The World’s Behind You
A VELVET UNDERGROUND COMPANION
Starring LOU REED, JOHN CALE, NICO, SPIRITUALIZED, THE SEEDS, BO DIDDLEY, ORNETTE COLEMAN, THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & MORE
EVEN THE MOST REVOLUTIONARY ARTISTS LEARN FROM those who’ve gone before, and The Velvet Underground were no exception. For The World’s Behind You, our latest MOJO Companion CD, we’ve roamed far and wide to create a radical patchwork of Velvets influences: the primal rock’n’roll and bohemian poetry, Nigerian drum workouts and street corner doo wop that turned them on in their formative years; the avantgarde currents blasting through jazz and classical music that roused their transgressive instincts.
It’s a heady mix, shining a light on how the Velvets were so adept at being both great pop artisans and fearsome noiseniks. And it’s made headier with the addition of some well-connected drone rock disciples, plus tracks from Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico and The Velvet Underground themselves. From the Exploding Plastic Inevitable, to the safety of your own home – try tuning in to a rock’n’roll station that sounds
quite
like this…
1 BO DIDDLEY
Bring It To Jerome
Legend has it that Moe Tucker learned drums by playing along to Bo Diddley records; later, she tried to record Bo Diddley (the song) on every studio visit. The foundational thud of Diddley drummer Clifton James certainly has echoes in the Velvets’ throbbing evolution of rock’n’roll. Bring It To Jerome’s super-raw blues, flipside of 1955’s Pretty Thing, was included in Lou Reed’s 2004 list of his 100 favourite songs.