The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat is one of the most confrontational and inspirational second albums ever made by a rock band.
Recorded in a matter of days at the end of the summer of 1967, a season in which everything seemed possible in rock and much of it happened at now-mythic speed, White Light/White Heat is an album that reeks of the gritty NY street life and could only have been made in New York, by one band.
The group is the classic-quartet lineup of The Velvet Underground – singer-guitarist Lou Reed; bassist-organist and viola player John Cale; guitarist-bassist Sterling Morrison; and drummer Maureen Tucker.
On December 3rd, 2013, Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) will release The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition, a three-disc, 30-track set featuring both the original stereo and mono releases, completely remastered, with bonus tracks including alternate versions, unreleased outtakes, John Cale’s last studio sessions with the band, and the official release of their show at The Gymnasium in New York recorded on April 30, 1967, which includes five previously unreleased performances culled from John Cale’s personal copy. The 45th anniversary set was developed in conjunction with Lou Reed and John Cale, the exclusive material is as follows:
New 2013 mixes of Guess I’m Falling In Love, Hey Mr. Rain (version one), Hey Mr. Rain (version two), Beginning To See The Light (also a previously unreleased early version)
Unreleased versions of The Gift (vocal version) and The Gift (instrumental version)
Never-before-heard tracks from Live At The Gymnasium, New York City, April 30, 1967 – I’m Not A Young Man Anymore, I’m Waiting For The Man, Run Run Run, Sister Ray, and The Gift
New liner notes from David Fricke
Originally released by Verve Records on January 30, 1968, the LP cracked Billboard’s Top 200 albums chart on March 16, entering at No. 199. Forty-five years later, The Velvet Underground’s White Light/White Heat is considered one of the most influential albums of all time, laying down the blue print for punk and experimental rock, critically acclaimed and included on many “Top Lists” including Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time and on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Artists List.
Disc one of The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition starts with the original six-song stereo version of White Light/White Heat, with the album’s title track plunging you head first into 40 minutes of unprecedented, transgressive rock storytelling, propelled by epic distortion, lacerating guitar drone and severe, rhythmic purism – “the Statue of Liberty of punk,” Lou Reed contends, “with the light on top. It’s beyond unique and wonderful. No other group can touch what that is. You can’t try to be that.”
Disc two contains the original mono version of White Light/White Heat plus mono single mixes of Here She Comes Now and White Light/White Heat, as well as an instrumental and a vocal version of The Gift, both of which had been unreleased.
The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition also includes a third disc featuring the official release of the revelatory Gymnasium tape, recorded live during the Velvets’ residency at a short-lived New York club in April 1967, five months before the White Light/White Heat sessions. This show was previously only available on bootlegs and includes the complete version of the instrumental Booker T., plus the tracks I’m Not A Young Man Anymore, I’m Waiting For The Man, Run Run Run and a version of Sister Ray that clocks in just under 19 minutes.
Track List:
Disc 1 – WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (stereo version)
WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT
THE GIFT
LADY GODIVA’S OPERATION
HERE SHE COMES NOW
I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME
SISTER RAY
I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME (alternate take)
GUESS I’M FALLING IN LOVE (instrumental version)
TEMPTATION INSIDE YOUR HEART (original mix)
STEPHANIE SAYS (original mix)
HEY MR. RAIN (VERSION ONE)
HEY MR. RAIN (VERSION TWO)
BEGINNING TO SEE THE LIGHT (previously unreleased early version)
Disc 2 – WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (mono version)
WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT
THE GIFT
LADY GODIVA’S OPERATION
HERE SHE COMES NOW
I HEARD HER CALL MY NAME
SISTER RAY
WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT (mono single mix)
HERE SHE COMES NOW (mono single mix)
THE GIFT (vocal version)
THE GIFT (instrumental version)
Disc 3 – LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM, NEW YORK CITY, APRIL 30, 1967
BOOKER T.
I’M NOT A YOUNG MAN ANYMORE
GUESS I’M FALLING IN LOVE
I’M WAITING FOR THE MAN
RUN RUN RUN
SISTER RAY
THE GIFT
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