Peel Slowly and See

Untitled

Peel Slowly and See is a five-disc box set of material by The Velvet Underground. It was released in September 1995 by Polydor.

Compilation

The set includes all four studio albums by the Lou Reed-era line-up of the Velvet Underground, alongside demo recordings and live performances, some of which were bootlegged, some of which were never released. Squeeze, recorded after Reed's departure from the band, is not included. The Velvet Underground, the band's self-titled third album, is presented in its infamous "closet mix", that is, Lou Reed's mix of the album that features a cramped, closed-in sound with more emphasis on vocals. The band's fourth album, Loaded, is presented with "full-length versions" of two of its tracks, "Sweet Jane" and "New Age".

Rolling Stone journalist David Fricke wrote extensive liner notes in an accompanying booklet, which also pictured many items of Velvet Underground memorabilia from the collection of guitarist Sterling Morrison.

Track listing

All tracks written by Lou Reed except as noted.

All tracks performed by The Velvet Underground except † by The Velvet Underground & Nico; and ‡ by Nico.

Disc one

1. "Venus in Furs" (demo)  – 15:33
2. "Prominent Men" (demo) (Reed, Cale) – 4:53
3. "Heroin" (demo) – 13:34
4. "I'm Waiting for the Man" (demo) – 9:50
5. "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (demo) – 15:50
6. "All Tomorrow's Parties" (demo) – 18:26

(1–6) first appearance.

Disc two

1. "All Tomorrow's Parties" (single version) – 2:49†
2. "Sunday Morning" (Reed, Cale) – 2:54†
3. "I'm Waiting for the Man" – 4:38
4. "Femme Fatale" – 2:37†
5. "Venus in Furs" – 5:10
6. "Run Run Run" – 4:19
7. "All Tomorrow's Parties" – 5:58†
8. "Heroin" – 7:10
9. "There She Goes Again" – 2:39
10. "I'll Be Your Mirror" – 2:12†
11. "The Black Angel's Death Song" – 3:12 (Reed, Cale)
12. "European Son" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 7:47
13. "Melody Laughter" (live edit) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker, Päffgen) – 10:43†
14. "It Was a Pleasure Then" – 8:02 (Reed, Cale, Päffgen)‡
15. "Chelsea Girls" – 7:24 (Reed, Morrison)‡

(1) taken from the "All Tomorrow's Parties" single; (2–12) taken from The Velvet Underground & Nico (entire album); (13) first appearance; (14–15) taken from Chelsea Girl.

Disc three

1. "There Is No Reason" (demo) (Reed, Cale) – 2:12
2. "Sheltered Life" (demo) – 2:52
3. "It's All Right (the Way That You Live)" (demo) (Reed, Cale) – 2:48
4. "I'm Not Too Sorry (Now That You're Gone)" (demo) (Reed, Cale) – 2:17
5. "Here She Comes Now" (demo) (Reed, Cale, Morrison) – 2:46
6. "Guess I'm Falling in Love" (live) – 4:10 (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker)
7. "Booker T." (live) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 6:30
8. "White Light/White Heat" – 2:45
9. "The Gift" (Reed, Morrison, Cale, Tucker) – 8:17
10. "Lady Godiva's Operation" – 4:54
11. "Here She Comes Now" (Reed, Cale, Morrison) – 2:02
12. "I Heard Her Call My Name" – 4:46
13. "Sister Ray" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 17:27
14. "Stephanie Says" – 2:49
15. "Temptation Inside Your Heart" – 2:30
16. "Hey Mr. Rain" (version one) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 4:40

(1–7) first appearance; (8–13) taken from White Light/White Heat (entire album); (14–15) taken from VU; (16) taken from Another View.

Disc four

1. "What Goes On" (live) – 5:34
2. "Candy Says" (closet mix) – 4:04
3. "What Goes On" (closet mix) – 4:35
4. "Some Kinda Love" (closet mix) – 3:39
5. "Pale Blue Eyes" (closet mix) – 5:42
6. "Jesus" (closet mix) – 3:24
7. "Beginning to See the Light" (closet mix) – 4:47
8. "I'm Set Free" (closet mix) – 4:04
9. "That's the Story of My Life" (closet mix) – 2:02
10. "The Murder Mystery" (closet mix) – 8:55
11. "After Hours" (closet mix) – 2:09
12. "Foggy Notion" (Reed, Morrison, Yule, Tucker, Weiss) – 6:47
13. "I Can't Stand It" – 3:22
14. "I'm Sticking with You" – 2:28
15. "One of These Days" – 4:00
16. "Lisa Says" – 2:57
17. "It's Just Too Much" (live) – 2:59
18. "Countess from Hong Kong" (demo) (Reed, Cale) – 3:17

(1, 17–18) first appearance; (2–11) taken from The Velvet Underground (entire album, alternate closet-mix); (12–16) taken from VU.

Disc five

1. "Who Loves the Sun" – 2:45
2. "Sweet Jane" (full-length version) – 4:06
3. "Rock & Roll" – 4:43
4. "Cool It Down" – 3:04
5. "New Age" (long version) – 5:07
6. "Head Held High" – 2:56
7. "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" – 2:43
8. "I Found a Reason" – 4:15
9. "Train Round the Bend" – 3:21
10. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'" – 7:25
11. "Satellite of Love" – 2:58
12. "Walk and Talk It" – 2:23
13. "Oh Gin" – 2:44
14. "Sad Song" – 3:30
15. "Ocean" – 5:43
16. "Ride into the Sun" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 3:20
17. "Some Kinda Love" (live) – 10:22
18. "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live) – 2:06
19. "I Love You" – 2:03

(1–10) taken from Loaded (entire album; first appearance of 2, 5 in "original" versions); (11–17, 19) first appearance; (18) taken from Live at Max's Kansas City.

Personnel

The Velvet Underground

• John Cale – bass guitar, viola, keyboards (discs 1–3); lead vocal on "The Gift" and "Lady Godiva's Operation"; organ and viola on disc 5, track 15
• Sterling Morrison – guitar, bass guitar, backing vocals, co-vocal on "The Murder Mystery"
• Lou Reed – vocals, guitar, piano, harmonica
• Maureen Tucker – percussion (discs 2–5), lead vocal on "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking with You", co-vocal on The Murder Mystery.
• Doug Yule – bass guitar, keyboards, guitars, drums (disc 4–5); lead vocal on "Candy Says", "Who Loves the Sun", "New Age", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", "Ride into the Sun" and "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live).

Additional musicians

• Nico – lead vocal on "All Tomorrow's Parties" (both single and LP versions), "Femme Fatale", "I'll Be Your Mirror", "Melody Laughter", "It Was a Pleasure Then" and "Chelsea Girls"; backing vocals on "Sunday Morning"
• Adrian Barber – drums on "Who Loves the Sun" and "I Found a Reason"
• Tommy Castanaro – drums on "Cool It Down" and "Head Held High"
• Billy Yule – drums on "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'", "Ocean", "Some Kinda Love" (live) and "I'll Be Your Mirror" (live).

Technical staff

• The Velvet Underground – producers (disc 1; disc 3: 1–7, 14–16, disc 4, disc 5: 17–18)
• Andy Warhol – producer (disc 2: 1–12)
• The Velvet Underground & Nico – producers (disc 2: 13)
• Tom Wilson – producer (disc 2: 14–15, disc 3: 8–13)
• Geoff Haslam, Shel Kagan and The Velvet Underground – producers (disc 5: 1–10, 15–16)
• Adrian Barber – producer (disc 5: 11–14, 19)
• Brigid Polk – engineer (disc 5: 17–18)