Velvet Underground to Reissue ‘Loaded’ as Deluxe Box Set
The Velvet Underground will continue their series of box set reissues this fall with a six-disc, deluxe edition of their final album with Lou Reed, 1970’s Loaded. The package will include stereo and mono versions of the LP, outtakes, live recordings and high-def surround sound mixes. The set, officially titled Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition, is due out October 30th.
Although much of the release is already available – save mono mixes intended for a never-issued single of “Rock & Roll” and “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” – all of the audio is newly remastered. The first two discs feature the stereo and mono versions of the album, along with a few session outtakes, singles and B sides. The third disc consists of demos, early versions and alternate mixes of the songs surrounding Loaded. The fourth is a remastered edition of the group’s Live at Max’s Kansas City album, which captured the band’s last gig with Reed.
The fifth disc is a never-before-released concert recording, Live At Second Fret, Philadelphia, 1970, containing 11 tracks, including Loaded’s “Sweet Jane.” The show took place on May 9th, 1970, the month before the run of Max’s shows that led up to Reed’s departure. A fan named Bob Kachnycz, who hitchhiked to the show, recorded it on a reel-to-reel. The band’s lineup that night consisted only of Reed, guitarist Sterling Morrison and multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule, who alternated between bass and drums in the absence of drummer Moe Tucker.
The set’s final disc is an audio-only DVD containing different high-def mixes of Loaded. Included are a surround-sound remix of the album in DTS and Dolby Digital, a high-resolution stereo “downmix” (essentially a stereo version of the surround mix). These mixes are re-sequenced to feature a segue that was originally planned for “I Found a Reason/Head Held High.” It also contains a high-resolution version of the record’s original stereo mix.
The group recorded Loaded between April and August of 1970, releasing it in November while Tucker was on maternity leave. Three other drummers, including Doug’s brother Billy, played on the album. Tucker did contribute vocals to the outtake “I’m Sticking With You.” She also played drums in the demo session that produced “I Found a Reason.” Reed quit the band three months before Loaded came out, and Yule issued a final Velvet Underground album, Squeeze, in 1973 on which he was the only remaining Reed-era band member.
Earlier this year, Reed’s life after the Velvet Underground was honored when he was inducted as a solo artist into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. In her acceptance speech, his widow, Laurie Anderson, quoted Loaded’s “Rock & Roll.” “Like he said, ‘Despite all the amputations, you can still dance to the rock & roll station and it was all right,'” she said. “Lou knew the difference between himself as a writer and himself as a person and as a rock & roll star…. The fame itself was never that important. Lou was genuinely proud of what he’d done and could really appreciate his own work. Tonight he would have been immensely proud to be part of this.”
Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition track list:
Disc One: Loaded (Remastered)
1. “Who Loves the Sun”
2. “Sweet Jane” (full-length version)
3. “Rock & Roll” (full-length version)
4. “Cool It Down”
5. “New Age”
6. “Head Held High”
7. “Lonesome Cowboy Bill”
8. “I Found a Reason”
9. “Train Round the Bend”
10. “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'”
Session Outtakes:
11. “I’m Sticking With You” (new remix)
12. “Ocean”
13. “I Love You”
14. “Ride Into the Sun”
Disc Two: Loaded (Remastered – Promotional Mono Version)
1. “Who Loves the Sun”
2. “Sweet Jane” (full-length version)
3. “Rock & Roll” (full-length version)
4. “Cool It Down”
5. “New Age”
6. “Head Held High”
7. “Lonesome Cowboy Bill”
8. “I Found a Reason”
9. “Train Round the Bend”
10. “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'”
Singles and B Sides
11. “Who Loves the Sun”
12. “Oh! Sweet Nuthin'”
13. “Rock & Roll” (previously unreleased)
14. “Lonesome Cowboy Bill” (previously unreleased)
Disc Three: Demos, Early Versions and Alternate Mixes
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 Four: Live At Max’s Kansas City Remastered
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” (second version)
Disc Five: Live At Second Fret, Philadelphia, 1970
(all previously unreleased)
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 Six: Audio DVD
96k/24-bit Hi-Resolution Surround Sound Remix
96k/24-bit Hi-Resolution Stereo Downmix
96k/24-bit Hi-Resolution Original Stereo Mix