RE: (TV) Velvets a jam band?

["Jim Kauffman" <jkauff@verizon.net>]

In 1968 (trust me, I was there) neither the VU or the GD were jam bands.
They were bands that improvised, and knew how to do it right. They were all
listening to Coltrane.

The 1960s equivalent of jam bands were the Boogie Blues bands, inspired by
Cream, whose members took turns taking interminable boring solos, capped by
the unavoidable DRUM SOLO. Think Ten Years After, Savoy Brown, Status Quo,
etc., sent up so beautifully in This Is Spinal Tap.

On a Sunday afternoon in 1968 on Euclid Ave. in Cleveland, at La Cave, the
VU were playing a matinee (last of a 3 day gig). A local boogie blues band
opened and got a nice round of applause when they left. The Velvets came on
stage a few minutes later, and this exchange occurred:

Lou: "Do you like the blues?"
About 20 People in the Audience: "Yeah! WooHoo!"
Lou: "We hate the blues. By the way, we're called the Velvet Underground."

And they proceeded to play some nice NYC surf music, starting with "Foggy
Notion".


Jim K.


> -----Original Message-----
> From: tv-owner@obbard.com [mailto:tv-owner@obbard.com] On Behalf Of Scott
> Simpson
> Sent: Friday, February 04, 2005 1:14 PM
> To: tv@obbard.com
> Subject: (TV) Velvets a jam band?
> 
> I remember a Lou interview several years back where he was saying they
> were
> East Village heroin motif and there was the West Village acid motif, and
> that the two didn't mix.  So I'm not really sure how a 45 minute Sweet
> Sister Ray fits into the mix, but it's impossible to say the Velvets
> didn't
> jam.  But then again, the Velvets remain the standard bearer for what a
> band
> should be, so they can pretty much do whatever they want and call it
> whatever they want.
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