The Velvet Underground’s ‘Loaded (Fully Re-Loaded Edition) Set For Vinyl Debut
Lou Reed sang about the lifesaving powers of “Rock & Roll” on Loaded, his fourth and final studio album with The Velvet Underground. Since it arrived in November 1970, generations have been shaking to the album’s “fine, fine music,” experiencing their own kinds of musical salvation thanks to songs like “Sweet Jane,” “Head Held High,” and “Oh! Sweet Nuthin’.”
Dig! spotlights Loaded with a new vinyl boxed set that includes nearly all the music from its expansive 2015 CD reissue, Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition. The forthcoming collection, LOADED (FULLY RE-LOADED EDITION), features nine LPs with stereo, mono, and “Full-Length” mixes of the original album along with a generous selection of demos, studio outtakes, and live recordings. Several tracks from the set will be available on vinyl for the first time.
Pre-order Loaded (Fully Re-Loaded Edition) here.
LOADED (FULLY RE-LOADED EDITION) is limited to 1,970 numbered copies and will be available on 24 March 2023. The set is available exclusively on Dig! for £250 and comes in a deluxe, foil-wrapped slipcase containing the vinyl, a poster of the album’s cover art, and an illustrated booklet with liner notes by Lenny Kaye that appeared in Loaded: Re-Loaded 45th Anniversary Edition.
In addition to the nine LPs, the set also comes with four 7-inches that reproduce the official singles and B-sides released from Loaded. Rock & Roll and Who Loves The Sun both come in the generic record sleeves used at the time by Cotillion, the band’s label. The former is being reissued for the first time ever, as the original release was cancelled in 1970, while the latter is being reissued for the first time since 1970. The other two singles come in picture sleeves originally released in Europe: Head Held High in France and Sweet Jane in Germany.
LOADED (FULLY RE-LOADED EDITION) opens with three different versions of the original studio album: remastered stereo and mono mixes, plus a Full-Len”gth” version that boasts extended takes of Sweet Jane, Rock & Roll and New Age.
More than two dozen recordings from the making of Loaded appear on vinyl for the first time in the new collection. The music explores the creative process behind the album with early versions of Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ and Lonesome Cowboy Bill and alternate mixes for Rock & Roll and Train ’round The Bend. Songs that would eventually appear on Reed’s 1972 solo debut make appearances as well, with early versions of Ocean, I Love You, and Ride Into The Sun.
Those studio recordings are bolstered by a selection of live performances recorded before Loaded debuted in November 1970. A few weeks into making the album, on May 9, 1970, the band played at the Second Fret in Philadelphia. Bob Kachnycz, a fan, hitchhiked to the show and recorded the show on reel-to-reel. The band was down to a trio that night: Reed, Sterling Morrison, and Doug Yule, who alternated between bass and drums to fill in for Moe Tucker, who was pregnant then. This show, available for the first time on vinyl, uncovers early performances of several songs destined for the album: Cool It Down, Rock & Roll, and New Age.
The second performance was recorded in New York City at Max’s Kansas City nightclub on August 23, 1970, the day Reed left The Velvet Underground. Several songs from the show were released in 1972 as the live album, Live At Max’s Kansas City. In 2004, Rhino released a remastered version of the live album that was expanded to include both sets the band played that night. Featured on two LPs in the new collection, the recordings touch on all the band’s past albums with live versions of I’m Waiting For The Man, White Light/White Heat, Pale Blue Eyes and Sweet Jane.
LOADED (FULLY RE-LOADED EDITION)
Track Listing
Loaded: Original Album (Remastered)
Side One:
Who Loves The Sun
Sweet Jane
Rock & Roll
Cool It Down
New Age
Side Two
Head Held High
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
I Found A Reason
Train ’round The Bend
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Loaded: Promotional Mono Version (Remastered)
Side One
Who Loves The Sun
Sweet Jane
Rock & Roll
Cool It Down
New Age
Side Two
Head Held High
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
I Found A Reason
Train ’round The Bend
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Loaded: “Full-Length” Version (Remastered)
Side One
Who Loves The Sun
Sweet Jane – Full-Length Version *
Rock & Roll – Full-Length Version *
Cool It Down
New Age – Full-Length Version *
Side Two
Head Held High
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
I Found A Reason
Train ’round The Bend
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’
Loaded – “Fully Loaded” Version (Remastered)
Side One
Ride Into The Sun – Session Outtake *
Ocean – Session Outtake *
I Love You – Session Outtake *
I’m Sticking With You – Session Outtake *
Rock & Roll – Demo *
Sad Song – Demo *
Side Two
I Found A Reason – Demo *
Satellite Of Love – Demo *
Oh Gin – Demo *
Walk And Talk – Demo *
Ocean – Demo *
I Love You – Demo *
Love Makes You Feel Ten Feet Tall – Demo *
Side Three
Cool It Down – Early Version *
Sweet Jane – Early Version *
Lonesome Cowboy Bill – Early Version *
Head Held High – Early Version *
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ – Early Version *
Who Loves The Sun – Alternate Mix *
Side Four
Sweet Jane – Alternate Mix *
Lonesome Cowboy Bill – Alternate Mix *
Train ’round The Bend – Alternate Mix *
Cool It Down – Alternate Mix *
Head Held High – Alternate Mix *
Rock & Roll – Alternate Mix *
Live At Max’s Kansas City: Expanded Version (Remastered)
Side One
I’m Waiting For The Man
White Light/White Heat
I’m Set Free
Sweet Jane
Side Two
Lonesome Cowboy Bill
New Age
Beginning To See The Light
I’ll Be Your Mirror
Side Three
Pale Blue Eyes
Candy Says
Sunday Morning
After Hours
Side Four
Femme Fatale
Some Kinda Love
Lonesome Cowboy Bill – Version Two
Live At Second Fret, Philadelphia (1970)
Side One:
I’m Waiting For The Man *
What Goes On *
Cool It Down *
Side Two
Sweet Jane *
Rock & Roll *
Some Kinda Love *
Side Three
New Age *
Candy Says *
Head Held High *
Side Four
Train ’round The Bend *
Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ *
7” Singles
Head Held High b/w Train ’round The Bend – French Picture Sleeve
Rock & Roll b/w Lonesome Cowboy Bill – Cotillion Sleeve
Sweet Jane” b/w Rock & Roll – German Picture Sleeve
Who Loves The Sun b/w Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ – Cotillion Sleeve
* vinyl debut
Pre-order Loaded (Fully Re-Loaded Edition) here.