Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)

Background

Loaded was a commercial effort aimed at radio play, another step away from the Warhol-influenced experimental days of their earlier albums. The album's title refers to Atlantic's request that the band produce an album "loaded with hits". Singer/bassist Doug Yule said, "On Loaded there was a big push to produce a hit single, there was that mentality, which one of these is a single, how does it sound when we cut it down to 3.5 minutes, so that was a major topic for the group at that point. And I think that the third album to a great extent shows a lot of that in that a lot of those songs were designed as singles and if you listen to them you can hear the derivation, like this is sort of a Phil Spector-ish kind of song, or this is that type of person song."

Reed was critical of the album's final mix. He left the Velvet Underground on August 23, 1970, but Loaded wasn't released until three months later, in November. After its release, Reed maintained in interviews that it had been re-edited and resequenced without his consent.

One of Reed's sore points resulting from that unauthorized re-editing was that the "heavenly wine and roses" melody was cut out of "Sweet Jane". In the original recording, this part was intended to provide a perfectly flowing bridge to a full-fledged plagal cadence two-chord version of the chorus (earlier choruses in the song have a 4-chord riff). In Reed's initial solo performances, he would include the verse (see for instance American Poet), until 1973, when he would routinely leave it out, as the bridge fits less well in a more hard rock version (as heard for instance on Rock 'n' Roll Animal). However, the post-Reed, Doug Yule-led Velvets always performed the song with the verse included. A career-spanning retrospective of Reed's recordings with the Velvet Underground and as a solo artist, NYC Man (The Ultimate Collection 1967–2003), which Reed compiled himself, uses the shorter version. When asked about the shortened versions of "Sweet Jane" and "New Age" and Reed's long-standing claims that they were re-edited without his consent, Yule claimed that Reed had in fact edited the songs himself. "He edited it. You have to understand at the time, the motivation was... Lou was, and all of us were, intent on one thing and that was to be successful and what you had to do to be successful in music, was you had to have a hit, and a hit had to be uptempo, short, and with no digressions, straight ahead basically, you wanted a hook and something to feed the hook and that was it. 'Sweet Jane' was arranged just exactly the way it is on the original Loaded release exactly for that reason—to be a hit! 'Who Loves The Sun' was done exactly that way for that reason—to be a hit."

Reed also felt snubbed by being listed third in the credits on the album; and by the large photo of Yule playing piano; and by all the songwriting credits improperly going to the band, rather than Reed himself. Newer releases have satisfied many of Reed's concerns: he is now properly acknowledged as the main songwriter for the album; he is listed at the top of the band line-up and, since the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See, another mix is available, restoring "Sweet Jane", "Rock & Roll" and "New Age" to the full-length versions Reed had originally penned.

Although she is credited on the sleeve, the album does not feature Velvet Underground stalwart drummer Maureen Tucker, as she was pregnant at the time. Drumming duties were performed mainly by bassist Doug Yule, recording engineer Adrian Barber, session musician Tommy Castanero and Doug Yule's brother Billy. Lou Reed commented that "Loaded didn't have Maureen on it, and that's a lot of people's favorite Velvet Underground record, so we can't get too lost in the mystique of the Velvet Underground... It's still called a Velvet Underground record. But what it really is is something else." Sterling Morrison had strong feelings about Yule's increased presence on Loaded, saying: "The album came out okay, as far as production it's the best, but it would have been better if it had real good Lou vocals on all the tracks." While Morrison contributed guitar tracks to the album, he was also attending City College of New York and juggling his time between the sessions and classes, leaving most of the creative input to Reed and Yule. Doug Yule claimed that "Lou leaned on me a lot in terms of musical support and vocal arrangements. I did a lot on Loaded. It sort of devolved down to the Lou and Yule recreational recording". Of the ten songs that make up Loaded, Yule's lead vocals were featured on four songs: "Who Loves the Sun", which opens the album, "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'". In addition to his lead vocal parts, Yule handled all of the bass, piano and organ duties, and also recorded several lead guitar tracks. The guitar solos on "Rock and Roll", "Cool it Down", "Head Held High" and "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" were all played by Yule.

Original copies of the album have no silence in between the first two songs, "Who Loves the Sun" and "Sweet Jane", with the first note of the latter being heard at the precise moment the former completely fades. Some later pressings break the segue with the insertion of a few seconds of silence. All CDs of Loaded retain the original segue without the silence.

The artwork for the album features a drawing of the Times Square subway station entrance, with "downtown" misspelled as "dowtown".

Legacy

In 2003, Loaded was #110 on Rolling Stone's reissue of their 500 greatest albums of all time. The album contains two well-known Velvet Underground songs, "Sweet Jane" and "Rock & Roll", both of which are still heard regularly on classic rock FM radio stations. The album was covered live in its entirety by rock band Phish as one of their "Halloween musical costume" concerts on October 31, 1998. In 2012, lead guitarist Graham Coxon cited Loaded as an influence on Blur.

Track listing

All songs written by Lou Reed.

Reissues

The album was officially released on CD on July 7, 1987 by Warner Special Products. It is of note that some of the running times located on the back of the CD case are incorrect. For instance, "Sweet Jane" is marked 3:55 while it is in fact about 3:18; "New Age" is marked 5:20 while it is closer to 4:39.

Peel Slowly and See

Loaded was compiled on the fifth disc of the comprehensive, five-year-spanning box set Peel Slowly and See, which was released on September 26, 1995 by Polydor Records. The disc features longer running versions of "Sweet Jane", "Rock & Roll", and "New Age" as well as demos, outtakes and live performances.

Fully Loaded

Rhino Records released Fully Loaded, a two-CD reissue of Loaded, on February 18, 1997. It contains numerous alternate takes, alternate mixes, and demo versions of Loaded songs and outtakes, including performances by Maureen Tucker (the demos of "I'm Sticking with You", vocals, and "I Found a Reason", drums). There is also an "orchestral" alternate-take recording of "Ocean" for which the liner notes erroneously credit John Cale on organ. According to a 1995 interview with Doug Yule, who played organ on the recording, the strings used on the track were two cellos and double bass provided by session musicians who followed Yule's musical chart and instructions, and he couldn't recall Cale ever coming to the sessions.

Music journalist David Fricke contributed extensive liner notes to Fully Loaded.

Loaded 45th Anniversary Reissue

A six-CD reissue of the album released in October 2015.

Disc 1

1. "Who Loves the Sun"
2. "Sweet Jane" (Full Length Version)
3. "Rock and Roll" (Full Length Version)
4. "Cool It Down"
5. "New Age" (Full Length Version)
6. "Head Held High"
7. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill"
8. "I Found a Reason"
9. "Train Round the Bend"
10. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"
11. "I'm Sticking With You" (Session Outtake)
12. "Ocean" (Session Outtake)
13. "I Love You" (Session Outtake)
14. "Ride into the Sun" (Session Outtake)

Disc 2 - Promotional Mono Version

1. "Who Loves the Sun" (Mono)
2. "Sweet Jane" (Mono)
3. "Rock & Roll" (Mono)
4. "Cool It Down" (Mono)
5. "New Age" (Mono)
6. "Head Held High" (Mono)
7. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Mono)
8. "I Found a Reason" (Mono)
9. "Train Round the Bend" (Mono)
10. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (Mono)
11. "Who Loves the Sun" (Mono Single Version)
12. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (Mono Single Version)
13. "Rock & Roll" (Mono Single Version)
14. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Mono Unissued Single)

Disc 3 - Demos, Early Versions and Alternate Versions

1. "Rock & Roll" (Demo)
2. "Sad Song" (Demo)
3. "Satellite of Love" (Demo)
4. "Walk and Talk" (Demo)
5. "Oh Gin" (Demo)
6. "Ocean" (Demo)
7. "I Love You" (Demo)
8. "Love Makes You Feel Ten Feet Tall" (Demo Remix)
9. "I Found a Reason" (Demo)
10. "Cool It Down" (Early Version Remix)
11. "Sweet Jane" (Early Version Remix)
12. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Early Version Remix)
13. "Head Held High" (Early Version Remix)
14. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (Early Version Remix)
15. "Who Loves the Sun" (Alternate Mix)
16. "Sweet Jane" (Alternate Mix)
17. "Cool It Down" (Alternate Mix)
18. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Alternate Mix)
19. "Train Round the Bend" (Alternate Mix)
20. "Head Held High" (Alternate Mix)
21. "Rock & Roll" (Alternate Mix)

Disc 4 - Live at Max's Kansas City

1. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
2. "White Light White Heat"
3. "I'm Set Free"
4. "Sweet Jane"
5. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill"
6. "New Age"
7. "Beginning to See The Light"
8. "I'll Be Your Mirror"
9. "Pale Blue Eyes"
10. "Candy Says"
11. "Sunday Morning"
12. "After Hours"
13. "Femme Fatale"
14. "Some Kinda Love"
15. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Version 2)

Disc 5 - Live at Second Fret, Philadelphia, May 9, 1970

1. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
2. "What Goes On"
3. "Cool It Down"
4. "Sweet Jane"
5. "Rock & Roll"
6. "Some Kinda Love"
7. "New Age"
8. "Candy Says"
9. "Head Held High"
10. "Train Round the Bend"
11. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"

Disc 6 - DVD Audio

1. "Who Loves the Sun" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
2. "Sweet Jane" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
3. "Rock & Roll" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
4. "Cool It Down" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
5. "New Age" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
6. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
7. "I Found a Reason" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
8. "Head Held High" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
9. "Train Round the Bend" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
10. "Oh! Sweet Nothing" (5.1 Surround Sound Remix)
11. "Who Loves the Sun" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
12. "Sweet Jane" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
13. "Rock & Roll" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
14. "Cool It Down" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
15. "New Age" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
16. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
17. "I Found a Reason" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
18. "Head Held High" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
19. "Train Round the Bend" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
20. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (5.1 Surround Sound to Stereo Downmixes)
21. "Who Loves The Sun" (Stereo Album)
22. "Sweet Jane" (Stereo Album)
23. "Rock & Roll" (Stereo Album)
24. "Cool It Down" (Stereo Album)
25. "New Age" (Stereo Album)
26. "Head Held High" (Stereo Album)
27. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Stereo Album)
28. "I Found a Reason" (Stereo Album)
29. "Train Round the Bend" (Stereo Album)
30. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" (Stereo Album)

Personnel