The Velvet Forum

I cannot believe I have never heard this discussed on the board before! I am gonna post the MP3, and leave it to the rest of you to chat about. Taken off The Stones' "Out of Our Heads" LP, 1965:

http://www.divshare.com/download/4725177-c65

What the hell...

Lou and Sterling both have mentioned it before. They lifted the riff from the MARVIN GAYE song that the Stones covered.

Sal

Sal's right about this - if you hear the Marvin Gaye version, it almost sounds as though the Velvets sampled it (not just the chords, but the sound and mood).

sal mercuri wrote:Lou and Sterling both have mentioned it before. They lifted the riff from the MARVIN GAYE song that the Stones covered.

Sal

Didn't Old Grumpy say something about there being a fine for anybody playing an r n' b riff?

Which is funny, because as much as I love the band, a lot of their stuff is just warmed over rhythm and blues...

LCB wrote: Didn't Old Grumpy say something about there being a fine for anybody playing an r n' b riff?

Which is funny, because as much as I love the band, a lot of their stuff is just warmed over rhythm and blues...

yeah, this often quoted "rule" must have been in effect for a couple of weeks at most. Though the bluesy leads (which I think are usually Sterling's) really emerged once Cale was gone.

I guess that an old fart like me takes the Velvets "tribute" and the Stones Marvin Gaye cover for granted, since I remember the original.

LCB wrote: Didn't Old Grumpy say something about there being a fine for anybody playing an r n' b riff?

Which is funny, because as much as I love the band, a lot of their stuff is just warmed over rhythm and blues...

I think Lou is referring to cliched blues turnarounds and bluesy guitar licks which naturally fall under your fingers as a guitarist. I think the rule was a great one because it meant that the guitar work on songs like say WFTM and RRR and LGO turned out to be as raw, angular, and urgent as it is.

Totally agree with CC that this all seemed to go out the window by the time Cale left, but then the bluesy soloing on songs like It's Just Too Much or the Live 69 or Max's versions of WFTM is equally glorious just in a different way.

God the VU are so damn perfect...

LCB wrote:

sal mercuri wrote:Lou and Sterling both have mentioned it before. They lifted the riff from the MARVIN GAYE song that the Stones covered.

Sal

Didn't Old Grumpy say something about there being a fine for anybody playing an r n' b riff?

Which is funny, because as much as I love the band, a lot of their stuff is just warmed over rhythm and blues...

Has anybody seen that Blues docu that Lou appears in and sings a couple old blues tunes? It is really good and I'll be damned if old Grumpy doesn't seem to be smiling and enjoying himself as he plays.

velvetfan wrote: Has anybody seen that Blues docu that Lou appears in and sings a couple old blues tunes? It is really good and I'll be damned if old Grumpy doesn't seem to be smiling and enjoying himself as he plays.

It's called "The Soul of a Man", directed by Wim Wenders. I much preferred the Lou bits to the actual movie