![]() It’s noisy but within that noise is beautiful sounds, brilliant songs. It’s difficult but never (or almost never) intentionally so. It is a perfect distillation of Reed’s musical approach. The song continued to feature in Bowie's live repertoire throughout his career.This definitive edition of the Velvet Underground‘s second album was in the works before Lou Reed passed away earlier this year, but to hear this album again, and to hear it in the context of all these fascinating extras, is to find the best way to honor Reed’s legacy. Bowie performed the song during his 1987 Glass Spider Tour, a live version of which was released in 1988 (re-released in 2007) on Glass Spider. With Bowie at the peak of his global stardom thanks to Let's Dance, "White Light/White Heat" was considered an unusual turn for the pop audience he had attracted, and reached only #46 in the UK. Despite this, the Ziggy Stardust – The Motion Picture project would be the first time the song had been issued on a Bowie record, and as such it was released as a single. It had featured throughout the Ziggy Stardust Tour (including a performance with Lou Reed on July 8, 1972), been recorded by Bowie for two BBC sessions, and been slated for inclusion on Pin Ups (the backing track from this session was later recorded as a solo version by Mick Ronson in 1975). (His album of that year, Hunky Dory, features a credit to the song for having inspired Bowie's " Queen Bitch"). A version he recorded in 1973 was released as a single in 1983 to promote the album Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture.īowie, a long-time Velvets fan, had been performing "White Light/White Heat" since 1971. The song was regularly performed live by David Bowie. Sterling Morrison – lead guitar, backing vocalsĭavid Bowie version "White Light/White Heat"įrom the album Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture.John Cale – fuzz bass, piano, backing vocals.It appeared on the soundtrack of the fifth episode, during a flashback to a fictional Reed gig in 1973. The live version of the song from Reed's Rock 'n' Roll Animal was specially covered by Julian Casablancas for the HBO television series Vinyl. Two traditional-music influenced versions of the song were included on the soundtrack to the 2012 film Lawless, one by The Bootleggers featuring Mark Lanegan and one by bluegrass legend Ralph Stanley. The Guardian and Paste both ranked the song number seven on their lists of the greatest Velvet Underground songs. Reed went on to perform the song with several notable musicians, including David Bowie, Metallica and the Raconteurs. Reed also recorded a live version of the song in 1974, which featured on his Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Greatest Hits albums. The tune appears on numerous live bootleg albums, and the nearly nine-minute version included on the group's posthumous 1969 Live double LP is one of the album's centerpieces. "White Light/White Heat" was also a staple of the Velvet Underground's live performances from 1967 on. This bass solo purportedly mimics the throbbing, ear-ringing effects experienced during the methamphetamine "rush." The song is about the sensations produced by intravenous injection of methamphetamine and features a heavily distorted electric bass outro played by John Cale over a single chord. The song, much like " I'm Waiting for the Man", features a pounding rock-and-roll Barrelhouse-style piano vamp. The song's vocals are performed primarily by Lou Reed, with John Cale and Sterling Morrison performing backing vocals. "White Light/White Heat" was recorded in the course of the recording sessions for White Light/White Heat in September 1967 at Scepter Studios in Manhattan. Also in January 1968, the song was released as a single with the B-side " Here She Comes Now". It was released in January 1968 as the title track on their second studio album of the same name. " White Light/White Heat" is a song recorded by the American rock band the Velvet Underground.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |