The Velvet Forum

Thankfully, there are many more versions of Sister Ray than those you mention. Here is a listing of what I have been able to track down on all the times they performed their greatest song:

1967
April 26 & 27 ? Searchin? (~15.00 & ~20.00) ? Boston Tea Party ? Last Shows w. Nico ? Not Recorded?
1.) Sept. ? Searchin? (17.25) ? Twisted Stars (Disc 4, cut #1)

1968
2.) April 30 ? Sweet Sister Ray (39.40) ? La Cave ? Sweet Sister Ray / Twisted Stars / Sweet Sister Ray?s Murder Mystery
3.) Oct. 2 ? Sister Ray (10.30) ? La Cave ? Problems In Urban Living
4.) Dec. 1 ? Sister Ray (18.33) ? Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio
5.) Dec. 12 ? Sister Ray (24.47) ? Boston Tea Party ? Legendaly Guitar Amp Tape(?) / Boston Tea Party / Sweet Sister Ray

1969
6.) Jan. 10 ? Sister Ray (21.57) ? Boston Tea Party ? Searchin? For My Mainline / A Walk With The Velvet Underground vol. 2
7.) Jan. 28/29 ? Sister Ray-Murder Mystery-Sister Ray (28.14) ? La Cave ? Sweet Sister Ray?s Murder Mystery / Ostrich-Hilltop Festival
8.) March 13 ? Sister Ray-Murder Mystery (22.05) ? Boston Tea Party ? Ultra Rare Trax vol. 3
9.) March 15 ? Heroin-Sister Ray [Guitar Amp version] (34.25) ? Boston Tea Party ? Legendaly Guitar Amp Tape / Sweet Sister Ray / Wild Side Of The Street
10.) May 11 ? Sister Ray-Foggy Notion (28.43) ? Washington University, St. Louis, Missouri ? Quine Tapes
Summer ? Sister Ray (~45.00) ? Electric Factory, Philadelphia ? Not Recorded?
11.) July 11 ? Sister Ray-Murder Mystery (20.37) ? Boston Tea Party ? Sweet Sister Ray
October ? Sister Ray ? Music Hall, Cleveland, Ohio ? Not Recorded?
12.) Oct. 18 ? Sister Ray (17.47) ? End Cole Ave. ? End Cole Ave.
13.) Oct. 19 ? Sister Ray (14.03 faded) ? End Cole Ave. ? A True Rock ?n Roller
Oct 23-25 ? Sister Ray (~45.00) ? Vulcan Gas Co., Austin, Texas ? Recorded, but tapes are lost
14.) Nov. 7 ? Sister Ray (24.03) ? Family Dog, San Francisco ? Quine Tapes
15.) Dec. 1-3 ? Sister Ray (38.00) ? The Matrix, San Francisco ? Quine Tapes

1970
16.) Jan. 3 ? Sister Ray (8.55) ? 2nd Fret, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania(?) ? Searchin? For My Mainline / Flowers Of Evil
Jan. 15-21 ? Sister Ray(?) ? Quiet Knight(?) ? Chicago, Illinois(?) ? Not Recorded?

1971
17.) Nov. 5 ? Sister Ray / Never Going Back To Georgia (13:08) ? School Of African & Oriental Studies, London, England ? Final V.U. 1971-1973
18.) Nov. 19 ? Sister Ray (15:02) ? Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, Netherlands ? Final V.U. 1971-1973 / Live In Amsterdam

1972
19.) Dec. 6 ? Sister Ray / Train Round The Bend (14.01) ? St David's University, Lampeter, Wales ? Final V.U. 1971-1973

Hi,
Did you catch the 3 fragments from "Twisted Stars" (1:17, 2:27 and 1:00). I believe these are from the 4-67 Gymnasium show, as they have the same sound as "Booker T' and "Guess I'm Falling In Love."

I didn't think Doug's voice was powerful enough to sing Sister Ray.

Joe,

The post-Lou versions of Sister Ray are really weak by comparison to the one's before he left. It's not just the vocals. The overall playing and improvising aren't up to the earlier standards either. But, they are versions of Sister Ray played by a band still called Velvet Underground, so I've got them (well, most of them).

I always thought that Doug's voice was too "nice" to sing any song written by Lou....it just doesn't have the "sleaziness" of Lou's.

Any song? I don't something like "New Age" needs to be sleazy...

Maybe not too "sleazy" for New Age, but I still prefer to hear Lou singing his own songs. To paraphrase Lou's own comment: "Doug didn't understand what the lyrics meant". I'm not meaning to put Doug down at all, I just think no-one sings Lou's songs like Lou can...(or could - his voice is pretty shot now).

I completely agree with you there. Though, I think John would have done a wonderful job singing Femme Fatale and All tomorows parties while Lou could have sung I'll be your mirror on the album. Then that album would have been perfect.

Though, if you want to hear Doug sing more Lou songs, you can always pick up Final VU if you can find it.

Joes pointabout Cale singing is interesting, I really liked Johns vocals on the reunion tour. He did a really great job of All Tomorrows Parties especially with the pounding piano.His deadpan delivery on The Gift is perfect. I think its a very under rated instrument Johns voice! Hey this could be a seperate thread..

What vocals/songs should John have sung (instead of Lou/Nico etc)?

Well John's performance of "Lady Godiva's Operation" was superb, but I do think he should have done Venus in Furs, I've heard a clip of the studio demo for that and it was very intriguing.