"Waiting for the Man" - who did it better? Velvet Underground vs. David Bowie

[LynneSin]

I love the song and have both versions on my Ipod but who did it better?

Bowie:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K_3Msuriy1w

Velvet Underground:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MOmZimH00oo

[enigmatic]

1. VU

It's not close, and even Bowie will say that w/o reservations.

[LynneSin]

4. I would have agreed until I got that "Live in Santa Monica" CD from Bowie

I love the live version of the song on there!

[edhopper]

2. I'm a big fan of Bowie

But it's Big Lou by a mile.

[JPZenger]

3. Bowie did great work with Lou in the early 70s

[tigereye]

5. isn't it I'm Waiting for My Man?

VU hands down. We once played a version of it in my band back when I had no idea what they were talking about...


:rofl:

God, I was naive for someone who spent all her time hanging around punk clubs...

[taterguy]

6. This is an old song. You can tell by inflation

That's how Lou Reed introduced the song when I saw him in Chapel Hill in 1985.

The crowd roared even though I'm pretty sure none of them had gone out shopping for heroin lately.

[old mark]

7. Velvets - the old version is the best I have heard. Reed did several other versions in his

glitter period that were nowhere near as good.

mark

[enigmatic]

8. The Cale-less VU version off the original UVLive 1969 album is great, too

The whole album is in my top 2 or 3 all-time records most days, especially side 3.

[Withywindle]

9. Yeah, but Cale-less VU always sounds just a little bit neutered by comparison.

I am a shameless partisan. :D

[enigmatic]

10. Well it's a bit more laid-back and relaxed, I admit

But VU Live1969 was my first taste of the Velvets and it still has a soft spot in my record collection. Plus, at least on this record, Sterling Morrison's guitar never sounded more sympathetic to Lou's Gretsch..

[Withywindle]

11. Oh, I agree, a chance for Sterling to shine never goes amiss.

I am ALL about that. That's one of the great injustices of rock'n'roll, that he was never recognized as one of the guitar greats in his lifetime.


But my own bias is that I'm a big fan of noisy avant-garde stuff, I am also an unpleasant amplified fiddler (nowhere near as skilled, but I have fun and I cannot get enough of that sound), I enjoy Cale's solo stuff more than Reed's, I don't love *anything* off the last two albums (except "What Goes On" and maybe "Some Kinda Love" nearly as much as I love "Venus in Furs" and "Black Angel's Death Song" and....er...um...looking at those 60s Factory photos...I...er...must admit...I WOULD HIT IT LIKE THE FIST OF AN ANGRY GOD. :evilgrin:

BTW, I do own that awful early 90s reunion tour live album....and really, the most awful thing about it is how obscenely far Lou's guitar was cranked up in the mix over everything else. And I just kept wishing I had the tech to crank him down and crank Sterling up.

[old mark]

12. I really liked granny on the drums on that one. Mo Tucker is

underrated, but she shines live.

mark