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The Velvet Underground – White Light/White Heat
Label:
Verve Records – V6-5046
Format:
Vinyl, LP, Album, Repress, Stereo, East Coast Pressing
Country:
US
Released:
1970
Genre:
Rock
Style:
Avantgarde, Experimental
Tracklist Hide Credits
A1 White Light/White Heat
Words By, Music By – Lou Reed
2:44
A2 The Gift
Music By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker*, Sterling Morrison
Words By – Lou Reed
8:14
A3 Lady Godiva's Operation
Words By, Music By – Lou Reed
4:52
A4 Here She Comes Now
Music By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker*, Sterling Morrison
Words By – Lou Reed
2:00
B1 I Heard Her Call My Name
Words By, Music By – Lou Reed
4:05
B2 Sister Ray
Music By – John Cale, Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker*, Sterling Morrison
Words By – Lou Reed
17:00
Companies, etc.
Published By – Three Prong Music
Record Company – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Copyright (c) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc.
Manufactured By – MGM Records Division
Pressed By – MGM Record Manufacturing Division
Credits
Cover [Concept] – Andy Warhol
Design [Cover] – Acy R. Lehman*
Engineer [Director Of] – Val Valentin
Engineer [Recording] – Gary Kellgren
Percussion – Maureen Tucker*
Photography By [Cover] – Billy Name
Photography By [Liner] – Mario Anniballi
Producer – Tom Wilson (2)
Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar – Sterling Morrison
Vocals, Guitar, Piano – Lou Reed
Vocals, Viola [Electric], Organ, Bass Guitar – John Cale
Notes
US stereo pressing on blue Verve labels::
- Visible skull tattoo on front cover.
- Tracklisting on back spelled "Here She Comes Now"
- Back cover credits Lou Reed for "Guitar"
- Andy Warhol is not credited on back cover
- Spine reads "V6-5046 WHITE LIGHT/WHITE HEAT THE VELVET UNDERGROUND VERVE"
- "Three Prong Music" publishing credit on all tracks.
- Small inner label ring about 1-inch in diameter.
-Plain white inner sleeve.
-Pre 1972 pressing from about 1970. In 1972 the credits included Warhol again, and prior to 1970, the credits included Warhol and Lehman on the back of the jacket.
USA c1970 'SECOND' [ALTHOUGH ACTUALLY STILL THE FIRST] STEREO PRESSING VINYL ALBUM IN 'SKULL' SLEEVE WITH TYPO CORRECTED REAR AND ORIGINAL WHITE INNER SLEEVE.
Absolutely NO reissues, remasters, represses of any kind of the original era VU LPs sound remotely like or as good as the originals. They all lack something, and get utterly dreadful by the digital era and beyond.
This particular disc is cut from exactly the same 1968 first east coast masters and retians the same matrix details, this issue simply corrects some typos on the original sleeve, the discs are essentially the same. It very likely this is not a 'repressed' LP and that these are just 1st pressing discs now housed in corrected sleeves because the matrix and labels are otherwise identical. In any event, what you're getting is the way this LP originally sounded on the stereo mix when it was first released.
MATRIX: V6-5046 SIDE 1 MGS-1258 10 [block-shaped 'S'] / V6-5046 SIDE 2 MGS-1259 1 [block-shaped 'S']
SLEEVE: VERY GOOD+, SOME SHELF, CORNER, EDGE AND RING WEAR. CORNER BUMPS AND SPINE SCUFFING BUT NO SEAM SPLITS. CONSIDERING THE AGE AND THE FACT IT IS BLACK, THIS SLEEVE IS IN PRETTY DECENT SHAPE. NO DRILL HOLES OR CUTS. INNER SLEEVE HAS MIDDLE SEAM SPLITS.
DISC: VISUALLY EXCELLENT MINUS WITH NO SCRATCHES AND JUST A FEW VERY LIGHT HAIRLINES. AURALLY WE GRADE IT VERY GOOD+ WITH NO SKIPS OR JUMPS BUT WHILST THERE ARE NO DEFECTS ON THE DISC WHATSOEVER, IT IS OUR HONEST OPINION THAT EVEN MINT ONES ONLY PLAY VERY GOOD+ AS THESE MGM PRESSED VERVE RECORDS OF THIS PARTICULAR ERA WERE NEVER LIKE MODERN DAY UTTERLY SILENT VINYL PRESSINGS. THIS IS THOUGH, ONE OF THE BEST PLAYING COPIES WE HAVE SEEN FOR MANY A-YEAR, SO DON'T PONDER ON YOUR PURCHASE DECISION OR LET IT GET AWAY BECAUSE THE HIPPER THIS BAND GETS, THE HARDER IT IS TO FIND DECENT ORIGINAL ERA COPIES EVERY YEAR. CLEAN LABELS.
Why buy a first or early pressing and not a re-issue or a ‘re-mastered’ vinyl album?
First and early pressings are pressed from the first generation lacquers and stampers. They usually sound vastly superior to later issues/re-issues (which, in recent times, are often pressed from whatever 'best' tapes or digital sources are currently available) - many so-called 'audiophile' new 180g pressings are cut from hi-res digital sources…essentially an expensive CD pressed on vinyl. Why experience the worse elements of both formats? These are just High Maintenance CDs, with mid-ranges so cloaked with a veil as to sound smeared. They are nearly always compressed with murky transients and a general lifelessness in the overall sound. There are exceptions where re-masters/re-presses outshine the original issues, but they are exceptions and not the norm.
First or early pressings nearly always have more immediacy, presence and dynamics. The sound staging is wider. Subtle instrument nuances are better placed with more spacious textures. Balances are firmer in the bottom end with a far-tighter bass. Upper-mid ranges shine without harshness, and the overall depth is more immersive. Inner details are clearer.
On first and early pressings, the music tends to sound more ‘alive’ and vibrant. The physics of sound energy is hard to clarify and write about from a listening perspective, but the best we can describe it is to say that you can 'hear' what the mixing and mastering engineers wanted you to hear when they first recorded the music.