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The AllMusic source doesn't check out but the BBC source says "the band that launched a dozen musical subgenres and movements. The roots of underground and experimental music, indie and alternative, punk, post-punk and art-punk ..." etcetera
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{{Hatnote|This article is about the band. For the self-titled albums see [[The Velvet Underground & Nico]] and [[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]; for the book see [[The Velvet Underground (book)|The Velvet Underground]]}}{{Infobox musical artist
| name = The Velvet Underground
| image = File:Velvet Underground 1993 promo photo.jpg
| caption = The Velvet Underground reformed in 1993. From left to right: Morrison (at back), Tucker, Cale and Reed
| image_size =
| background = group_or_band
| origin = [[New York City]], [[New York (state)|New York]], U.S.
| alias = {{flatlist|
*The Warlocks
*The Falling Spikes
}}
| genre = {{flatlist|
* [[Art rock]]<ref>{{cite book|first=Matthew|last=Bannister|title=White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4ckLKGTXRwQC&pg=PA38|year=2007|publisher=Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.|isbn=978-0-7546-8803-7|ref=harv}}</ref>
* {{nowrap|[[proto-punk]]}}<ref>{{cite web|title=Proto-Punk|url=http://www.allmusic.com/subgenre/proto-punk-ma0000005021|website=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=2016-09-25}}
</ref>
* {{nowrap|[[experimental rock]]}}<ref>{{cite book|ref=harv|last=Rosenberg|first=Stuart|title=Rock and Roll and the American Landscape: The Birth of an Industry and the Expansion of the Popular Culture, 1955–1969|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=736Mu91q_fcC&pg=PA179|year=2009|publisher=iUniverse|isbn=978-1-4401-6458-3}}</ref>
* {{nowrap|[[avant-punk]]}}<ref>{{cite news|last1=Christgau|first1=Robert|title=Avant-Punk: A Cult Explodes . . . and a Movement Is Born|url=http://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/music/avantpunk-77.php|work=[[Village Voice]]|date=October 24, 1977}}</ref>
* [[art pop]]<ref>{{cite book|author=Matthew Bannister|title=White Boys, White Noise: Masculinities and 1980s Indie Guitar Rock|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lt2hAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA45|series=Ashgate Popular and Folk Music Series|date=September 22, 2006|publisher=Routledge|isbn=9780754651901|page=45}}</ref>
}}
| years_active = 1964–1973, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996
| label = {{flatlist|
*[[Verve Records|Verve]]
*[[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
*[[Polydor]]
*[[MGM]]
*[[Mercury Records|Mercury]]
*[[Cotillion Records|Cotillion]]<!--(1993–1994)--><!--The band's Verve, M·G·M and Mercury output is now being managed by [[Universal Music Group|UMG]] subsidiary Polydor.-->
}}
| associated_acts = {{flatlist|
*[[Nico]]
*[[Theatre of Eternal Music]]
}}
| current_members =
| past_members =
*[[Lou Reed]]
*[[John Cale]]
*[[Sterling Morrison]]
*[[Angus MacLise]]
*[[Moe Tucker]]
*[[Doug Yule]]
*[[Walter Powers (musician)|Walter Powers]]
*[[Willie Alexander]]
| website = {{URL|velvetundergroundmusic.com}}
}}

'''The Velvet Underground''' was a [[rock music|rock]] band formed in [[New York City|New York]], America, by singer/guitarist [[Lou Reed]], multi-instrumentalist [[John Cale]], guitarist [[Sterling Morrison]], and drummer [[Angus MacLise]] (who was replaced by [[Moe Tucker]] in 1965). Despite achieving little commercial success during its existence, the Velvet Underground is now recognized as one of the bands most influential to rock, [[underground music|underground]], [[experimental music|experimental]], and [[alternative music]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20131125-do-the-velvets-beat-the-beatles |title=The Velvet Underground: As influential as The Beatles? |last=Kot |first=Greg |publisher=BBC |date=October 21, 2014 |accessdate=November 25, 2016}}</ref> The provocative subject matter, musical experimentation, and often [[Nihilism|nihilistic]] attitudes explored in the band's work would prove influential in the development of [[punk rock]] and [[new wave music]].<ref name="bio">{{cite web|last1=Unterberger|first1=Richie|title=The Velvet Underground - Biography & History|url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-velvet-underground-mn0000840402/biography|website=[[AllMusic]]|accessdate=26 March 2017}}</ref>

The band was active between 1965 and 1973, and between 1992 and 1993, and was briefly managed by the [[pop art]]ist [[Andy Warhol]], serving as the [[house band]] at [[the Factory]] and Warhol's ''[[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]'' events from 1966 to 1967. Their debut album, ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' (with German born singer and model [[Nico]]), was released in 1967 to critical indifference and poor sales, but over time has been critically acclaimed; it was called the "most prophetic rock album ever made" by ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' in 2003.<ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5938174/the_rs_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time RS 500 Greatest Albums] November 18, 2003.</ref><ref>[http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6597640/13_the_velvet_underground 13-The Velvet Underground and Nico] Rolling Stone, November 1, 2003</ref> In 2004, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked the band No.&nbsp;19 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time".<ref>Julian Casablancas, [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939222/19_the_velvet_underground "The Velvet Underground" (No.&nbsp;19)], in [http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5939214/the_immortals_the_first_fifty "The Immortals: The First Fifty"], ''Rolling Stone'', No.&nbsp;946 (April 15, 2004), accessed April 29, 2007.</ref> The band was inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] in 1996 by [[Patti Smith]].

==History==

===Pre-career and early stages (1964–66)===
The foundations for what would become the Velvet Underground were laid in late 1964. Singer/songwriter/guitarist [[Lou Reed]] had performed with a few short-lived [[Garage rock|garage bands]] and had worked as a songwriter for [[Pickwick Records]] (Reed described his tenure there as being "a poor man's [[Carole King]]").<ref name=Fricke>[[David Fricke]], [[liner notes]] for the ''[[Peel Slowly and See]]'' [[box set]] (Polydor, 1995).</ref> Reed met [[John Cale]], a Welshman who had moved to the United States to study classical music upon securing a scholarship. Cale had worked with experimental composers [[Cornelius Cardew]] and [[La Monte Young]], and had performed with Young's [[Theatre of Eternal Music]], though was also interested in rock music.<ref>{{cite web|title=Incubator for the Velvet Underground|author=John Cale as told to Marc Myers|url=https://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323596204578241620759540276.html|publisher=Wall Street Journal|accessdate=2013-01-27}}</ref> Young's use of extended drones would be a profound influence on the band's early sound. Cale was pleasantly surprised to discover that Reed's experimentalist tendencies were similar to his own: Reed sometimes used alternative guitar tunings to create a droning sound. The pair rehearsed and performed together; their partnership and shared interests built the path towards what would later become the Velvet Underground.

Reed's first group with Cale was the Primitives, a short-lived group assembled to issue budget-priced recordings and support an anti-dance single penned by Reed, "The Ostrich", to which Cale added a viola passage. Reed and Cale recruited [[Sterling Morrison]]—a college classmate of Reed's at [[Syracuse University]]—as a replacement for [[Walter De Maria]], who had been a third member of the Primitives.<ref>{{cite web|title=Velvet Underground|work=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|accessdate=October 26, 2011}}</ref> Reed and Morrison both played guitars, Cale played viola, keyboards and bass and [[Angus MacLise]] joined on percussion to complete the initial four-member unit. This quartet was first called the Warlocks, then the Falling Spikes.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CzWE_J3ZZfoC&pg=PA312|page=312|title=Icons of Rock|authors=Scott Schinder, Andy Schwartz|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date= 2008}}</ref> ''[[The Velvet Underground (book)|The Velvet Underground]]'' by Michael Leigh was a contemporary mass market paperback about the secret sexual subculture of the early 1960s that Cale's friend and [[Theatre of Eternal Music|Dream Syndicate]] associate [[Tony Conrad]] showed the group. MacLise made a suggestion to adopt the title as the band's name.<ref name=jovanovic>{{cite book|last1=Jovanovic|first1=Rob|title=Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground|date=2012|publisher=Macmillan|isbn=9781250000149|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UVsdu300fq8C&pg=PA38#v=onepage&q&f=false}}</ref> According to Reed and Morrison, the group liked the name, considering it evocative of "underground cinema", and fitting, as Reed had already written "[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]", a song inspired by [[Leopold von Sacher-Masoch]]'s [[Venus in Furs|book of the same name]], which dealt with masochism. The band immediately and unanimously adopted the Velvet Underground as its new name in November 1965.

The newly named Velvet Underground rehearsed and performed in New York City. Their music was generally much more relaxed than it would later become: Cale described this era as reminiscent of [[beat generation|beat]] poetry, with MacLise playing gentle "pitter and patter rhythms behind the drone".<ref name=autogenerated1>Quoted by David Fricke in his liner notes for the ''Peel Slowly and See'' box set ([[Polydor]], 1995).</ref>

In July 1965, Reed, Cale and Morrison recorded a [[demo tape]] at their [[Ludlow Street]] loft, but without MacLise because he wasn't reliable enough to be tied down to a schedule and sometimes would only turn up to band practice sessions when he wanted to.<ref name="allmusic.com">{{cite web|author=Biography by Richie Unterberger |url=http://www.allmusic.com/artist/angus-maclise-mn0000756247/biography |title=Angus MacLise &#124; Biography & History |publisher=AllMusic |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Metzger |first=Richard |url=http://dangerousminds.net/comments/angus_maclise_original_velvet_underground_drummer |title=DREAMWEAPON: The Art and Life of Angus MacLise, original Velvet Underground drummer |publisher=Dangerous Minds |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> When he briefly returned to Britain, Cale attempted to give a copy of the tape to [[Marianne Faithfull]],<ref>John Cale & Victor Bockris ''What's Welsh For Zen'' London: Bloomsbury, 1999</ref> hoping she'd pass it on to [[Mick Jagger]], lead singer of [[The Rolling Stones]]. Nothing ever came of this, but the demo was eventually released on the 1995 box set ''Peel Slowly and See''.

Manager and music journalist [[Al Aronowitz]] arranged for the group's first paying gig—[[USD|$]]75 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|75|1965}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) to play at [[Summit High School (New Jersey)|Summit High School]], in Summit, New Jersey, opening for the Myddle Class. When they decided to take the gig, MacLise abruptly left the group, protesting what he considered a [[sellout]]; he was also unwilling to be told when to start and stop playing. "Angus was in it for art", Morrison reported.<ref name=Fricke/>

MacLise was replaced by [[Moe Tucker|Maureen "Moe" Tucker]], the younger sister of Morrison's friend Jim Tucker. Tucker's playing style was rather unusual: she generally played standing up rather than seated and had an abbreviated [[drum kit|drum setup]] of [[tom-toms]], [[snare drum|snare]] and an upturned [[bass drum]], using [[mallets#percussion mallets|mallets]] as often as drumsticks, and rarely using [[cymbals]] (she admits that she always hated cymbals).<ref>{{cite web|last=Coston |first=Daniel |url=http://danielcoston.blogspot.com.au/2013/10/moe-tucker-interview-1997-part-one.html |title=The Coston Chronicles: Moe Tucker interview, 1997, part one |publisher=Danielcoston.blogspot.com.au |date=2013-10-29 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> (The band having asked her to do something unusual, she turned her bass drum on its side and played standing up. When her drums were stolen from one club, she replaced them with garbage cans, brought in from outside.) Her rhythms, at once simple and exotic (influenced by the likes of [[Babatunde Olatunji]] and [[Bo Diddley]] records), became a vital part of the group's music, despite Cale's initial objections to the presence of a female drummer.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bockris|first1=Victor|title=Transformer: The Lou Reed Story|date=1994|publisher=Simon & Schuster|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-684-80366-6|pages=99, 101|quote=Cale, horrified by the mere suggestion that a 'chick' should play in their great group, had to be placated by the promise that it was strictly temporary.}}</ref> The group earned a regular paying gig at the Café Bizarre and gained an early reputation as a promising ensemble.

===Andy Warhol and the ''Exploding Plastic Inevitable'' (1966–67)===
In 1965, after being introduced to the Velvet Underground by filmmaker [[Barbara Rubin]],<ref name="boo-hooray">{{cite web|last1=Kugelberg|first1=Johan|title=Christmas on Earth: Barbara Rubin|url=http://boo-hooray.com/exhibits/christmas-on-earth|website=Boo-Hooray Gallery |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140614041743/http://boo-hooray.com/exhibits/christmas-on-earth |archivedate=June 14, 2014 |accessdate=April 5, 2016}}</ref> Andy Warhol became the band's manager and suggested they use the German-born singer [[Nico]] (born Christa Päffgen) on several songs. Warhol's reputation helped the band gain a higher profile. He helped the band secure a recording contract with MGM's Verve Records, with himself as nominal "[[record producer|producer]]", and gave the Velvets free rein over the sound they created.

During their stay with Andy Warhol, the band became part of his multimedia roadshow, ''[[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]]'', which combined Warhol's films with the band's music, which made use of minimalist devices, such as drones. Warhol included the band with his show in an effort to "use rock as a part of a larger, interdisciplinary-art work based around performance" (McDonald).{{full citation needed|date=February 2016}} They played shows for several months in New York City, then traveled throughout the United States and Canada until its last installment in May 1967.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.maxskansascity.com/warhol/|title=Andy Warhol: From the Velvet Underground to Basquiat}}</ref> During a short period in September 1966, when Cale was ill, the avant-garde musician [[Henry Flynt]], and Richard Mishkin, who had played in Reed's first group at university,<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rx7zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT19#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=19|title=Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= 22 Oct 2015}}</ref> took turns to cover for him.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rx7zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT67|page=67|title=Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= 22 Oct 2015}}</ref>

The show included 16&nbsp;mm film projections by Warhol, combined with a stroboscopic-light show designed by Danny Williams. Because of the punishing lights, the band took to wearing sunglasses onstage.<ref>{{cite book |first1=Victor |last1=Bockris |authorlink1=Victor Bockris |first2=Gerard |last2=Malanga |authorlink2=Gerard Malanga |title=Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story |year=2009 |origyear=1983 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=978-0-85712-003-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C-Ne8rSuNRoC&pg=PT70 |quote=It was at this time that The Velvets started wearing dark glasses on stage, not through trying to be cool but because the light-show could be blinding at times. }}</ref> Early promo posters referred to the group as the "erupting plastic inevitable". This soon changed to "the exploding plastic inevitable".

In 1966, MacLise temporarily rejoined the Velvet Underground for a few ''EPI'' shows when Reed was suffering from [[hepatitis]] and unable to perform. For these appearances, Cale sang and played organ, Tucker switched to bass guitar and MacLise was on drums. Also at these appearances, the band often played an extended jam they had dubbed "Booker T", after musician [[Booker T. Jones]]. Some of these performances have been released as a [[Bootleg recording|bootleg]]; they remain the only record of MacLise with the Velvet Underground.

According to Morrison, MacLise is said to have regretted leaving the Velvet Underground and wanted to rejoin, but Reed specifically prohibited this and made it clear that this stint was only temporary. It should be noted, however, that MacLise still behaved eccentrically with time and commerce and went by his own clock: for instance, he showed up half an hour late to one show and carried on with a half-hour of drumming to compensate for his late arrival, long after the set had finished.<ref name="allmusic.com"/>

In December 1966, Warhol and [[David Dalton (writer)|David Dalton]] designed Issue 3 of the multimedia [[Aspen (magazine)|''Aspen'']].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen3/index.html |title=Aspen no. 3: The Pop Art issue |publisher=Ubu.com |date= |accessdate=October 29, 2011}}</ref> Included in this issue of the "magazine", which retailed at $4 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|4|1966}}}} in {{CURRENTYEAR}} dollars{{inflation-fn|US}}) per copy and was packaged in a hinged box designed to look like Fab laundry detergent, were various leaflets and booklets, one of which was a commentary on rock and roll by Lou Reed, another an ''EPI'' promotional newspaper. Also enclosed was a 2-sided [[flexi disk]], side one produced by [[Peter Walker (guitarist)|Peter Walker]], a musical associate of [[Timothy Leary]], and side two titled "Loop", credited to the Velvet Underground but actually recorded by Cale alone. "Loop", a recording solely of pulsating [[audio feedback]] culminating in a [[locked groove]], was "a precursor to [Reed's] ''[[Metal Machine Music]]''", say Velvets archivists M.C. Kostek and Phil Milstein in the book ''The Velvet Underground Companion''.<ref>{{cite web|last=Heylin |first=Clinton |url=http://www.amazon.com/dp/0028646274 |title=The Velvet Underground Companion: Four Decades of Commentary (The Schirmer Companion Series , No 8): Albin, Iii Zak, Albin Zak: Books |publisher=Amazon.com |date= |accessdate=October 29, 2011}}</ref> "Loop" also predates much [[industrial music]].

===''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' (1967)===
{{Main article|The Velvet Underground & Nico}}
[[File:Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable with Nico.png|thumb|upright|left|alt=Nico onstage|Nico at [[Andy Warhol]]'s [[Exploding Plastic Inevitable]], where she performed with the Velvet Underground, circa 1967]]

At Warhol's insistence, Nico sang with the band on three songs of their debut album, ''The Velvet Underground & Nico''. The album was recorded primarily in Scepter Studios in New York City during April 1966, but for reasons unclear, some songs were rerecorded at [[TTG Studios]] in [[Los Angeles]], along with the new song "[[Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)|Sunday Morning]]", later in the year with [[Tom Wilson (producer)|Tom Wilson]] producing. The album was released by Verve Records the following year in March 1967. The album cover is famous for its Warhol design: a yellow banana sticker with "Peel slowly and see" printed near the tip. Those who did remove the banana skin found a pink, peeled banana beneath.

Eleven songs showcased the Velvets' dynamic range, veering from the pounding attacks of "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]" and "[[Run Run Run (Lou Reed song)|Run Run Run]]", the droning "Venus in Furs" and "[[Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)|Heroin]]", the chiming and celestial "Sunday Morning", to the quiet "[[Femme Fatale (song)|Femme Fatale]]" and the tender "[[I'll Be Your Mirror]]", as well as Warhol's own favorite song of the group, "[[All Tomorrow's Parties]]".<ref name="all"/> [[Kurt Loder]] would later describe "All Tomorrow's Parties" as a "mesmerizing [[gothic-rock]] masterpiece".<ref name="all">Kurt Loder, "Liner notes&nbsp;– ''V.U.'' CD by the Velvet Underground", December 1984, Verve Records&nbsp;– 823 721-2 Europe, "a mesmerizing gothic-rock masterpiece ("All Tomorrow's Parties"&nbsp;– Warhol's favorite Velvets Tune).</ref> Closing out the album was the avant-garde "[[The Black Angel's Death Song]]", followed by the lengthy, feedback-laden "[[European Son]]", which Reed dedicated to his Syracuse professor [[Delmore Schwartz]].

The overall sound was propelled by Reed and Nico's deadpan vocals, Cale's droning viola, bass and keyboards, Reed's experimental avant-garde guitar, Morrison's often [[R&B]]- or [[country music|country]]-influenced guitar, and Tucker's simple but steady and tribal-sounding beat with sparse use of cymbals. A technique used on many songs was the "drone strum", an eighth-note rhythm guitar style used by Reed.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=t9eocwUfoSoC&pg=PA296|page=296|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|authors=Nathan Brackett, Christian David Hoard|publisher=Simon and Schuster|date= 2004 }}</ref> Although Cale was the band's usual bassist, if he switched to viola or keyboards, Morrison would normally play bass. Despite his proficiency on the instrument, Morrison hated playing bass.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Hoffman|first1=Eric|title=Examinations: An Examination of John Cale|url=http://www.mentalcontagion.com/mcarchive/examinations/examinations0409.html|website=Mental Contagion|accessdate=24 October 2014|quote=When I had to play viola, Sterling had to play bass, which he hated.}} According to the website, the quote is from John Cale’s autobiography, ''What’s Welsh for Zen'' (NY: St. Martin’s Press (2000).</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Tom Pinnock |url=http://www.uncut.co.uk/the-velvet-underground/john-cale-on-the-velvet-underground-nico-news |title=John Cale on The Velvet Underground & Nico |publisher=Uncut |date=18 September 2012 |accessdate=7 March 2015}}</ref> Conversely, some songs had Reed and Morrison playing their usual guitars with Cale on viola or keyboards, but with nobody playing bass.

The album was released on March 12, 1967 (after a lengthy delay by Verve) and reached No.&nbsp;171 on [[Billboard magazine|''Billboard'' magazine's]] Top 200 charts.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.billboard.com/artist/419361/velvet-underground/biography|title=The Velvet Underground|work=billboard.com}}</ref> The commercial growth of the album was hampered by a legal claim: as the album's back cover included a photo of the group on stage with an unauthorised image projected behind them of actor [[Eric Emerson]] from a Warhol motion picture, ''[[Chelsea Girls]]'', Emerson made a claim of $500,000 for use of his image.<ref name=Sounes>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mgmnCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA96#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=96|title=Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life and Music of Lou Reed|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= 22 Oct 2015}}</ref> Instead of compensating Emerson for damages, MGM Records canceled all distribution of the album for nearly two months until the legal problems were settled (by which time the record had lost its modest commercial momentum), and the still was airbrushed out of the remaining copies of the album.<ref name=Sounes/> By the time the record was re-distributed into stores, the album was re-distributed nearly at the same time as ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' in June 1967, by which time it faced stiff competition in the marketplace which further hindered the release.<ref name=Harvard>{{cite book |title=The Velvet Underground and Nico|author= Joe Harvard |publisher=A&C Black|date= 31 Mar 2004}}</ref>{{page needed|date=February 2017}} Regarding MGM/Verve's delay in releasing the album, Warhol's business manager [[Paul Morrissey]] once offered the following: "Verve/MGM didn't know what to do with ''[[The Velvet Underground and Nico]]'' because it was so peculiar. They didn't release it for almost a year. Tom Wilson at Verve/MGM only bought the album from me because of [[Nico]]. He saw no talent in Lou [Reed]."<ref name=Harvard/> In 1982, [[Brian Eno]] said that while the album sold only 30,000 copies in its early years, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://music.hyperreal.org/artists/brian_eno/interviews/musn82.htm |title=Eno: Voyages in Time & Perception |author=[[Kristine McKenna]] |work=[[Musician (magazine)|Musician]] |date=October 1982 |accessdate=November 8, 2012 }}</ref>

===''White Light/White Heat'' and Cale's departure (1968)===
{{Main article|White Light/White Heat}}
Nico moved on after the Velvets severed their relationship with Andy Warhol. Reed once commented on their leaving Warhol: "[Warhol asked] do you want to just keep playing museums from now on and the art festivals? Or do you want to start moving into other areas?" I thought about it, and I fired him. […] I never saw Andy mad, but I did that day. He was really mad, called me a rat. It was the worst thing he could think of."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6JIpBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=lou+Reed+on+firing+Warhol+called+me+a+rat&source=bl&ots=1BIXMjcxwY&sig=_rvCMnoaDFGoI0caX6Vcaam41Mo&hl=en&sa=X&ei=6VvXVI76KZGGNpebgkA&ved=0CB4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=lou%20Reed%20on%20firing%20Warhol%20called%20me%20a%20rat&f=false |title=Words and Guitar: A History of Lou Reed's Music – Bill Brown – Google Books |publisher=Books.google.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> [[Steve Sesnick]] was soon brought in as a replacement manager, much to the chagrin of Cale, who believes that Sesnick tried to push Reed as band leader at the expense of band harmony. Both Cale and Reed called Sesnick a "snake" in different interviews after leaving the band.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/vuheroes.html |title=vuheroes |publisher=Richieunterberger.com |date=1970-08-23 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> In September 1967, the Velvet Underground began recording their second album, ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'', with Tom Wilson as producer.

The band performed live often, and their performances became louder and harsher and often included extended [[free improvisation|improvisations]].

Warhol arranged for the band to get an endorsement deal with [[Vox (musical equipment)|Vox]] which enabled them to use Vox equipment, which included special effects pedals and an organ, for free.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CzWE_J3ZZfoC&pg=PA317#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=317|title=Icons of Rock|authors=Scott Schinder, Andy Schwartz|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|date= 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|authors=Peter Hogan, Peter K. Hogan|publisher=Rough Guides|date= 2007|title=Velvet Underground|page=30}}</ref> Sterling Morrison felt they were the first American band to get a Vox endorsement.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=C-Ne8rSuNRoC&pg=PT59se#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=59|title=Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story|author=Victor Bockris|publisher=Omnibus Press|date= 28 Oct 2009}}</ref>

Sterling Morrison offered the following input regarding the recording:

<blockquote>
There was fantastic leakage 'cause everyone was playing so loud and we had so much electronic junk with us in the studio—all these fuzzers and compressors. [[Gary Kellgren]], who is ultra-competent, told us repeatedly: "You can't do it—all the needles are on red." and we reacted as we always reacted: "Look, we don't know what goes on in there and we don't want to hear about it. Just do the best you can." And so the album is fuzzy, there's all that white noise...we wanted to do something electronic and energetic. We had the energy and the electronics, but we didn't know it couldn't be recorded...what we were trying to do was really fry the tracks.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hogan |first=Peter |title=The Complete Guide to the Music of the Velvet Underground |year=1997 |publisher=Omnibus Press |location=London |isbn=0-7119-5596-4 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GL0eMqztmuIC&pg=PA19 |page=19 }}</ref>
</blockquote>

Cale has stated that while the debut had some moments of fragility and beauty, ''White Light/White Heat'' was "consciously anti-beauty".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=VJegBAAAQBAJ&pg=PT51#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=51|title=The Life and Music of Lou Reed|author=Jeremy Reed|publisher=Music Sales Limited|date= 13 Oct 2014 }}</ref> The title track sets a harsh opening; bassist Cale overdubbing a piano that has been described as "a cross between [[Jerry Lee Lewis]] and [[Henry Cowell]]".<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ELeaCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA162|page=162|title=Rock, Counterculture and the Avant-Garde|author=Doyle Greene|publisher=McFarland|date= 17 Feb 2016}}</ref> Along with brash songs like "[[Sister Ray]]" and "[[I Heard Her Call My Name]]", there was the darkly comic "The Gift", a short story written by Reed and narrated by Cale in his [[deadpan]] [[Welsh accent]]. The meditative "Here She Comes Now" was later covered by [[Galaxie 500]], [[Cabaret Voltaire (band)|Cabaret Voltaire]], and [[Nirvana (band)|Nirvana]], among others. The album was released on January 30, 1968, entering the ''Billboard'' Top 200 chart for two weeks, at number 199.

Tensions were growing: the group was tired of receiving little recognition for its work, and Reed and Cale were pulling the Velvet Underground in different directions. The differences showed in the last recording sessions the band had with John Cale in 1968: three [[pop music|pop]]-like songs in Reed's direction ("Temptation Inside Your Heart", "Stephanie Says" and "Beginning to See the Light") and a viola-driven drone in Cale's direction ("Hey Mr. Rain"). Further, some songs the band had performed with Cale in concert, or that he had co-written, were not recorded until after he had left the group (such as "Walk It and Talk It", "Ride into the Sun", and "Countess from Hong Kong").

Reed called Morrison and Tucker to a meeting at the Riviera Cafe in the [[West Village]] without Cale's knowledge, and informed them that Cale was out of the band; when Morrison objected, Reed said it was either Cale was sacked or the Velvets were dissolved.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rx7zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT84#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=113|title=Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= 22 Oct 2015}}</ref> Neither Morrison nor Tucker were happy with the idea, but faced with a choice of either no Cale or no band at all, the pair reluctantly sided with Reed.<ref name="bio"/><ref>{{cite web|last=Paytress |first=Mark |url=http://www.mojo4music.com/17746/the-velvet-underground-45th-anniversary-super-deluxe-edition/ |title=The Velvet Underground: Reissued 3rd Album Reviewed |publisher=Mojo4music.com |date=2014-11-25 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref>

It has often been reported that before Cale's departure (following ''White Light/White Heat'') there was a struggle between his creative impulses and Reed's: Cale's experimentalist tendencies had contrasted with Reed's more conventional approach. According to Tim Mitchell, however, Morrison reported that while there was creative tension between Reed and Cale, its impact has been exaggerated over the years.<ref>Tim Mitchell, ''Sedition and Alchemy : A Biography of John Cale'' (2003; London: Peter Owen Publishers, 2004); ISBN 0-7206-1132-6 (10); ISBN 978-0-7206-1132-8 (13); cf. [http://www.xs4all.nl/~werksman/cale/promo/press_sedition.html Press release], rpt. ''xsall.nl'' (March 2004).</ref> Cale played his last show with the band at the [[Boston Tea Party (concert venue)|Boston Tea Party]] in September 1968 and was fired shortly afterwards.

According to Michael Carlucci, a friend of [[Robert Quine]], "Lou told Quine that the reason why he had to get rid of Cale in the band was Cale's ideas were just too out there. Cale had some wacky ideas. He wanted to record the next album with the amplifiers underwater, and [Lou] just couldn't have it. He was trying to make the band more accessible."{{citation needed|date=May 2016}}{{who|date=May 2016}} Ultimately, Morrison was dispatched by Reed to tell Cale that he was out of the band.<ref name="richieunterberger.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/vumyth.html |title=vumyth |publisher=Richieunterberger.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref>

===Doug Yule joins and ''The Velvet Underground'' (1969)===
{{Main article|The Velvet Underground (album)}}
[[File:Velvet Underground 1968 by Billy Name.png|thumb|right|The Velvet Underground with Yule; from left to right: Reed, Tucker, Yule, and Morrison]]

Before work on their third album started, Cale was replaced by musician [[Doug Yule]] of the Boston group the <!--IT'S "GRASS" NOT "GLASS". Please see [the Talk page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Velvet_Underground#Grass_or_Glass.3F] for details. -->Grass<!--IT'S "GRASS" NOT "GLASS". Please see [the Talk page https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:The_Velvet_Underground#Grass_or_Glass.3F] for details. --> Menagerie, who had been a close associate of the band. Yule, a native New Yorker, had moved to Boston to attend [[Boston University]] as a theater major, but left the program after one year to continue playing music.<ref>http://www.rocknroll.net/loureed/articles/yule.html</ref> Yule had first seen the Velvets perform at a student event at Harvard University in Cambridge in early 1968,<ref>http://www.popmatters.com/feature/yule-doug-021105/</ref> and when the band played at the Boston Tea Party later that year, the band stayed at Yule's apartment on River Street, which he happened to be renting from their road manager, Hans Onsager (who worked closely with their manager [[Steve Sesnick]]). It was during this period that Morrison heard Yule playing guitar in his apartment, and mentioned to Reed that Yule was practicing guitar and was improving quickly.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://roomonetwofour.com/interviewsYule.htm |title=Pat Thomas |publisher=Roomonetwofour.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> It was following this discussion that led to a phone call from Steve Sesnick inviting Yule to meet with the band at [[Max's Kansas City]] in New York City in October 1968 to discuss joining the Velvets before two upcoming shows in Cleveland, Ohio, at the club La Cave.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/live/1968/perf68.html |title=The Velvet Underground – Live performances and rehearsals – 1968 |publisher=Olivier.landemaine.free.fr |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref><ref>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZwjL8ldp4s</ref> Upon meeting Reed, Sesnick and Morrison at Max's, Yule was asked to handle bass and organ duties in the band, and he would soon contribute vocals as well. After several months of shows in the US, the band swiftly recorded their third album ''[[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]'' in late 1968 at [[TTG Studios]] in Hollywood, California, and was released in March 1969. The cover photograph was taken by [[Billy Name]]. The LP sleeve was designed by Dick Smith, then a staff artist at MGM/Verve. Released on March 12, 1969, the album failed to make ''Billboard'''s Top 200 album chart.

The harsh, abrasive tendencies on the first two records were almost entirely absent on their third album. This resulted in a gentler sound influenced by [[folk music]], prescient of the songwriting style that would soon form Reed's solo career. While Reed had covered a vast range of lyrical subjects on the first two Velvet Underground albums, the lyrical themes of the third album were more "intimate" in nature. Reed's songwriting also covered new emotional ground as well, as heard in the songs "Pale Blue Eyes", "Jesus", "Beginning to See the Light", and "I'm Set Free". The personal tone of the album's subject matter resulted in Reed's desire to create a "closet" mix that boosted the vocals to the forefront, while reducing the album's instrumentation. The second (and more widely distributed) mix is the stereo mix done by MGM/Verve staff recording engineer Val Valentin. Another factor in the change of sound was the band's Vox amplifiers and assorted fuzzboxes rumored to have been stolen from an airport while they were on tour and they obtained replacements by signing a new endorsement deal with [[Sunn]]. In addition, Reed and Morrison had purchased matching [[Fender Electric XII|Fender 12-string electric guitars]], but Doug Yule plays down the influence of the new equipment.

Morrison's ringing guitar parts and Yule's melodic bass guitar and harmony vocals are used prominently on the album.{{according to whom|date=February 2017}} Reed's songs and singing are subdued and confessional in nature,{{according to whom|date=February 2017}} and he shared lead vocals with Yule, particularly when his own voice would fail under stress.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=gq9Vp45cGx4C&pg=PT70#v=onepage&q&f=false|page=70|title=David Bowie – The Man Who Changed the World|author=Wim Hendrikse|publisher=New Generation Publishing|date= 1 May 2013}}</ref> Doug Yule sang the lead vocal on "Candy Says" (about the [[Warhol superstar]] [[Candy Darling]]), which opens the LP, and a rare Moe Tucker lead vocal is used on "After Hours", which closes the album, because Reed felt her "innocent" voice was more believable for a sad song.<ref>{{cite book|authors=Peter Hogan, Peter K. Hogan|publisher=Rough Guides|date= 2007|title=Velvet Underground|page=252}}</ref> The album has the experimental track "The Murder Mystery", which utilised all four band members (Reed, Yule, Tucker and Morrison) reading different lyrics, sometimes simultaneously, as well as the ballad "Pale Blue Eyes".

===Year on the road and the "lost" fourth album (1969)===
The Velvet Underground spent much of 1969 on the road both in the US and Canada, feeling they were not accepted in their hometown of New York City{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} and not making much headway commercially. Despite these commercial setbacks, the band focused on performing live shows on the road, playing both re-worked songs from their past albums, and debuting new songs that would find their way onto the ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]'' album, such as "New Age", "Rock and Roll", and "Sweet Jane". While the band continued to do extended improvisations in their live shows, by 1969 they were focusing on tight live performances,{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} and several of the live shows the band played during this period would end up released as live albums many years later. The live album ''[[1969: The Velvet Underground Live]]'' (with Reed, Yule, Morrison & Tucker) was recorded in October 1969 but not released until 1974, on Mercury Records, at the urging of rock critic [[Paul Nelson (critic)|Paul Nelson]], who worked in [[A&R]] for Mercury at the time. Nelson asked singer-songwriter [[Elliott Murphy]] to write liner notes for the double album. In his notes, Murphy described a scene 100 years in the future, with a student taking a class on "classical rock'n'roll" and listening to the Velvet Underground. He wondered what the student would make of the music and concluded, "I wish it was a hundred years from today (I can't stand the suspense)".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/21317-the-complete-matrix-tapes/amp/ |title=The Velvet Underground: ''The Complete Matrix Tapes'' |first=Douglas |last=Wolk |date=December 8, 2015 |work=Pitchfork |accessdate=February 5, 2017 }}</ref><ref>{{cite liner notes |title=1969: The Velvet Underground Live |first=Elliott |last=Murphy |author-link=Elliott Murphy |year=1972 |url=http://www.elliottmurphy.com/downloads/vunotes.pdf |accessdate=February 5, 2017 }}</ref>

During this period the band played a series of shows in November 1969 at the Matrix and the Family Dog venues in San Francisco; recordings of these shows were released in 2001, as a triple live album, ''[[Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes]]'', which included the line up of Reed, Yule, Morrison and Tucker. During 1969 the band recorded on and off in the studio, creating a lot of promising material (both singles and one-offs) that were never officially released at the time due to disputes with their record label. What many consider to be the prime songs of these recording sessions were released years later, in 1985, in a compilation album called ''[[VU (album)|VU]]''. The album ''VU'' marks the transitional sound between the whisper-soft third album, and the band's movement to the later pop rock song-style of their final record, ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]''.{{according to whom|date=February 2017}} Two of the songs the Velvets recorded during this period were later used on film soundtracks: "Stephanie Says" was used in the 2001 film ''[[The Royal Tenenbaums]]''; "I'm Sticking With You" has a rare Moe Tucker–Lou Reed dual-lead vocal track, with Doug Yule accompanying on piano.

The rest of the recordings, as well as some alternative takes and instrumental tracks were later bundled on ''[[Another View]]'' which was released in 1986. After Reed's departure, he later reworked a number of these songs for his solo records over the years: "Stephanie Says", "Ocean", "I Can't Stand It", "Lisa Says", and "Andy's Chest", as well as "She's My Best Friend", which had been originally sung by Doug Yule.

By 1969 the MGM and Verve record labels had been losing money for several years. A new president, [[Mike Curb]], was hired and he decided to cancel the recording contracts of 18 of their acts who supposedly glorified drugs in their lyrics, including their many controversial and unprofitable acts. The drug or [[hippie]]-related bands were released from MGM, and the Velvets were on his list, along with [[Eric Burdon and the Animals]] and [[Frank Zappa]]'s [[Mothers of Invention]]. Nonetheless MGM insisted on retaining ownership of all master tapes of their recordings and according to an MGM representative in a ''[[Rolling Stone magazine|Rolling Stone]]'' article from 1970, "it wasn't eighteen groups, [Curb] was misquoted. The cuts were made partly to do with the drug scene—like maybe a third of them had to do with drug reasons. The others were dropped because they weren't selling." Lou Reed would later remark in the 1987 issue of ''[[Creem]]'' that while he didn't believe that MGM dropped the Velvets for drug associations, he did acknowledge, "We wanted to get out of there."<ref name="richieunterberger.com"/>

===''Loaded'', Tucker's pregnancy and Max's residency (1970)===
{{Main article|Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|l1=Loaded}}
[[Atlantic Records]] signed the Velvet Underground for what would be its final studio album with Lou Reed: ''Loaded'', released on Atlantic's subsidiary label Cotillion. The album's title refers to Atlantic's request that the band produce an album "loaded with hits". Though the record was not the smash hit the company had anticipated, it contains the most accessible pop the VU had performed,{{according to whom|date=February 2017}} and two of Reed's best-known songs,{{according to whom|date=February 2017}} "Sweet Jane" and "Rock and Roll".

By the recording of ''Loaded'', Doug Yule played a more prominent role in the band, and with Reed's encouragement, sang the lead vocal on four songs: "Who Loves the Sun", which opened the album, "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" and the final track, "Oh! Sweet Nuthin". Yule once commented on the recording of ''Loaded'': "Lou leaned on me a lot in terms of musical support and for harmonies, vocal arrangements. I did a lot on ''Loaded''. It sort of devolved down to the Lou and Doug recreational recording."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/yule.html |title=Doug Yule interview- Perfect Sound Forever |publisher=Furious.com |date=1995-10-21 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref>

While the third Velvets' LP was recorded mostly live in a collaborative atmosphere, the bulk of ''Loaded'' was crafted in the studio. In addition to handling all the bass and piano duties on ''Loaded'', Yule also contributed several lead guitar tracks and doubled on drums as well (notably on the songs "Rock and Roll" and "Sweet Jane")<ref>{{cite web|url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/articles/lowdown/lowdown.html |title=The Velvet Underground – The Lowdown on Loaded |publisher=Olivier.landemaine.free.fr |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> since Moe Tucker was absent on maternity leave to have her first child, a daughter named Kerry. While Sterling Morrison played guitar on "Loaded", it was during this time that he resumed his studies at City College of New York, and split his time between classes and the sessions, thus leaving Reed and Yule to handle the bulk of the arrangements.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.richieunterberger.com/vuexc12.html |title=vuexc12 |publisher=Richieunterberger.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> Although Tucker had temporarily retired from the group during the sessions due to her pregnancy, she was credited as playing on ''Loaded''; the drums on the album were actually played by several musicians: Doug Yule, engineer [[Adrian Barber]], session musician Tommy Castanaro, and [[Billy Yule]] (Doug Yule's younger brother), who was still in high school at the time.<ref>{{cite book|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Rx7zCQAAQBAJ&pg=PT94|page=94|title=Notes from the Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed|author=Howard Sounes|publisher=Random House|date= 22 Oct 2015}}</ref>

It was during the ''Loaded'' recording sessions that the Velvets secured a now-legendary nine-week residency (from June 24 – August 28, 1970) at the New York nightclub [[Max's Kansas City]], playing two lengthy sets per night, and showcasing altered arrangements of older songs from their previous albums, as well as showcasing the new material that would soon make up ''Loaded''. The Velvets' Max's live line-up consisted of Lou Reed, Doug Yule, Sterling Morrison and Billy Yule on drums in place of Tucker, who would not return from maternity leave until after Reed's departure. Reed's last live performance with the band at Max's was informally recorded and was released two years later in 1972 as ''[[Live at Max's Kansas City]]'', also on Atlantic Records.

===Reed's departure and release of ''Loaded'' (1970)===
Disillusioned with the lack of progress the band was making, and facing pressure by manager [[Steve Sesnick]], Reed decided to quit the band during the last week of the Max's Kansas City shows in August 1970. Although Reed had informed Tucker, who was attending the show but not playing with the band because of her pregnancy, that he planned to leave the group on his last evening, he did not tell Morrison or Yule. In a 2006 interview, Yule said Sesnick waited until one hour before the band was scheduled to take the stage the following night before notifying him that Reed wasn't coming. "I was expecting [Lou] to show up, I thought he was late." Yule blamed Sesnick for Reed's departure. "Sesnick had engineered Lou's leaving the group. He and Lou had a relationship where Lou had depended on him for moral support, and he trusted him, and Sesnick basically said 'screw you.' ... It must have been hard for Lou to hear that because he depended on him, so he quit."<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3aGaLi32M_Y |title=The Velvet Underground – Doug Yule Part 8 |publisher=YouTube |date=2013-12-23 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> While ''Loaded'' was finalized and mixed, it had yet to be mastered and was not set to be released by Atlantic until November of that year. Reed often said he was completely surprised when he saw ''Loaded'' in stores. He also said, "I left them to their album full of hits that I made".

Reed was perturbed about a verse being edited from the ''Loaded'' version of "[[Sweet Jane]]".<ref>{{cite book|page=278|title=White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-by-Day|author=Richie Unterberger|publisher=Jawbone|date= 2009}}</ref> "[[New Age (Velvet Underground song)|New Age]]" was changed as well: as originally recorded, its closing line ("It's the beginning of a new age" as sung by Yule) was repeated many more times.{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} A brief interlude in "Rock and Roll" was also removed. (For the 1995 box set ''Peel Slowly and See'', the album was presented as Reed intended;{{citation needed|date=February 2017}} the "Fully Loaded" two-disc edition includes the full versions of "Sweet Jane" and "New Age".) On the other hand, Yule has pointed out that the album was for all intents and purposes finished when Reed left the band and that Reed had been aware of most, if not all, of the edits.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/yule.html |title=Doug Yule Interview (Part 1) |first=Pat |last=Thomas |date=October 21, 1995 |work=[[Perfect Sound Forever (magazine)|Perfect Sound Forever]] |accessdate=March 18, 2017}}</ref>

===''Live at Max's'', ''Squeeze'' & Final VU shows (1970–73)===

With manager Steve Sesnick looking to fill bookings (following the departure of Lou Reed), and with the pending release of [[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]] in November 1970, the band, now with Sterling Morrison on guitar, Moe Tucker on drums, [[Walter Powers (musician)|Walter Powers]] on bass, and Doug Yule taking over lead vocals and guitar, went on the road to promote the album, playing shows around the U.S.<ref>http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/live/1971-73/perf7173.html</ref> Sterling Morrison had obtained a bachelor of arts degree in English, and left the group in August 1971 (following a show in Houston, TX), to pursue a Ph.D. in medieval literature at the [[University of Texas at Austin]]. He had packed an empty suitcase and when the time came for the band to return to [[New York City]], he told them at the airport that he was staying in Texas and quitting the band—the last founding member to quit.<ref name="austin">{{cite news
| url = http://www.austinchronicle.com/music/2000-03-17/76343/
| title = Velvet Underdog: Sterling Morrison: An Oral History With Interviews
| publisher = ''[[The Austin Chronicle]]''
| accessdate = 2014-10-24
| date = March 17, 2000
| first = Margaret
| last = Moser
}}</ref> Morrison's replacement was singer/keyboard player [[Willie Alexander]]. This line up of the band played several shows in late 1971 in England, Wales, and the Netherlands to support the 1971 European release of ''Loaded'', some of which are collected on the 2001 box set ''[[Final V.U.]]''<ref name="olivier.landemaine.free.fr">{{cite web|url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/live/1971-73/perf7173.html |title=The Velvet Underground – Live performances and rehearsals – 1971–73 |publisher=Olivier.landemaine.free.fr |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> Following a single US show in Pennsylvania in early January '72, the Velvets lineup of Yule, Tucker, Alexander and Powers disbanded.<ref name="olivier.landemaine.free.fr"/>

In May 1972 Atlantic released ''[[Live at Max's Kansas City]]'', the recording of the Velvet Underground's final performance with Reed (also with Doug Yule, Morrison, and Billy Yule) made by a fan, [[Brigid Polk]], on August 23, 1970. Due to publicity around the release, and growing interest in the Velvet Underground in Europe, Sesnick was able to secure a single album deal with Polydor in the UK, and a handful of promotional shows were booked in the UK in November and December 1972. After Sesnick reached out to Yule, a new Velvet Underground lineup was quickly assembled by Yule to do the UK shows. This brief lineup of the Velvet Underground consisted of Yule, Rob Norris on guitar, George Kay (Krzyzewski), bass guitar, and [[Mark Nauseef]], drums. After Sesnick failed to show up in London to meet the band with the necessary money and equipment,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.furious.com/perfect/yule2.html |title=Doug Yule interview- Perfect Sound Forever |publisher=Furious.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> they played the handful of dates to secure enough money for flights back to the US, and Yule left the band when the brief tour ended in December 1972. It was also during this period in the UK that Sesnick had secured studio time for Yule to record the album ''[[Squeeze (The Velvet Underground album)|Squeeze]]'' under the Velvet Underground name virtually by himself, with only the assistance of [[Deep Purple]] drummer [[Ian Paice]] and a few other session musicians in an unspecified [[London]] studio. While Moe Tucker was personally slated by Yule to play drums on ''Squeeze'', Sesnick vetoed his decision and claimed she was "too expensive" to hire.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/dougyule/dystory.html |title=Doug Yule – Story |publisher=Olivier.landemaine.free.fr |date=2008-10-26 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref>

''Squeeze'' was released in February the following year, 1973, in Europe only, with minimal promotion by the label, and was held in low regard by fans and critics. [[Stephen Thomas Erlewine]] notes that the album received "uniformly terrible reviews" upon initial release,<ref>Stephen Thomas Erlewine in the ''Allmusic'' [{{Allmusic|class=album|id=r51960|pure_url=yes}} website article on ''Squeeze'']</ref> and in the early 1970s, the ''NME Book of Rock'' counted it as "a Velvet Underground album in name only."<ref>{{cite web|author=Nick Logan (Editor) |url=http://www.amazon.com/The-musical-Express-Book-Rock/dp/0352300744 |title=The New musical Express Book of Rock: Nick Logan: 9780352300744: Amazon.com: Books |publisher=Amazon.com |date= |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> When asked about ''Squeeze'', Yule hinted that band manager Steve Sesnick orchestrated the album purely as a money ploy. "Sesnick dumped the second iteration of the band in England with no money and no equipment and just left us there to find our way back. He gave me six copies of ''Squeeze'' as pay. I never got any money. When you sign with [[ASCAP]] or [[Broadcast Music, Inc.|BMI]] you get an advance. He not only made an arrangement with them but actually signed as me and took the money."<ref>http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/articles/headheldhigh/yule.html</ref>

Despite the negative reviews of the album upon its initial release, in recent years the album has been revisited by both critics and musicians with more sympathetic and favorable reviews. In 2011 music writer [[Steven Shehori]] included ''Squeeze'' in his "Criminally Overlooked Albums" series for ''[[The Huffington Post]]'', and in a lengthy review of the album, offered the following positive assessment of ''Squeeze'': "if you pluck it from the shackles of its murky back-story, ''Squeeze'' is nothing short of a quintessential listening experience."<ref>{{cite web|author=06/22/2011 12:02 pm EDT |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/steven-shehori/squeeze-velvet-underground_b_880182.html |title=Criminally Overlooked Albums: Squeeze by Doug Yule's Velvet Underground &#124; Steven Shehori |publisher=Huffingtonpost.ca |date=2011-06-22 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref> The UK band [[Squeeze (band)|Squeeze]] took their name from its title according to band member [[Chris Difford]], who offered the following opinion of the album in a 2012 interview: "It's an odd record, but the name came from that, definitely. […] In a retrospective way I really enjoy it. It has kind of a naivety about it."<ref>{{cite web|last=Woodbury |first=Jason P. |url=http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/uponsun/2012/04/squeeze_2012_crescent.php?page=2 |title=Squeeze's Chris Difford on England, John Cale, and the Paul McCartney-Produced Record That Never Came to Be &#124; Phoenix New Times |publisher=Blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com |date=2012-04-11 |accessdate=2015-11-08}}</ref>

Although Yule had put an end to the Velvet Underground in late 1972, in early 1973 a band with him, Billy Yule on drums, Kay on bass and Don Silverman, guitar (he later changed his name to Noor Khan), played two shows (in Boston and Long Island, NY) and was incorrectly billed as "The Velvet Underground" by the tour's manager. The band members objected to the billing and according to Yule, the promoter was not supposed to bill the band as the Velvet Underground.<ref name="olivier.landemaine.free.fr"/> In late May 1973, the band and the tour manager parted ways, thus bringing the Velvet Underground to an end until the classic line-up of Reed, Tucker, Morrison and Cale would reunite in the 1990s.

===Post-VU developments (1972–90)===
Reed, Cale and Nico teamed up at the beginning of 1972 to play a concert in Paris at the [[Bataclan club]]. This concert was bootlegged, and finally received an official release as ''[[Le Bataclan '72]]'' in 2003. Before that, Cale and Nico had developed solo careers. Nico had also begun a solo career with Cale producing a majority of her albums. Reed started his solo career in 1972 after a brief sabbatical. Sterling Morrison was a professor for some time, teaching Medieval Literature at the University of Texas at Austin, then became a [[tugboat]] captain in Houston for several years. Moe Tucker raised a family before returning to small-scale gigging and recording in the 1980s; Morrison was in several touring bands, including Tucker's band.

Yule subsequently toured with Lou Reed and played on the latter's ''[[Sally Can't Dance]]'' album, and Yule (at Reed's request) also contributed guitar and bass tracks to Reed's album ''[[Coney Island Baby]]'', that can be heard in the Bonus Edition of the album (which was released in 2002). Yule became a member of [[American Flyer (band)|American Flyer]], then dropped out of the music industry altogether before reappearing in the early 2000s.

In 1985 Polydor released the album ''VU'', which collected unreleased recordings that might have constituted the band's fourth album for MGM in 1969 but had never been released. Some of the songs had been recorded when Cale was still in the band. More unreleased recordings of the band, some of them demos and unfinished tracks, were released in 1986 as ''Another View''.

On July 18, 1988, Nico died of a cerebral haemorrhage following a bicycle accident.

Czech dissident playwright [[Václav Havel]] was a fan of the Velvet Underground, ultimately becoming a friend of Lou Reed. Though some attribute the name of the 1989 "[[Velvet Revolution]]", which ended more than 40 years of [[Communist Party of Czechoslovakia|Communist]] rule in Czechoslovakia, to the band, Reed pointed out that the name ''Velvet Revolution'' derives from its peaceful nature—that no one was "actually hurt" during those events.<ref name=Reedinterview>Lou Reed, [http://havel.columbia.edu/media_panels/video_window/?material=reed&timeline=havel7 ''Havel at Columbia'' interview: "7: The Velvet Revolution and The Velvet Underground"], accessed April 29, 2007. (See table of contents for "Chapters".)</ref> Reed has also given at least one radio interview where he stated that it was called the Velvet Revolution because all of the dissidents were listening to the Velvet Underground leading up to the overthrow, and this music was an inspiration for the events that followed. After Havel's election as president, first of Czechoslovakia and then the Czech Republic, Reed visited him in Prague.<ref name=Reedinterview2>Lou Reed, [http://havel.columbia.edu/media_panels/video_window/?material=reed&timeline=havel4 ''Havel at Columbia'' interview: "4: 1990 visit to Prague and the challenges faced by Havel"], accessed April 29, 2007. (See table of contents for "Chapters".)</ref> On September 16, 1998, at Havel's request, Reed performed in the White House at a [[state dinner]] in Havel's honor hosted by [[Bill Clinton|President Bill Clinton]].<ref>Lou Reed, [http://havel.columbia.edu/media_panels/video_window/?material=reed&timeline=havel8 ''Havel at Columbia'' interview: "8: 1998 White House benefit concert"], accessed April 30, 2007 (See table of contents for "Chapters"); cf. [http://clinton2.nara.gov/WH/EOP/First_Lady/html/091598.html "The President and Mrs. Clinton Honor His Excellency V(á)clav Havel, President of the Czech Republic and Mrs. Havlov(á)"], September 16, 1998, accessed April 30, 2007; [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2889/is_n38_v34/ai_21232237 Transcript of President's Clinton's remarks]{{dead link|date=December 2016}}, ''findarticles.com'' September 16, 1998, accessed April 30, 2007.</ref>

===Reunions and death of Morrison (1990–96)===
{{unreferenced section|date=February 2017}}

In 1990, Reed and Cale released ''[[Songs for Drella]]'', a song cycle about Andy Warhol who had died in 1987. Though Morrison and Tucker had each worked with Reed and Cale since the Velvet Underground had broken up, ''Songs for Drella'' was the first time the pair had worked together in decades, and speculation about a reunion began to form, fueled by the one-off appearance by Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker to play "Heroin" as the encore to a brief ''Songs for Drella'' set in [[Jouy-en-Josas]], France. Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison also joined John Cale for an encore at his show at New York University on December 5, 1992.

The Reed–Cale–Morrison–Tucker lineup officially reunited as "The Velvet Underground" in 1992, commencing activities with a European tour beginning in Edinburgh on June 1, 1993, and including a performance at Glastonbury which appeared on an ''[[NME]]'' front cover. Cale sang most of the songs Nico had originally performed. As well as headlining (with [[Luna (1990s American band)|Luna]] as the opening act), the Velvets performed as supporting act for five dates of [[U2]]'s [[Zoo TV Tour]]. With the success of the Velvet Underground's European reunion tour, a series of US tour dates were proposed, as was an ''[[MTV Unplugged]]'' broadcast, and possibly even some new studio recordings. Before any of this could come to fruition, Cale and Reed fell out again, breaking up the band once more.

On August 30, 1995, Sterling Morrison died of [[non-Hodgkin's lymphoma]] after returning to his hometown of Poughkeepsie, New York, at age 53. When the band was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, Reed, Tucker, and Cale reformed the Velvet Underground for the last time. Doug Yule was absent. At the ceremony, the band was inducted by Patti Smith, and the trio performed "Last Night I Said Goodbye to My Friend", written in tribute to Morrison.

===NYPL reunion and death of Reed (2009–13)===
In December 2009, to commemorate the 45th anniversary of the band's formation, Reed, Tucker and Yule (with Cale not present) gave a rare interview at the [[New York Public Library]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/12/10/velvet-underground.html |work=CBC News |title=Velvet Underground recall links to Warhol |date=December 10, 2009 |deadurl=yes |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20091212031214/http://www.cbc.ca/arts/music/story/2009/12/10/velvet-underground.html |archivedate=December 12, 2009 }}</ref>

The Velvet Underground continues to exist as a New York–based partnership managing the financial and back catalog aspects for the band members. In January 2012, the surviving members of the band initiated legal action against the [[Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts]] over unauthorised use of the debut album's banana design.<ref>{{cite news|author=Jasmine Coleman |url=https://www.theguardian.com/music/2012/jan/11/velvet-underground-protect-banana-design |title=Velvet Underground moves to protect Banana Album design &#124; Music &#124; guardian.co.uk |publisher=Guardian |date= January 11, 2012|accessdate=February 23, 2012 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Pelly|first=Jenn|title=The Velvet Underground Sue Andy Warhol Foundation Over Banana Image|url=http://pitchfork.com/news/45071-the-velvet-underground-sue-andy-warhol-foundation-over-banana-image/|publisher=Pitchfork Media Inc.|accessdate=January 12, 2012}}</ref> Forty-fifth anniversary box sets of the band's first four studio albums, including significantly expanded bonus material, appeared from 2012 to 2015; the live box set ''[[The Complete Matrix Tapes]]'', comprising remixed and remastered versions of a series of professionally recorded 1969 performances, also appeared in 2015.

On October 27, 2013, Lou Reed died at his home in Southampton, New York, aged 71. He had undergone a liver transplant earlier in the year.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reed-velvet-underground-leader-and-rock-pioneer-dead-at-71-20131027 |title=Lou Reed, Velvet Underground Leader and Rock Pioneer, Dead at 71 |work=Rolling Stone |date= October 27, 2013 |accessdate=October 27, 2013}}</ref> John Cale responded to Reed's passing by saying "The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet…I've lost my 'school-yard buddy'".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/john-cale-reacts-to-lou-reed-death-2013-10 |title=Here's Velvet Underground Co-Founder John Cale's Reaction To Lou Reed's Passing |last1=Wile |first1=Rob |date=October 27, 2013 |publisher=Business Insider |accessdate=October 27, 2013}}</ref>

==Legacy==
The Velvet Underground have been considered among the most influential bands in rock history. Their first four albums were included in ''Rolling Stone'''s list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.<ref name=rs500>{{cite web|title=Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of all time (2012 Edition)|url=http://www.lastfm.fr/user/RadioKaKa/journal/2012/05/02/5g5i4g_rolling_stone%27s_500_greatest_albums_of_all_time_%282012_edition%29|website=last.fm|accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref> They were ranked the 19th greatest artist by the same magazine<ref name=rs100>{{cite web|last1=Casablancas|first1=Julian|title=100 Greatest Artists: 19 – The Velvet Underground|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/100-greatest-artists-of-all-time-19691231/the-velvet-underground-20110420|website=Rolling Stone|accessdate=22 November 2014}}</ref> and the 24th greatest artist in a poll by VH1. In 1996 they were inducted into the [[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.futurerocklegends.com/artist.php?artist_id=The_Velvet_Underground |title=The Velvet Underground |publisher=Future Rock Legends |date=January 3, 2007 |accessdate=March 13, 2012}}</ref> Critic [[Robert Christgau]] considers them "the number three band of the '60s, after [[the Beatles]] and [[The Famous Flames|James Brown and His Famous Flames]]".<ref>[http://www.robertchristgau.com/get_artist.php?name=The+Velvet+Underground Robert Christgau: CG: The Velvet Underground<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

==Lineups==
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!rowspan=2|Year
!colspan=4|Band
!rowspan=2|Recordings
|-
!Vocals,<br /> guitar
!Bass, keyboards, viola, vocals
!Guitar, bass, backing vocals
!Percussion
|-
!April–November 1965
|Lou Reed
|John Cale
|Sterling Morrison
|Angus MacLise
|Disc 1 of ''Peel Slowly and See'' (1995; minus MacLise)
|-
!December 1965 – September 1968
|Lou Reed
|John Cale
|Sterling Morrison
|Maureen Tucker
|''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' (1967), ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'' (1968), two tracks on ''VU'' (1985), three tracks on ''Another View'' (1986), discs 2–3 of ''Peel Slowly and See'' (1995)
|-
!&nbsp;
!Vocals, guitar
!Bass, keyboards, vocals
!Guitar, backing vocals
!Percussion
!&nbsp;
|-
!September 1968 – August 1970
|Lou Reed
|Doug Yule
|Sterling Morrison
|Maureen Tucker
|''The Velvet Underground'' (1969), ''Loaded'' (1970; minus Tucker), ''Live at Max's Kansas City'' (1972; minus Tucker), ''1969: The Velvet Underground Live'' (1974), eight tracks on ''VU'' (1985), six tracks on ''Another View'' (1986), discs 4–5 of ''Peel Slowly and See'' (1995), ''[[Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes]]'' (2001)
|-
!&nbsp;
!Vocals, guitar
!Bass
!Guitar
!Drums
!&nbsp;
|-
!November 1970 – August 1971
|Doug Yule
|[[Walter Powers (musician)|Walter Powers]]
|Sterling Morrison
|Maureen Tucker
|Studio demo of two songs, "She'll Make You Cry" and "Friends" (as yet unreleased)
|-
!&nbsp;
!Vocals, guitar
!Bass
!Keyboards, vocals
!Drums
!&nbsp;
|-
!October 1971 – December 1971
|Doug Yule
|Walter Powers
|[[Willie Alexander]]
|Maureen Tucker
|Discs 1–2 and part of disc 4 of ''[[Final V.U. 1971-1973]]'' (2001)
|-
!&nbsp;
!Vocals, various instruments
!&nbsp;
!&nbsp;
!&nbsp;
!&nbsp;
|-
!January 1972 – February 1973
|Doug Yule
| ---
| ---
| ---
|''Squeeze'' (1973), discs 3–4 of ''Final V.U.'' (2001), both with hired hands
|-
!&nbsp;
!Vocals, guitar
!Bass, keyboards, viola, vocals
!Guitar, bass, backing vocals
!Percussion
!&nbsp;
|-
!June 1990; November 1992 – July 1993
|Lou Reed
|John Cale
|Sterling Morrison
|Maureen Tucker
|''[[Live MCMXCIII]]'' (1993)
|-
!1996
|Lou Reed
|John Cale
|
|Maureen Tucker
|[[Rock and Roll Hall of Fame]] induction ceremony
|-
!2009
|Lou Reed
|
|Doug Yule
|Maureen Tucker
|Group interview at the New York Public Library
|}

===Timeline===

<div style="text-align:center;">
<timeline>
ImageSize = width:1000 height:250
PlotArea = left:100 bottom:60 top:0 right:50
Alignbars = justify
DateFormat = mm/dd/yyyy
Period = from:04/01/1965 till:12/31/1996
TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal format:yyyy

Colors =
id:Vocals value:red legend:Vocals
id:Viola value:drabgreen legend:Viola
id:Guitar value:green legend:Guitar
id:Keys value:purple legend:Keyboards
id:Bass value:blue legend:Bass
id:Drums value:orange legend:Drums,_percussion
id:Instruments value:yellow legend:Various_instruments

id:Lines value:black legend:Releases
id:bars value:gray(0.95)

Legend = orientation:horizontal position:bottom

BackgroundColors = bars:bars
ScaleMajor = increment:3 start:1966
ScaleMinor = unit:year increment:1 start:1966

LineData =

at:03/12/1967 color:black layer:back
at:01/30/1968 color:black layer:back
at:03/15/1969 color:black layer:back
at:11/15/1970 color:black layer:back
at:02/14/1973 color:black layer:back

BarData =

bar:Lou text:"Lou Reed"
bar:Ster text:"Sterling Morrison"
bar:John text:"John Cale"
bar:Doug text:"Doug Yule"
bar:Walt text:"Walter Powers"
bar:Ang text:"Angus MacLise"
bar:Tuck text:"Maureen Tucker"
bar:Will text:"Willie Alexander"

PlotData=

width:11 textcolor:black align:left anchor:from shift:(10,-4)
bar:Lou from:04/01/1965 till:11/15/1970 color:Guitar
bar:Lou from:04/01/1965 till:11/15/1970 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Ang from:04/01/1965 till:11/30/1965 color:Drums
bar:Lou from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Guitar
bar:Lou from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Lou from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Guitar
bar:Lou from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Lou from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1996 color:Guitar
bar:Lou from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1996 color:Vocals width:3
bar:John from:04/01/1965 till:09/30/1968 color:Bass
bar:John from:04/01/1965 till:09/30/1968 color:Viola width:3
bar:John from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Bass
bar:John from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Viola width:3
bar:Tuck from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Drums
bar:Ster from:06/01/1990 till:06/30/1990 color:Guitar
bar:John from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Bass
bar:John from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Viola width:3
bar:Ster from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Guitar
bar:Tuck from:11/01/1992 till:07/31/1993 color:Drums
bar:Ster from:04/01/1965 till:08/31/1971 color:Guitar
bar:Ster from:04/01/1965 till:03/01/1968 color:Bass width:3
bar:John from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1996 color:Viola width:3
bar:John from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1996 color:Bass
bar:Tuck from:01/01/1996 till:12/31/1996 color:Drums
bar:Tuck from:12/01/1965 till:12/31/1971 color:Drums
bar:Doug from:08/31/1970 till:01/01/1972 color:Guitar
bar:Doug from:08/31/1970 till:02/28/1973 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Doug from:08/31/1971 till:02/28/1973 color:Instruments
bar:Walt from:11/01/1970 till:12/31/1971 color:Bass
bar:Will from:10/01/1971 till:12/31/1971 color:Keys
bar:Will from:10/01/1971 till:12/31/1971 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Doug from:08/31/1970 till:12/31/1971 color:Guitar
bar:Doug from:08/31/1971 till:12/31/1971 color:Vocals width:3
bar:Doug from:12/31/1968 till:11/01/1970 color:Bass
bar:Doug from:12/31/1968 till:11/01/1970 color:Keys width:3

</timeline>
</div>

==Discography==
{{Main article|The Velvet Underground discography}}
* ''[[The Velvet Underground & Nico]]'' (1967)
* ''[[White Light/White Heat]]'' (1968)
* ''[[The Velvet Underground (album)|The Velvet Underground]]'' (1969)
* ''[[Loaded (The Velvet Underground album)|Loaded]]'' (1970)
* ''[[Squeeze (The Velvet Underground album)|Squeeze]]'' (1973)

==See also==
* [[Boston Tea Party (concert venue)#The Velvet Underground shows|The Boston Tea Party (concert venue)]]

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
*{{dmoz|Arts/Music/Bands_and_Artists/V/Velvet_Underground%2C_The/}}
*[http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/index.html The Velvet Underground Web Page]
*[http://www.wnyc.org/story/106702-cale-on-warhol/ "Cale on Warhol"], [http://www.wnyc.org/story/106703-style-it-takes/ Cale performing "Style It Takes"], from John Cale's appearance on ''[[Studio 360]]'', June 2, 2006
*[http://www.ubu.com/aspen/aspen3/audio3.html "Loop"] from Issue 3 of [[Aspen (magazine)|''Aspen'' magazine]], December 1966

{{Warhol}}
{{Sexual revolution}}
{{The Velvet Underground}}
{{1996 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Velvet Underground, The}}
[[Category:The Velvet Underground| ]]
[[Category:Rock music groups from New York]]
[[Category:Art rock musical groups]]
[[Category:American experimental rock groups]]
[[Category:Protopunk groups]]
[[Category:Andy Warhol]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records artists]]
[[Category:Lou Reed]]
[[Category:Polydor Records artists]]
[[Category:Sire Records artists]]
[[Category:Musical groups established in 1964]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1973]]
[[Category:Musical groups reestablished in 1992]]
[[Category:Musical groups disestablished in 1996]]
[[Category:Musical groups from New York City]]
[[Category:Performance art in New York City]]
[[Category:Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees]]
[[Category:Musical quartets]]
[[Category:Musical quintets]]
[[Category:Articles which contain graphical timelines]]
[[Category:1964 establishments in New York]]
[[Category:Verve Records artists]]
[[Category:MGM Records artists]]
[[Category:Pioneers of music genres]]

Revision as of 13:34, 28 March 2017

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