This reissue could be one of the most spectacular of the year: the Light In The Attic label is releasing some of Lou Reed’s earliest demos and collecting them in an archive series.
It starts with “Words & Music, May 1965” (released on August 26). This is a tape recording that Reed once made himself and did not pass on. It went undiscovered on a five-inch reel in his office for 50 years.
Included on the tape are early demos of songs like “Heroin,” “I’m Waiting for the Man,” and “Pale Blue Eyes,” which Reed recorded with Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale. Now that we know how “I’m Waiting For The Man” sounded in the early stages, here’s a sample demo of Velvet’s classic “Heroin.”
The different beginning is clearly audible compared to the version that was finally completed for the Velvet Underground debut album.
It’s not the earliest version of Heroin, by the way. It comes in the Peel Slowly And See box set and was recorded with John Cale and Sterling Morrison two months before the now-released one.
Cover version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”
Words & Music, May 1965 will be available in a variety of formats including LP, cassette, 8-track, digital and CD. Limited to 7,500 copies, the deluxe double LP edition also includes a 7″ record that includes a cover version of Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right”. These six songs will also be released as a digital EP entitled Gee Whiz, 1958-1964 (October 7th).