The Velvet Forum

https://pleasekillme.com/lou-reed-archivist/

One paragraph caught my eye. On the copyright tape of 11 demos, maybe 7 are unknown songs.

Don Fleming: The most fascinating thing of all is a package that was in his office on a shelf. It was a tape he had mailed to himself in 1965 to self-copyright some songs and it had never been opened. It was unopened on the shelf when we found it, and we didn’t open it until after the library acquired the collection because we weren’t sure really if we should, but eventually after talking it over with everyone we decided to carefully open it and make a transfer. It turned out to be eleven demos, where he is doing it for the purpose of copyright because before each one he says “Lyrics and music by Lou Reed.” I think four of the songs became Velvet Underground songs and then the rest of them didn’t and were unknown.

PKM: So all of this is going to come out to the public soon?

Don Fleming: Yes, but it’s complicated. With most rock & roll contracts, whatever you recorded during the time you were signed to a label the label will claim as theirs....

Wow, very interesting. I suspect that some of the 7 tracks are ones we are aware of - 'Never Get Emotionally Involved...', maybe 'Prominent Men' (as it's not a well known VU song), etc. - but it definitely looks like there will be some unknown stuff in there. Just hope it gets released soon!

It implies these are solo pre-VU demos featuring just Lou - I think?

From another interview linked from the above.

PKM: What’s the earliest recording you found?

Don Fleming: Lou in late 1963. It’s him doing folk songs. He was a huge Bob Dylan fan. He says on one of the tapes, where he’s at a poetry event, he talks about when Dylan came about how he wrote about real things, about real gritty life, and not just love songs, and Lou thought “I could try to do that too,” and that’s why he wrote “Heroin”. He came from a literary background. Delmore Schwartz was his big mentor in college, this big writer, and he wanted to be very literary in his songs and so Dylan was an inspiration. He covers “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right” on this tape, does it three times. It’s not dated but I’d estimate it was recorded shortly after the Dylan single came out in August of 1963.

PKM: Any other early recordings?

Don Fleming: The most fascinating thing of all is a package that was in his office on a shelf. It was a tape he had mailed to himself in 1965 to self-copyright some songs and it had never been opened. It was unopened on the shelf when we found it, and we didn’t open it until after the library acquired the collection because we weren’t sure really if we should, but eventually after talking it over with everyone we decided to carefully open it and make a transfer. It turned out to be eleven demos, where he is doing it for the purpose of copyright because before each one he says “Lyrics and music by Lou Reed.” I think four of the songs became Velvet Underground songs and then the rest of them didn’t and were unknown.