Listen to Lou Reed’s first demo of The Velvet Underground’s ‘Heroin’
It was the track that earmarked The Velvet Underground as a band so far ahead of their time that they were fated to live in the dive bar of cultdom until counterculture had come to pass. With ‘Heroin’ Lou Reed tackled the bracing beat prose of William S. Burroughs and added a twist of visceral rock like lemon to the junkie syringe.
In the process, the iconoclastic star produced an anthem that delved beneath the flower power of rock ‘n’ roll coming to the fore and lingered in the dirt and grit below. Upon release, it might not have been heard by many, but in its own way, it had a massive blossoming impact.
Now, as part of the forthcoming Words & Music, May 1965 collection, you can hear the song in its earliest known iteration during a period when Reed hit a purple patch and was figuring out what he wanted to do with his voice.
This dusty take dates back to almost two years before it was eventually released on the band’s debut album making it an insightful piece of history behind one of the greatest albums of all time.
The demo will accompany a slew of other archival gems as part of Words & Music, May 1965 which is set for release on August 26th via Light in the Attic to celebrate the late star’s 80th birthday.
Short and punchy, the track is like Delmore Schwartz behind a guitar as Reed sits alone and strums out a simplified and trimmed-down version of the song. You can listen to the archaeological piece of culture below.
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