Message: 2 Date: Sun, 19 Oct 2003 13:21:55 -0700 From: "phil todd" Subject: film - velvets 'n' jandek

Hello guys...I have a couple of the Rubble compilations - they were put out by a UK label called Ban Caruso sometime in the mid-80s I think - all European psych rarities. Bam Caruso used to publish a pretty good magazine called "Strange Things Are Happening" which is where I first discovered John Fahey and Lester Bangs and many other fine things both strange and happening. My favourite psych compilation will probably always be the original "Return Of Acid Dreams" bootleg LP which has the most fiery, mindblowing and intense 60s acid-punk I've ever heard. Re:the Velvets on film. There is sadly very little and what there is is generally unavailable. Due to their early association with various 60s underground filmmakers (most famously Warhol, of course, but also Piero Heliczer, Barbara Rubin, Jack Smith, Jonas Mekas and others), they make a few "appearances" in various underground movies. There's some great footage of the notorious psychiatric conference show in Jonas Mekas's epic diary film "Walden" (which also has a couple of amazing early Velvets improvs on the soundtrack which I've never seen on any bootlegs or anything). There is Velvets involvement in several Warhol film projects, including a Warhol film of a Velvets rehearsal ("The Velvet Underground - A Symphony In Sound") which ends when the police turn up. None of these films are available on video or DVD as far as I know, and generally only show up infrequently at film festivals. The Warhol film archive is supposed to be immense and I don't think it has been catalogued properly as yet, so there may be more VU footage lurking in a vault somewhere. The Velvets also made a few brief TV appearnces (mostly in their early role as house band to the Warhol Exploding Plastic Inevitable media circus), but nobody even knows if the tapes of these still exist. Phil Milstein's exhaustive (though in-need-of-an-update) Velvets discography in "What Goes On" is the best source of what little info is available (I can send along a xerox to anyone who is interested, though I don't doubt it is available online somewhere). British TV showed two excellent documentaries on the VU - one was an ITV South Bank Show special in the mid-80s. I saw it as an impressionable 14/15 year old and my life has never been the same since (it was my first exposure to the Velvets and the Warhol/Factory scene). In the mid-90s UK Channel 4 showed an 8 hour Velvets special to commemorate their ill-advised reformation and European tour, which consists of several documentaries (lots of incredible old footage from the Warhol and Mekas archives), a concert video of the reformed 90s Velvets (which I was never very impressed with), a short silent film of Cale and Reed writing "Sunday Morning" and the entirety of Warhol's "Chelsea Girls" movie (which has some fantsatic Velvets improvs on the soundtrack and an appearnce by Nico). I'd advise anyone interested in Velvets footage to look for someone who taped the 8 hour special (I have it, but unfortunately I don't even own a video player these days, let alone the facility to copy tapes). I'd also recommend the "Nico/Icon" documentary (which is available on DVD and video) from a few years ago. There's not really too much Velvets, but there's a lot of great stuff in it. Speaking of film, I caught the premiere of the Jandek On Corwood documentary at the Leeds film festival last weekend and really enjoyed it. Anyone want to hear the full report on it? Let me know and I'll post it next time - this fuckin' post has been long enough already. Someone get me a glass of water. This song I sing my love to bring - PHIL x