The Velvet Underground-White Light/White Heat (1968)

 

Artist: The Velvet Underground

Title: White Light/White Heat

Label: Verve

Format: CD

Cat: 825 119-2

Year of Release: 1968

Country and Year of Edition: US 1987

Sell Price: $5.13 VG+/VG+ 6/8/24

Discogs Last Sold: 4/24/24 NM/NM $4.25

Low: $1.17

Median: $6.00

Average: $7.14

High: $16.99

Current low price: $5.49

Current Number on Sale at Discogs: 7

Have/Want: 350/302

Where Sold: Tampa, FL

Time it took to sell:  12 years

Where and When Purchased: new mall store in Worcester 1987

Gwiz-gau Letter Grade: A

Sad To See It Go: No

White Light/White Heat was the least "accessible" of the big 4 Velvet Underground Lou Reed studio album releases in their day.  This was the first issue of the CD era, coming a few years after the 1984 vinyl reissue campaign of the 60's Verve era. There was an interesting reissue history before the album became out of print.  In 1974 the album was issued by MGM in the US as Archetypes as well as the UK in 1976 on cassette with an altered track order.  In the late 70's the album was issued in France & Spain and in 1982 in Canada.  It took a decade for White Light/Light Heat to be permanently in the US catalog despite the commercial popularity of Lou Reed (and to a lesser extent John Cale) in that decade.  This master was subsumed in the mid 90's by the Peel Slowly and See remasters encased in a box set. Further reissues of the single have happened from the late 90's onward.   Now there is a recent deluxe expanded reissue from 2018.

As far as this album goes, John Cale's swan song with the group, this is the band at it's most abrasive.  Nico and her tutonic sweetness are gone.   Feedback and long jams take up both sides.  Cale's 8 minute narration of "The Gift" tells the tale of a lovelorn Waldo Jeffers of Locust, Pennsylvania mailing himself to Wisconsin in a manner so effectively secure that when the package is opened his head is split like the cantaloupe rumored to be used to make a musical accompaniment of this portion of the song ending dialogue. 

Not to be outdone, "Sister Ray" doubles that track time and Reed gleefully uses that space for plenty of feedback and lyrics mostly dedicated to "sucking on my ding dong" and "searching for my mainline."  Dope and sex in the big city 1968 style.

That leaves four "normal" length songs.  The one that seems most appropriate on the follow-up, "Lady Godiva's Operation" is the contribution from the departing member.  The vocal intrusions from Reed seem needle pinning and harsh interruptions to Cale's balladry.  Likewise, the Reed soloing on the side two opener "I Heard Her Call  My Name" sound like there was heavy influence on Greg Ginn a decade plus later. Different from what you might hear from the Stooges around that time but on the same plane.

Way ahead and of it's time.