Peel Slowly and See

Peel Slowly and See
Box set by The Velvet Underground
Released	September 26, 1995
Recorded	July 1965 – August 23, 1970
Genre	Rock, protopunk
Length	379:34
Language	English
Label	Polydor
Producer	Geoff Haslam, Shel Kagan, The Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, Tom Wilson
The Velvet Underground chronology
Another View (1986) Peel Slowly and See (1995)

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[1]
Rolling Stone	[2]

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 name of this box set comes from the instruction presented on vinyl copies of the band's debut album to peel back the banana sticker featured on the cover. The set includes all four studio albums by the Lou Reed-era line-ups of the Velvet Underground, alongside demo recordings and live performances, some of which were bootlegged, and 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 famous "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 three of its tracks, "Sweet Jane", "Rock & Roll" 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.

With the exception of "Prominent Men", the tracks on Disc One feature multiple takes of each song.

Disc one
No.	Title	Original release	Length
1.	"Venus in Furs (demo)"	Previously unreleased	15:33
2.	"Prominent Men (demo)" (Reed, Cale)	Previously unreleased	4:53
3.	"Heroin (demo)"	Previously unreleased	13:34
4.	"I'm Waiting for the Man (demo)"	Previously unreleased	9:50
5.	"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams (demo)"	Previously unreleased	15:50
6.	"All Tomorrow's Parties (demo)"	Previously unreleased	18:26

Disc two
No.	Title	Original release	Length
1.	"All Tomorrow's Parties (single version)†"	Single A-side	2:49
2.	"Sunday Morning†" (Reed, Cale)	The Velvet Underground & Nico	2:54
3.	"I'm Waiting for the Man"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	4:38
4.	"Femme Fatale†"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	2:37
5.	"Venus in Furs"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	5:10
6.	"Run Run Run"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	4:19
7.	"All Tomorrow's Parties†"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	5:58
8.	"Heroin"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	7:10
9.	"There She Goes Again"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	2:39
10.	"I'll Be Your Mirror†"	The Velvet Underground & Nico	2:12
11.	"The Black Angel's Death Song" (Reed, Cale)	The Velvet Underground & Nico	3:12
12.	"European Son" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker)	The Velvet Underground & Nico	7:47
13.	"Melody Laughter (live edit)†" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker, Päffgen)	Previously unreleased	10:43
14.	"It Was a Pleasure Then‡" (Reed, Cale, Päffgen)	Chelsea Girl	8:02
15.	"Chelsea Girls‡" (Reed, Morrison)	Chelsea Girl	7:24

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

Disc four
No.	Title	Original release	Length
1.	"What Goes On (live)"	Previously unreleased	5:34
2.	"Candy Says"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	4:04
3.	"What Goes On"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	4:35
4.	"Some Kinda Love"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	3:39
5.	"Pale Blue Eyes"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	5:42
6.	"Jesus"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	3:24
7.	"Beginning to See the Light"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	4:47
8.	"I'm Set Free"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	4:04
9.	"That's the Story of My Life"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	2:02
10.	"The Murder Mystery"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	8:55
11.	"After Hours"	The Velvet Underground "Closet Mix"	2:09
12.	"Foggy Notion" (Reed, Morrison, Yule, Tucker, Weiss)	VU	6:47
13.	"I Can't Stand It"	VU	3:22
14.	"I'm Sticking with You"	VU	2:28
15.	"One of These Days"	VU	4:00
16.	"Lisa Says"	VU	2:57
17.	"It's Just Too Much (live)"	Previously unreleased	2:59
18.	"Countess from Hong Kong (demo)" (Reed, Cale)	Previously unreleased	3:17

Disc five
No.	Title	Original release	Length
1.	"Who Loves the Sun"	Loaded	2:45
2.	"Sweet Jane (full-length version)"	Loaded	4:06
3.	"Rock & Roll (full-length version)"	Loaded	4:43
4.	"Cool It Down"	Loaded	3:04
5.	"New Age (long version)"	Loaded	5:07
6.	"Head Held High"	Loaded	2:56
7.	"Lonesome Cowboy Bill"	Loaded	2:43
8.	"I Found a Reason"	Loaded	4:15
9.	"Train Round the Bend"	Loaded	3:21
10.	"Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"	Loaded	7:25
11.	"Satellite of Love"	Previously unreleased	2:58
12.	"Walk and Talk"	Previously unreleased	2:23
13.	"Oh Gin"	Previously unreleased	2:44
14.	"Sad Song"	Previously unreleased	3:30
15.	"Ocean"	Previously unreleased	5:43
16.	"Ride into the Sun" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker)	Previously unreleased	3:20
17.	"Some Kinda Love (live)"	Previously unreleased	10:22
18.	"I'll Be Your Mirror (live)"	Live at Max's Kansas City	2:06
19.	"I Love You"	Previously unreleased	2:03

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)

References

1. Allmusic review
2. Rolling Stone review