Original_To:  BITNET%"allmusic@auvm"
Newsgroups: bit.listserv.allmusic
Date:         Fri, 11 Sep 1992 08:22:00 EST
From:         MCINTYRE@MSUPA.BITNET
Subject:      Lou Reed's "Rock'n'Roll"

>From:         There is No Answer <T9AA@SDSUMUS.BITNET>

>>>Which version? the Loaded or the Another View version?

>>I take it you mean Reed's Rock&Roll. I just realized I'm confusing some
>>songs here. I don't remember.  I seem to remember doing a cross between
>>a live version and a studio one, but I'm kind of drawing a blank.  You
>>gotta remember, this was 12 years ago when I was in college. Need I say
>>more?

>Yeah, that means you can't remember the albums. Lets see. . . 12 years?
>I think that means that Another View hadn't been released. McIntyre,
>help here! When did the Live at Max's Kansas City (is that the right
>title?) albums come out?

_Another View_ is copyright 1986; at least the CD version is.  I don't
know if it was out on vinyl earlier.  But if Russ was doing "Rock'n'Roll"
twelve years ago, it's unlikely this version was influencing him.

So the studio version he was following was probably _Loaded_ circa 1970.
Unless he was refering to Detroit's cover version.  There is no date
anywhere on my copy of the Detroit album, unless the little 71 by Mouse's
signature on the cover means the artwork was done in 1971.  But as Detroit's
version is a bit different than the Velvet Underground's that might make
crossing the studio and live versions a bit tricky if the live version
is the Velvets and the studio version is Detroit.  (The Detroit version
is harder rocking, and Lou Reed has been quoted as saying "That's the
way it should have sounded."  At the Detroit show on the Street Hassle
tour, Lou had Mitch Ryder, the vocalist for Detroit, come out to sing
"Rock'n'Roll" for the encore.  Mitch commented, "It's really weird
singing a Lou Reed song when Lou's standing behind you.")

_Live At Max's Kansas City_ was released in 1972, so it's within the
time frame.  But since "Rock'n'Roll" doesn't appear on the album, I
think we can discount that one. 8-)

For those who are unfamiliar with it, _Live At Max's Kansas City_ is
quite likely the worst sounding live recording ever released on a major
label.  It was never intended to be released.  The recording was made
by a friend of the band with a cassette recorder sitting on the table.
At times the conversation at the table is louder than the music.  But
that evening turned out to be Lou Reed's last appearance with the
Velvet Underground, so the tape was peddled to Atlantic Records as an
historical document.  At least Atlantic had the grace to charge less
than regular price for the album.  Amazingly it has been released on
CD.  For die-hard completists only.  And if you are one of those, you
also need _The Bedroom Tapes_:  Lou Reed and Nico sitting in a room
practicing various songs.  Multiple takes and no song is performed
to completion, but you get to hear Lou and Nico argue as Lou claims
"You're singing that differently" while Nico insists "That's the way
I've always sung it".  And you get to hear Lou try to explain Chuck
Berry to Nico.

So the live version of "Rock'n'Roll" that influenced Russ's version
might have come off _1969_, the live Velvet Underground album that
came out in 1974.  But my guess is that it was the version from
another 1974 album, Lou Reed's _Rock'n'Roll Animal_.  Great guitar
work from Dick Wagner, formerly with Frost, and Steve Hunter, formerly
with... yep, Detroit.  Small world, ain't it?

John McIntyre
Physics - Astronomy Dept
Michigan State University