Independent artist & multi-instrumentalist. Creator of niche documentaries, insightful tutorials and eclectic original music If Keane put the Piano back into Pop/Rock, that's what I intend to do with the Hammond Organ. My roots are in Soul; from obscure Northern, ethereal Wall Of Sound/Motown, into Crossover, Disco, House and beyond...also a massive Velvet Underground freak, and ditto for most innovative Alternative/Indie-Rock bands. I brand my original music 'Rock'n'Soul'.
We never got that velvet underground MTV unplugged in the 90s maybe that would be an interesting project choosing and arranging what that would sound and look like. It would be fun to hear some songs you wouldn't expect too lol
Great doco! Thanks so much. Sterling, what a guitar player. The Velvets made it all the way to Tasmania in the mid 70s to a bunch of teenagers sniffing out music. No New York station for us to have our lives saved by rock n roll! A friend went to the US as an exchange student for a year in '73 I think. When he came back we asked what music he'd heard. Rock n Roll Animal was his discovery. Not long before someone heard Lou had been in a band previously. What a find.
Okay the Rheem organ is a revelation for me! The fuzz circuits legit are the answer to the crazy distorted boost that John got for his solos! Also only thought Rheem made air conditioners lol. It’s like sears making guns and everything else back in the day I assume!
I knew you'd appreciate the Rheem insight! I found it out the hard way during the recording of my 'Sister Ray' cover, when I ran out of bass register! I then brought up a video of the Rheem being played and compared the sound vs. the Vox, and the distinction between the two was clear.
I thought I'd seen pretty much all the available Velvets photo and film footage available over the years, yet your documentary has loads of amazing stuff I've never seen anywhere. What an epic project and a generous gift to VU fans. Take a bow, Cam--this is an astounding piece of work.
Cam, you should try your hardest to get the insanity of Lou Reed's tone from the Amp-Tape version of Sister Ray at the Boston Tea Party. It's distorted because of the low quality, but it would be amazing if you could explore the idea of mimicking the sound. Just an idea (: I think Lou at the time was still using Tone Benders, but he switched over to Sunn amps (perhaps the Solarus?) with an ES-335/345TD. Other people say in '69 he was using some kind of acoustic amplifier, but I'm not sure what proof there is.
Another great episode. You might want to check this out. L.A.'s "The Dream Syndicate" 1982 E.P. Another band Heavily influenced by The Velvets(obviously) ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-GYIo7jxgL84.html
This is really proving to be the most comprehensive and passionate VU project to date, it’s amazing to see how much you’ve managed to document these past couple years. I was really intrigued by the performance of White Light/White Heat you included and how some of the playing was somewhat contradictory of your original video on the song. It was also really interesting to see which guitars you think were featured on each song. I know you’ve expressed an interest in moving your channel towards other endeavors and not focusing so much on the Velvets, but do you think we’ll ever see any more elaboration on some of what you showed in this video? I think even a series of Sam Popkin style guitar/bass covers discussing gear and history in the description would be really cool.
I shan't write off any further Velvets material, but as you can imagine - I've covered a lot of ground, and as such need to take a break from their music for a while. The one thing VU-related that I will definitely continue with is the live tribute project - that's always been something on my bucket list. Indeed the guitar choices are correct as-per Sterling's official recollections, and the revised parts in comparison to my tutorials are down to an even more finely-tuned ear compared to a few short years ago when I made those videos.
@@CAMFORRESTER Totally understandable! It makes sense that after this much dedication to one great cause you’d want a break. I can’t wait to see what you have in store for us moving forward!
Yes they are all based on his own accounts of which guitars were used on different songs/albums. There is only one that is inaccurate, which is 'European Son'. He definitely used his SG on that track, but I accidentally missed it off my set list when doing the SG film shoot, so I had to substitute it with the Vox Phantom instead. All the others are correct as-per his personal recollections.
You have done it again Cam - fantastic work. The amount of detail on the group as a working band is fascinating. There is a lot of information here that I’ve not heard or seen before. The footage/photos alone in this and part one is just amazing. I love that you played Sterling’s guitar parts so I could finally see and hear what he was doing. Sterling’s baselines are also wonderful. I understand that now that the band really wanted to be successful, and while they did make some bad decisions, the industry worked against them. I love the first Mothers of Invention album personally, but Zappa was definitely threatened by the VU musically - which wasn’t helped by sharing the same record label and producer. Herb Cohen was a ruthless businessman, as Zappa later found out. Warhol and Paul Morrissey couldn’t compete with that. The whole saga is just fascinating. This is just brilliant work. Thank you for sharing this.
@Cam Forrester thanks so much for this. What's that very last track at the end? Is it from some recording of 'Waiting For My Man' of 'Sister Ray' ? I'd love to hear the rest of that. Thanks.
This is beautiful Cam. I don't remember how or why I connected with the Velvet Underground as a teen in the Midwest, perhaps it was because of Andy Warhol, but their sound resonated with me then and more so now. It's art pure and simple.
Yea, i think the WLWH album if mixed better would of been amazing. Basically what im understanding is they were extremely stubborn and protective of making it sound raw and live, to the point where maybe they werent letting the engineers and mixers do their thing. I dont think they had a great understanding of how to mix music in the studio, EQing and compression. The mix was muddy, and the drums were almost inaudible. But was still an incredible album. Sister Ray came out sounding great. While WLWH and Lady Godiva had pretty muddy mixes. My favorite era of VU is the Yule era, i like the prettier songs, and the live jams such as on 1969 live. I knew most of the info in the video, besides the beef with Bob Dylans manager. Great video!
Thank you so much for all the Velvets content. I love them so much. I’m so happy you are covering Sterling. Hearing him talk always makes me smile. The way he talks doesn’t change throughout his life. Your own music is great also. I’m really enjoying your album. You are very talented.
another superb documentary and for me a few things i didn't know, i like your version of Warhols introduction to the VU, like yourself i've always been facsinated by the factory scene and its place in history. Here's a question which has always puzzled me , how tall do you think each band member was, Moe 5 foot 2 inches, Sterling 6 foot 2 in, John 5ft 11 in, and Lou 5 ft 6 or 7 in. Lou is a strange one sometimes he looks nearly as short as Gerald Malaga orther times nearly as tall as Nico ( 5 ft 9 ish? not as tall as the press quote). looking forward to the next instalments, keep up good work, best regards Russell
After a second look, the brilliance of this doc is even more clear. Cam Forrester is the top archivist, historian and interpreter of the VELVET Underground in the world.
Great documentary about such an underrated and invaluable member of my favourite band ever. I loved how perspectives from little heard voices were very much to the fore. Looking forward to the subsequent installments...
