In celebration of its 45th anniversary this fall, The Velvet Underground will be re-releasing their self-titled third album in a six disc super deluxe set. The record, home to singles and hit favorites such as “What Goes On,” “Candy Says,” and “Pale Blue Eyes,” and the first of the band’s album without founding violinist John Cale on it, will be the focal point of a sixty-five track set which will be housed in a case-bound book, and will feature many different versions of the songs. Although the reissued version will be available as the “super deluxe” edition, it will also be made available as a single disc remastered album as well as a two disc deluxe edition, which will feature twelve selections from a concert the group played at the San Francisco club the Matrix in 1969.
This is by no means the band’s first reissue. In 2012, they released the 45th anniversary deluxe box set for their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico, and in 2013, they re-released White Light/White Heat as a box set as well. The first disc of the newest box set will feature a remastered stereo version of Luis Pastor “Val” Valentin’s (MGM’s house engineer) original mix. The second disco will be what the band calls Lou Reed’s “Closet Mix,” named for the fact that it sounds as though it were recorded in a closet. The third disc will have the mono mix, which appeared on promotional copies of the album, and a mono version of the single “What Goes On,” and also “Jesus.” The fourth disc is where they switch it up, featuring a “if only” version, based on recordings The Velvet Underground made in 1969 at New York City’s Record Plant. Many songs were eventually re-recorded by Reed for his solo albums, including “Rock & Roll,” “I Can’t Stand It,” “Lisa Says,” and “Andy’s Chest.” The fourth disc on this deluxe set features ten previously unheard mixes done in 1969 and 2014.
The fifth and sixth disc of The Velvet Underground’s celebratory box set contain recordings of two concerts the band played in November of 1969 at the Matrix. Original multi-track recordings made by the Matrix club manager Peter Abram were compiled and mixed to create a thirty-seven minute set that includes “Sister Ray” (from 1968’s White Light/White Heat) and a rendition of “There She Goes Again,” (from the 1967 debut The Velvet Underground and Nico) that mashes up with Marvin Gaye’s “Hitch Hike.” All of the reissued versions will be made available on November 24th, and will also be available in versions mastered for HD and iTunes audio formats. View the complete tracklist for The Velvet Underground – 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition here.