#v.u.

BACKSTAGE WITH AN AMERICAN ROCK BAND AT THEIR REPORTED "HOME AWAY FROM HOME."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on American rock band THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, photographed backstage and onstage at the Boston Tea Party, MA, on January 9-11, 1969. Also included is a shot of just Lou and Doug from late 1968.

MINI-OVERVIEW: "The backstage photos were pulled from the classic VU book "Up-Tight." There's one of Doug with Steve Sesnick, a portrait of Lou, and then another with Moe and Sterling. All the photos are a bit blurry but they are some of the best shots available of the VU at their reported "home away from home." The Velvet Underground played at the Boston Tea Party forty-three times between 1967 and 1970. Lou called the club “our favorite place to play in the whole country.” All photos by The Modern Printer."

-- DOUG YULE APPRECIATION SOCIETY (Instagram fan page)

THE UK HAD THE BETTER SLEEVE/COVER ART -- "WHITE LIGHT GONNA MAKE YOU GO BLIND."

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the early '70s UK repress of THE VELVET UNDERGROUND's searing, scorching, scandalous second studio album, “White Light/White Heat,” originally released in January 1968 under the Verve label.

YES, IT'S ALL TRUE, THE V.U. PLAYED A GIG AT BEVERLY HILLS HIGH SCHOOL.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on yearbook pages featuring American rock music group THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, performing live and taking part in an assembly at Beverly Hills High School, Los Angeles, CA, c. 1969.

All the family-friendly hits were played, of course. Definitely-absolutely nothing off of their '67 debut, I'm sure. Lol!

"I'VE GOT THE MONITORS UP AS FAR AS THEY CAN GO! BUT THEY'RE NOT MAKING ANY SOUND!"

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on Lou, Moe, Sterling and Doug of American rock band, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, crowded in a corner of TTG Studios in Los Angeles, CA, playing together in late 1968, rehearsing/ recording for their eponymously titled third album. 📸: Sandy Schor.

EXTRA INFO: Photos from the VU book, “I Met Myself in a Dream…That’s the Story of the Third Album," featuring 184 photos taken by Sandy Schor of the band in and around the Los Angeles studio, Nov 6th and Nov 8th of 1968, as well as many other things related to their third record.

"These pictures give you a real sense of how THE VELVET UNDERGROUND recorded their self titled third album. The studio was large, they had room to spread out, but they chose to huddle close, creating music so quiet the engineer was reported to say “I've got the monitors up as far as they can go, but they're not making any sound!” These were songs the Velvets had recently honed on the road. As Doug put it:

"Essentially, all those songs were already being played. The album itself, when it was recorded, was done basically as a live album. All four of us played together for the tracks and then we went back and overdubbed the vocals and any solos ... It was very organic. One of the reasons it has that particular sound is that it was just pulled out of the band while it was touring, and so it wasn't a lot of time to over-think it. It was just played.""

-- DOUG YULE APPRECIATION SOCIETY

RECORDING THEIR MOST VIBRANT, UPLIFTING, MOST POSITIVE ALBUM YET -- THE SUPER-SEVENTIES HAD ARRIVED.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on behind-the-scenes shots of American rock band, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, hard at work recording their final, classic album with Lou Reed, "Loaded," at Atlantic Studios in New York, NY, USA, c. 1970. 📸: Henri ter Hall.

UP THE NYC STREET PUNKS -- HAIL THE V.U.!

PIC INFO: Spotlight on American rock band THE VELVET UNDERGROUND, photographed by Ken Greenberg in NYC during the band's "White Light/White Heat" era, c. 1968.

"In a way, we were perfect punks. Delinquents anyway. I remember my parents thought rock 'n' roll would lead me to juvenile delinquency. But I was already there, so they couldn’t blame it on the guitar playing.”

-- STERLING MORRISON (1942-1995), c. 1985, collected in "Linger On: The Velvet Underground" (by Ignacio Julià, 2022)