The Los Angeles Free Press, November 1968;
Judy Sims, Disc, November 30, 1968
Residencies at the Whisky A Go Go, on L.A.’s Sunset thoroughfare, in the fall of 1968 allowed those on the coast to compare the Cale-era combo to its Yule-tied incarnation. An anonymous reviewer in The Los Angeles Free Press had this to say:
VELVET UNDERGROUND HAS BEEN IN LOS ANGELES RECORDING THE PAST few weeks, finishing their third album in as many years. (It will be released in January.) While here, they made two appearances at the Whisky. Since their last appearance here, there has been a change in personnel: Doug Yule has joined the group and John Cale has gone to Elektra to “do his own thing.” The group did some of the old songs like “Heroin” (the audience wouldn’t let them off stage unless they did that one!), “I’m Waiting for My Man” (which they’ve slowed down and rearranged), and “Sister Ray,” but the bulk of their repertoire consisted of new material, including a long number called “[Hey] Mr. Rain” that captivated the sitting listeners and drove the dancers crazy. (The song reaches a point where the only thing that remains constant and consistent is Maureen’s drum beat while Lou seems to battle organist Doug with his guitar and Sterling appears to be doing something altogether unrelated on his bass. Lou writes or co-writes all of the group’s material, a great deal of which appears to be valid social commentary as well as being musically justified.)
Meanwhile, the one and only U.K. weekly to notice the band as a live entity, Disc, devoted two whole paragraphs of its “Hollywood Scene” section, compiled by Judy Sims, to their activities:
Velvet Underground played the Whisky here twice in the past three weeks; the first time I saw them they were fairly awful, the second time they were fairly great. Doug Yule, new bassist/organist, said they’ve had exceptional response all over the country, which is surprising because they’ve never had a hit, and have had only two moderately successful albums (is 199 on the album chart moderate?).
Doug seems to think the world is now ready for them, and he’s very enthusiastic about their new album which will be released in January. They’re a strange group—the drummer, a girl named Mo Tucker, stands at her drums and flails away; the leader/songwriter/singer, Lou Reed, is into all sorts of weird psychic phenomena like astral projection; the other guitarist, Sterling Somebody, is almost frighteningly outspoken; and Doug is just plain groovy. What’s a nice boy like that . . . ?