from why
I think it is because you were like, friends with Lou
Reed or saw the Velvet Underground live, which boggles
my mind, but the integrity of these songs will forever
fill out the framework of dreams for people who aren’t
even born yet.”
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“To claim that Lou Reed is a classic songwriter is a little obvious, but, if you weren’t
convinced of that before the release of
“Loaded” well, then there are three songs
out of the gate that should prove this to
any fan,” says Steven Drozd of those fearless freaks, The Flaming Lips. “The first
time I heard “Who Loves The Sun” I had
no idea it was a Lou Reed composition.
In fact I thought it might be a cover of
something by The Fleetwoods or another
late 50’s vocal group (I think Lou would
appreciate the comparison)- the recording
and production is an exact opposite world
from the noisy sleaze proto glam punk of
“White Light/White Heat”- like the Velvets were trying to prove they could be a
straight up pop group. I still am confused
by the fact that that song was not an AM
radio hit.
In a righteous world it would play along
side The Beatles and Simon n Garfunkel
on the oldies station.... Besides that, “Who
Loves The Sun” sounds like the blueprint
for everyone from Big Star to Yo La Tengo... And for the music theory nerds (myself included), the chiming guitar pre-intro into the opening 4 chord progression is
one of the more unique ones in the history
of rock- worthy of trying to steal (again
myself included)... “Loaded” is another
blueprint of the future: perfect pop masterpieces with uncluttered production: another Velvets record to covet!”
Jay Ferguson of Canadian group, Sloan,
epitomizes the cycle of discovery and influence. “I remember buying a copy of
“Loaded” for $3 at the small, used record
store in Halifax where I worked back in
1984. I’d been playing it over and over
and realized I needed to own it. Already
entrenched in the US/UK underground records of the day, I was slowly digging my
way backwards in time discovering the
music that influenced the current crop
of newer bands that I liked. In fact, the
first person I recall recommending The
Velvet Underground was Peter Buck in
interviews that I was dissecting instead
of doing homework. Thirty-one years later, and I’m still listening to “Loaded” for
inspiration.
My first impression of “Loaded” was “How
can anyone compete with this?!” The album belongs to that rare echelon of records that begin with an undeniable triple
“knock-out: “Who Loves The Sun?”, “Sweet
Jane” and “Rock & Roll”. The first is a
perfectly structured, bittersweet piece of
work on par with “Sunday Morning”, followed by two career defining, encore-worthy classics. A marvel of sequencing that
is more immediately welcoming than any
of their three previous—though equally
excellent—albums. I mean, where else
have you heard Lou’s singing, before or
© 2015 Rhino Entertainment. A Warner Music Group Company.
“All of this happens before you even reach
what could be considered the apex of the
album, “New Age”. An evocative marriage
of novella-style writing and elegant melody, for me it has proven to stand tall with
the great majestic and mysterious mini
epics of the era: The Beach Boys’ “Surf’s
Up” and David Bowie’s “Life On Mars?”
“The story goes that Lou wrote and recorded this album “loaded” with hits, hence the
title. He’s not lying. With a better management and label scenario, an album of
radio favorites might just have been the
more fortunate outcome. Eventually, the
songs on this LP would become championed via Lou’s solo career, and popular
musicians would name-check their influence. This form of historical resurrection
has, of course, happened many times with
other similarly lost musical artifacts, but
if you ask me, few are as deserving of
praise as “Loaded.”
VOLUME 1
NOVEMBER 15th, 2015
BY TYLER WILCOX
“You shouldn’t have to work to get into a
record,” Lou Reed told Third Ear Magazine in the spring of 1970. “That’s why I
love AM radio.”
Third Ear’s interviewer couldn’t believe
his ears: “You love it?”
A valid response, all things considered.
After all, Lou and The Velvet Underground had been responsible for the most
challenging, boundary pushing rock and
roll of the post-Beatles era. Tackling such
then-taboo subjects as heroin, transvestism and S&M, the band filled the grooves
of their LPs with primal rhythms, screeching feedback and minimalist drones. Even
when the VU turned down the volume on
The Velvet Underground, released in early
1969, the results were far from the dayglo sunshine pop that you’d hear on AM
airwaves at the time. AM radio? AM radio
was uncool, man.
- Rich Machin (Soulsavers) on “Loaded”
“As a teenager I got Lou Reed’s “Transformer” pretty much whin it was released,
then “Berlin”, “Sally Can’t Dance” and
“Rock And Roll Animal”. Around this time
I decided to start buying the V.U. LP’s to
see where all the music came from. So in
the summer of 1974 (right before I started high school) I got the first album and
quickly acquired the other ones that were
available. The thing that struck me about
“Loaded” is it sounded like “normal” rock
music but still with an edge of weirdness.
“Rock And Roll” was the first song I
heard by the VU/Lou. In the early days of
local NYC radio station WPLJ, they played
it almost as a station “theme” so to speak.
And it made me start listening to that
fine, fine music. And to some degree my
life was saved by rock and roll.”
Written and Edited By J.D. Reinholdz
EXPRESS
PRINTED IN U.S.A.
LOU REED CLAIMS FOURTH LP
“ LOADED WITH HITS ”
In my head, I think I don’t like pop
music. But then I listen to a record
like this & remind myself that in
fact I do like pop music. Because
that’s exactly what it is. Brilliant
pop music. The record, like the
Velvets themselves is effortlessly
cool & a joy to listen to.
Stanley Demeski, stalwart drummer in
The Feelies, another group closely linked
to the sounds of The Velvet Underground,
and former member of Luna reminisces,
“I think “Loaded” really shines as far as
Lou coming into his own as a songwriter.
It signaled a somewhat more commercial/
accessible side to his music. My various
bands have covered “Loaded” tracks over
the years: The Feelies have done “Head
Held High” and currently play “Who Loves
The Sun” and “Rock And Roll” and Luna
did (and still do) “Ride Into The Sun”
from that era. I think I was the one who
suggested the song and brought down the
bootleg 45 for us to learn it from.
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Noted artist Georgie O’Keeffe born (1885)
Dean Wareham, singer for Luna, a band
steeped in the New York tradition of the
Velvets writes in his autobiography “Black
Postcards,” “(The) genius of The Velvet
Underground is demonstrated in how they
made a perfect first record, and then followed it with three more perfect, yet different, statements.”
since, sound more energetic and emphatic
than on “Rock & Roll”? It’s really almost
Jagger-esque the way he delivers the lyrics
and tosses in casual ad libs, while Sterling
Morrison’s guitar weaves through the song
like a smooth, silver jet.
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Bob Stanley is a noted author, contributor to
many UK publications, musicologist, and member of the pop group Saint Etienne
ON THIS DATE… NOVEMBER 15
the third record. And of course “Loaded.”
As the most accessible of the four LPs,
for numerous musicians it was the introduction - the “gateway drug” – into the
multi-layered wonders of The Velvet Underground.
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Murders of the Clutter family in Holcomb,
KS, later detailed in Truman Capote’s ‘In
Cold Blood’ (1959)
Henri ter Hall © 1970, courtesy of Steve Nelson
Musicians Cite The
Influence Of ‘Loaded’
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Original release of The Velvet Underground
‘Loaded’ in 1970
Maybe the Warhol baby pressure had finally gone, or maybe they were genuinely
trying to score hit singles... or maybe Lou
Reed had just seen a Marx Brothers movie and it put him in a good mood for a solid month. Whatever the reason, “Loaded”
was genuinely FUN. It was lighter, cleaner,
and in its way more un-tethered than any
other Velvet Underground album. “Who
Loves The Sun” (bah-baba-bah!) and the
stupidly gleeful Rock And Roll celebrated the lack of complexity in pre-Beatles
American pop. “Loaded” was also the
first record of the Glam era (how else to
read “Sweet Jane” and “Cool It Down?”),
truly the beginning of a new age.
THEVELVET UNDERGROUND
Continued from front page [...]
II
BOB STANLEY, AUTHOR OF
ACCLAIMED POP TOME “YEAH
YEAH YEAH” ON ‘LOADED’
Henri ter Hall © 1970, courtesy of Steve Nelson
Musicians Cite The
Influence Of ‘Loaded’
Pick up any book on The Velvet
Underground, or search any article, & the
oft repeated line is pretty much guaranteed
to appear, “they only ever sold a few thousand records, but everyone who bought one
started a band…” That quote, paraphrased from an article from Musician
magazine in 1982 where Brian Eno stated, “I was talking to Lou Reed the other day and he said that the first Velvet
Underground record sold 30,000 copies
in the first five years…that record was
such an important record for so many
people. I think everyone who bought one
of those 30,000 copies started a band!” is
likely an urban myth. But there is no argument that in the years since the release
of that first Velvet Underground album,
the band, and its music, has had a profound impact on the careers of countless
musicians.
A few of these artists are household
names, others definitely not. For many
“The Velvet Underground and Nico” is
key. Others cite the more mellow tones of
Continued on back page [...]
The Velvets were never all about scuzz
and skronk, however. Their epochal 1967
debut The Velvet Underground and Nico
included such achingly pretty numbers as
“Sunday Morning,” “I’ll Be Your Mirror,”
and “Femme Fatale,” as well as the infernally catchy “There She Goes Again.” And
before the VU formed, Reed did time in
the songwriting trenches, penning Beach
Boys and Phil Spector knock-offs for Pickwick Records in the mid ‘60s. Going even
further back, a teenaged Lou made a go
at doo-wop stardom, releasing a handful
of singles with various Long Island vocal groups. In other words, Reed had legitimate AM radio bonafides, and a keen
understanding of pop music’s pure, deep,
and immediate pleasures. Lou’s life was
saved by rock & roll, yes, but to put a finer
point on it, his life was saved by the radio.
The Velvets certainly entered Atlantic Recording Studios loaded with songs. The
material left on the cutting room floor -songs other bands would kill for -- attests to
the supremely high quality of Reed’s work
during the period; killer tunes like “Satellite of Love,” “Sad Song,” “Ocean,” “Ride Into
The Sun,” and “I’m Sticking With You” were
all tried out and found wanting. And that’s
not even counting the backlog of songs the
band simply skipped over when it came to
the Loaded sessions: “Lisa Says,” “Andy’s
Chest,” “She’s My Best Friend,” and “We’re
Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together”
among them. Reed would return to these
castaways constantly during the 1970s,
cherrypicking them for inclusion on various
solo LP’s.
Ultimately, ten tunes were chosen for Loaded, each one a perfect pop miniature. The
album is famous for its unparalleled one-two
punch of “Sweet Jane” and “Rock & Roll,” of
course. But that’s just the beginning of its
delights. There’s also the twilit balladry of
“I Found A Reason,” the choogling groove
of “Train Round the Bend,” the garage rock
abandon of “Head Held High,” and the slow,
sad sway of “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’.” Slyest of all
is the groovy opener, “Who Loves the Sun,”
which wouldn’t have sounded out of place
next to the Archies on Lou’s beloved AM
radio.
“Do you think your new sound will catch
on?” Third Ear’s interviewer asks. “I think
it’s going to be phenomenal,” Lou answers.
As usual, he was right.
Tyler Wilcox is the resident Velvets expert for
Aquarium Drunkard. He also writes for Pitchfork.
“How can they give a poetry prize,” he
wrote in a passionate 1966 essay called
“The View from the Bandstand.” “It’s a
joke. What about the EXCELLENTS, Martha and the Vandellas, Holland, Dozier;
Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich; Bacharach
and David; Carol (sic) King and Gerry
Goffin, the best songwriting teams in
America.” Will none of the powers that be
realize what Brian Wilson did with THE
CHORDS. Phil Spector being made out to
be some kind of aberration when he put
out the best record ever made, ‘You’ve
Lost That Lovin’ Feeling.’”
All of which brings us back to the spring
of 1970, when Reed began work on the Velvets’ fourth album, Loaded. Lou famously quipped that the album’s name came
from the fact that he’d delivered an album
“loaded with hits.”
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Editorial: Jason Reynolds
Art Directon: Brian Sadler
Henri ter Hall © 1970, courtesy of Steve Nelson
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