The Velvet Forum

Was just thinking about this - looks like no news is bad news :/

maybe worth reaching out to Miriam again...

Apparently Norton ran into a roadblock with Universal. Hard to say because Miriam certainly has been difficult to deal with as well but I wonder if UMG wanted more money than Norton was able to pony up.

Pure speculation but i doubt that Universal is interested in licensing Velvets releases to indie labels. VU are now considering a major name for reissues and Universal has their own plans for possible future reissue program. It's been like 12 years since they did first super deluxe of VU. I'll bet there's a negotiations going on with Warhol Banana Scepter mixes tape and other stuff.

hallucalation wrote: ↑02 Jun 2025 10:44 Pure speculation but i doubt that Universal is interested in licensing Velvets releases to indie labels. VU are now considering a major name for reissues and Universal has their own plans for possible future reissue program. It's been like 12 years since they did first super deluxe of VU. I'll bet there's a negotiations going on with Warhol Banana Scepter mixes tape and other stuff.

Surely there can be very little meaningful VU stuff (of any audio quality) left to release??

I'm waiting for precisely one thing, The Joseph Freeman tapes from Max's, a tape that is known to exist. I really can't imagine there's anything else of value at this stage.

It would be lovely to hear a John Cale live "What Goes On" or some other lost high quality live performance in 1967-9 but I think we're down to Freeman now. And yet an unknown version of "Guess I'm Falling in love" just appeared quietly on YouTube a few years back, so maybe we'll be surprised.

We surely know there’s a recording of Walk It and Talk It from the Gymnasium, and I presume it’s a part of a full set .

And there’s a studio version of Guess I’m Falling In Love with vocals. It’s got tape damage but we don’t know how serious the damage is.

But hard to imagine there’s enough for UMG to put out as a worthwhile release.

Personally I'd also like to see a lot of stuff that's only appeared unofficially be given a proper release. I know we've heard most if not all of it before but things like the recent upgrade of Sweet Sister Ray, the complete unedited Valleydale etc., deserve an official release in my opinion.

bobbydriver wrote: ↑04 Jun 2025 18:07

hallucalation wrote: ↑02 Jun 2025 10:44 Pure speculation but i doubt that Universal is interested in licensing Velvets releases to indie labels. VU are now considering a major name for reissues and Universal has their own plans for possible future reissue program. It's been like 12 years since they did first super deluxe of VU. I'll bet there's a negotiations going on with Warhol Banana Scepter mixes tape and other stuff.

Surely there can be very little meaningful VU stuff (of any audio quality) left to release??

Warhol archives stuff, various live stuff and studios scraps. John Cale and Lou Reed private tapes with demos/live recordings/studio dubs with alternate mixes

There's also the uncirculated tape from March 28-30, 1969, La Cave, Cleveland, Ohio. According to the person who uploaded the higher quality Sweet Sister Ray, it's the only Klimek tape not circulating.

Cale's archive would seem to be the final frontier. Sadly it seems we'll have to wait for him to die before we find out what's actually in there.