Sweet Sister Ray / Sister Ray at the BTP Summer 1968

[peppergomez]

Yes indeed. For a time, between late 67 and late 68 (by that time both Reed and Morrison were IMO much better guitarists than during the first two years of the band), I think VU were the most remarkable rock band in existence. Cale brought an avant garde savagery that made them amazing. Just listen to the April 68 recording of Heroin at La Cave. When I want to hear that song, I skip the studio version and go straight to that one.

Hell, despite how awful the sound quality is in the 67 Warhol film of them at BTP, you can still hear how ferocious they sound.

[peppergomez]

BTW where was that published?

[Andre83]

This is an extract from an article dated March 1969, describing a Velvet Underground concert at the Boston Tea Party Summer 1968 (so one of the very latest John Cale gigs with the band)

?the drone of Lou Reed's 25-minute introduction to Sister Ray; finally, numb to the pain of the electric violin; feeling only a death blow to the structure of their lives. The crowd was up against the proverbial wall. No more lies. And Lou Reed suddenly climaxed the long painful series of losses of faith with a cataclysmic denial of everything. With the inevitable throbbing of the first notes of Sister Ray came total release ?

He makes it sound so good. I wish this was the version of Sweet Sister Ray that we had. Not sure about attributing it to Lou Reed, given his stated disinterest in that side of the sound once he had removed Cale.

This is what we need to hear. Cale must surely have more tapes. Even Lou Reed must have had some.

We know there is at least the live version of Walk It And Talk It.

Can we organise 24 hour picketing outside Cale's house?

'FREE THE VU TAPES'.

I'm there. Tell me a little in advance so I book a flight from Genoa ( Italy ) to New York . I carry with me flags and smoke bombs . The thing that intrigues me is why there is so much reluctance to release the tapes live at that time . The gymnasium was released 50 years after its recording I do not think it's for the money . This is really a ( murder ) mystery to me

[leamanc]

Thanks Alfredo . I want to believe that sooner or later come out a live recording of the era Cale . As happened a few years ago for the Gymnasium

The big difference here is that we knew about the existence of the Gymnasium tape for many years. Cale talked about it for decades and even played a song during a radio interview in the 1970s.

While there have been rumors of more BTP tapes, nothing has surfaced. Not to say they never will, but it's a lot different when we're talking about tapes confirmed to exist.

Like others, I hold out hope that the San Diego tape is eventually unearthed.

[searchin4mymainline]

The big difference here is that we knew about the existence of the Gymnasium tape for many years. Cale talked about it for decades and even played a song during a radio interview in the 1970s.

Of course the track that Cale played on the radio isn't on the Gymnasium tape that was actually released!

[Andre83]

And what song Cale played on the radio? sorry but I do not know. you can hear it?

[searchin4mymainline]

And what song Cale played on the radio? sorry but I do not know. you can hear it?

It's a different recording of Guess I'm Falling in Love. It's on various bootlegs, including Caught Between The Twisted Stars. I used to have it on an old tape, which I think I've now lost, and which included a snippet of Cale talking about it (from the radio show) and identifying it as from the Gymnasium, but it is different to the version on the full released Gymnasium tape and there has been speculation on this forum that it might not actually be from the Gymnasium at all.

You can hear it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sDSJggL5FB0

[taxine]

Yeah in many boots,called I got a fever in my pocket,one of the first VU.live recording known at least for me...!!

[simonm]

re Fever In My Pocket

On the original radio broadcast in 1979, Cale says the song was recorded at the Gymnasium in '67 'right after Nico went'. The residency started on March 24, and according to Unterberger some dates clash with Nico's stint at the Dom bar. The Gym tape that was released is dated over a month later - April 30 - so the (much better i think) lo-fi version could have been recorded any time before this. So there might be a whole show of this other gig in Cale's secret stash!

Other theories are that the rough recording could be from the 1st set of the evening and the good quality is the 2nd set, but the whole ambience of the recording as well as the lyrics and song structure are different, so this seems unlikely to me. Another theory is that the song is not from from the Gymnasium at all, and could be Tony Conrad's off-air recording of the Upbeat tv show.

The other interesting thing is that most of the opening lyrics are taken from the 1966 Dylan song Absolutely Sweet Marie ("Well, I got the fever down in my pockets").

[LFSDoc]

I'm there. Tell me a little in advance so I book a flight from Genoa ( Italy ) to New York . I carry with me flags and smoke bombs . The thing that intrigues me is why there is so much reluctance to release the tapes live at that time . The gymnasium was released 50 years after its recording I do not think it's for the money . This is really a ( murder ) mystery to me

ok now two VU fans from Genoa are coming to NYC...
Doc