Doug Yule
(bassist/keyboardist/guitarist/occasional lead vocalist, Velvet
Underground, 1968-1973)
Martha Morrison (wife, Velvet Underground
guitarist/bassist Sterling Morrison)
Paul Morrissey
(manager of Andy Warhol; co-manager of Velvet Underground, 1966-67;
manager of Nico, 1966-1967)
Norman Dolph (co-producer of April 1966 sessions for the Velvet Underground's first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, aka "the banana album")
Billy Yule
(drummer, Velvet Underground, summer 1970)
Hetty MacLise
(wife of original Velvet Underground drummer Angus MacLise)
Steve Nelson
(manager of Boston Tea Party, the Velvet Underground's favorite venue
in 1967-1969; also booked the VU on numerous occasions in Western
Massachusetts and designed some posters for their gigs)
Charlie Rothschild
(booked their May 1966 gigs in California and fall 1966 gigs at the
Balloon Farm in St. Marks Place, New York City)
Richard Goldstein
(Village Voice rock critic who
wrote first substantial Velvet Underground article discussing their
music and interviewing Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison,
printed in October 1966)
Elliott Murphy
(singer-songwriter who wrote liner notes for the 1974 double LP 1969 Velvet Underground Live and
helped select tracks for that album with Mercury A&R man Paul
Nelson)
Peter Abram
(owner of Matrix Club in San Francisco, which taped live VU shows in
November 1969 that comprised bulk of their classic album 1969 Velvet Underground Live)
Terry Philips
(hired Lou Reed for Pickwick Records in 1964 and wrote songs with him
while Reed worked at Pickwick in the pre-VU days)
Tony Conrad
(played with John Cale in La Monte Young's group in 1963-65, played in
the Primitives with Cale and Lou Reed in 1964-1965)
Terry Riley
(collaborated with John Cale on Church
of Anthrax album sessions, 1969-1970)
Bob Ragona (general
manager of frontline product at Pickwick Records, where Lou Reed worked
as songwriter in the mid-1960s prior to the Velvet Underground; has
demo tape of Reed doing "Heroin" and other songs from May 11, 1965)
Andrew Oldham
(Rolling Stones manager, arranged for recording of Nico's debut single
in London in 1965)
Peter Jenner
(original Pink Floyd manager, who expressed interest in managing the
Velvet Underground in 1966)
Lewis Merenstein
(co-producer of John Cale's first solo album, Vintage Violence, recorded in late
1969)
Henry Flynt
(played with Velvets in place of an ill John Cale for four shows,
September 1966)
Bob Fass (WBAI
radio host, cited by Sterling Morrison as only New York radio DJ to
play the banana album when it came out)
Chip Baker
(guitarist in the Free
Spirits, who shared the bill with the Velvet Underground at the Scene
in New York in early 1967)
Chris Hills
(bassist in the Free
Spirits, who shared the bill with the Velvet Underground at the Scene
in New York in early 1967)
Bob Moses
(drummer in the Free
Spirits, who shared the bill with the Velvet Underground at the Scene
in New York in early 1967)
Ted Gehrke
(manager of the Free
Spirits, who shared the bill with the Velvet Underground at the Scene
in New York in early 1967)
Dorothy Moskowitz
(singer with the
United States of America, who shared bill with the Velvets at the
Boston Tea Party in March 1968; also remembers how Nico tried to join
the United States of America in late 1967 after leaving VU)
Jan Nelson
(wife of Steve Nelson, saw
the Velvets on several occasions dating back to one of their first
out-of-state gigs in Ann Arbor, March 1966)
John Wilcock
(one of the first
journalists to report extensively on EPI shows in early 1966)
Vic Briggs
(Animals guitarist who
produced the third Velvet Underground for about three days in November
1968 before both he and the band mutually decided it wasn't working out)
Ron Nameth
(director of short film Andy
Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable, shot at the Velvet
Underground's
performances in Chicago in mid-1966)
Kate Heliczer
(wife of filmmaker
Piero Heliczer, screenings of whose films the Angus MacLise lineup of
Velvet Underground accompanied at some of their first performances in
1965; Kate Heliczer also helped circulate early VU demos in the UK)
Rosalind Stevenson
(filmmaker who
filmed silent footage of Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison
rehearsing "Sunday Morning" in her apartment in 1966)
Charlie Larkey
(bassist in the Myddle
Class, who played on same bill at the Velvets' first paid gig at Summit
High School, New Jersey, December 1965)
Ray Manzarek
(Doors keyboardist,
about Velvets' influence on Jim Morrison)
Susan Pile
(saw and wrote about
Velvet Underground many times in 1966-69; worked for Andy Warhol at the
Factory in
the late 1960s; appeared as dancer in Andy
Warhol's Plastic Inevitable
with the Velvet Underground, filmed during their performances in
Chicago in mid-1966)
Leee Black Childers
(photographed
Velvet Underground at Max's Kansas City, summer 1970)
Jerry Yester
(from Modern Folk
Quartet, shared bill with Velvet Underground at their first California
shows at the Trip in Los Angeles in early May 1966)
Jimmy Carl Black
(drummer of the
Mothers of Invention, shared bills with the Velvet Underground at the
Trip in early May 1966 and at the Fillmore in San Francisco in May 1966)
Peter Stampfel
(from the Holy Modal
Rounders, who shared bills with the Velvets at the Boston Tea Party in
January 1969)
Bob Reitman
(saw Velvets in Chicago
in 1969; Milwaukee radio DJ who gave them extensive airplay in late
1960s)
Ken Barnes
(saw Velvets in San
Francisco in 1968 on same bill with Iron Butterfly; longtime rock
critic, currently music editor of USA
Today)
Lisa Law
(photographed Velvets at the
Trip in May 1966; the group stayed with her and Tom Law at "The Castle"
in Los Angeles)
Darice Murray-McKay
(saw Velvets in
San Diego in July 1968 at legendary gig where they played unreleased
song "Sweet Rock and Roll"; currently reference librarian at the
Haight-Ashbury public library)
Steve Paul
(owner of the Scene club
in New York, where Velvets/EPI played in 1967)
Richard Williams
(first British rock
critic to regularly write about and praise the VU in UK rock press;
later was instrumental in signing John Cale and Nico to solo deals at
Island
Records)
Dick Pountain
(busboy at Max's Kansas City in
summer 1970, wrote about their gigs there for British magazine Friends)
George Manney
(member of Philadelphia
band Stone Dawn, saw and photographed VU in Philly in late 1960s)
Jonathan Talbot
(opened for Nico for
several weeks at the Dom in New York in April 1967)
Richard Alderson
(engineer for
"Noise," VU recording that appears on 1966 ESP compilation LP East
Village Other)
Rob Norris (saw
Velvets on several
occasions in the '60s, including their first known gig with Maureen
Tucker at Summit High School in New Jersey in December 1965; later got
to know band at Boston Tea Party, then ended up playing in the Doug
Yule-led Velvet Underground that toured the UK in late 1972)
Chris Darrow (in Kaleidoscope, who
shared bill with Nico at the Scene in New York for a week in late
October 1967)
Michael Barbiero
(engineered 1985
Velvet Underground outtakes collection VU)
J.C. Convertino
(engineer of 1986
Velvet Underground outtakes collection Another View)
Joan Kron
(booked first Philadelphia
shows for Velvet Underground at YMHA/Philadelphia Art Festival in
December 1966)
Guy Webster
(photographer for sleeve
of Nico's second solo album, The
Marble Index)
Miles Copeland
(head of IRS Records,
about reported story that John Cale played him VU demos back in 1965)
Karl Jenkins
(British musician from
Soft Machine and other groups, played in same orchestra with John Cale
for a time as a teenager)
Pete Sahula
(photographed Nico for
album covers in 1962 and 1965, when she was still primarily a model)
Stuart Churchill
(saw Velvets as
teenager in Ann Arbor in April 1967)
Peter Siegel
(produced late-'60s
Earth Opera LP on which John Cale played as session musician)
Milan Hlavsa
(from Plastic People in
the Universe, Prague band inspired by Velvet Underground who later
played key role in movement for democracy in the Czech Republic and
Vaclav Havel's rise to the Czech presidency)
Daniel Moore
(worked with Angus
MacLise in the Bay Area in 1967, shortly after he left the Velvets)
Warren Hill
(discovered VU April 1966
sessions acetate in New York flea market)
Scott Wax
(brokered sale of VU April
1966 sessions acetate on eBay)
Ben Edmonds
(attempted to compile
official VU video anthology in mid-1980s)
Dick Summer
(among first DJs to play
Velvet Underground on the radio, at WBZ in Boston)
Gregg Barrios
(wrote fourth-ever
review of Velvet Underground record in January 1967; saw and
interviewed band for one of their first national features in the rock
press in Austin, fall 1969)
Billy Angel
(saw all VU performances
in Austin, October 1969)
Jeff Perkins
(worked light show for
Pinnacle Productions at VU performances in Los Angeles, May and July
1968)
John Van Hamersveld
(partner in
Pinnacle Productions, who put on VU shows in Los Angeles in May 1968;
designed poster for their May 24-25, 1968 shows)
Ken Brown
(worked light show at
Boston Tea Party at VU performances)
Ira Cohen
(filmmaker who collaborated
with Angus MacLise in the late 1960s)
Harvey Brooks
(session musician,
played bass on John Cale's Vintage
Violence album, 1969)
Dean Wareham
(singer/guitarist in
Luna, support band for several shows on VU's 1993 reunion tour)
John Hagelston
(US fan who flew to
London to see some of the VU's first reunion concerts, June 1993)
Mark Brend
(British music journalist
who saw VU's London concerts, June 1993)
John Hopkins
(organizer of British
festival 14 Hour Technicolor Dream in April 1967, whose poster listed
the VU, although they didn't play)
Mick Farren
(lead singer of the
British band the Deviants, possibly first act to cover VU songs after
hearing mid-1960s demo tape)
Ronn Spencer
(helped arrange for
VU to play Rhode Island School of Design in spring 1967)
Gregg Turner
(about second-ever US VU
bootleg release)
Mark Holmes
(assistant road manager
during VU gigs in Oregon, November 1969)
Marisabina Russo
(sister of Piero
Heliczer, avant-garde filmmaker at whose multimedia events the early VU
played in 1965)
Pat Thomas
(journalist who saw and
interviewed VU during reunion shows in Germany, June 1993)
Michael Carlucci
(friend of Robert
Quine, about Quine's 1969 tapes of Velvet Underground)
Mitch Blank (helped
archive tapes used for 2001 compilation The Velvet Underground: Bootleg Series
Volume 1: The Quine Tapes)
Jeff Friedman (helped
assemble tapes used for 2001 compilation The Velvet Underground: Bootleg Series
Volume 1: The Quine Tapes)
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