One of Lou Reed’s best-known songs once sounded very different.
A long-lost demo of “Heroin,” a song he would eventually release with the Velvet Underground, shows the track in its earliest stages.
Light In The Attic Records said it’s one of several songs Reed recorded in May 1965 with the help of fellow Velvet Underground cofounder John Cale. Reed mailed the recordings to himself ― a “poor man’s copyright” ― and the envelope sat unopened for nearly half a century.
These recordings will be featured in “Words & Music, May 1965,” set for release next month. But “Heroin” is available on YouTube right now, and it sounds much more like something from the Greenwich Village folk scene than what Reed would release two years later with the Velvets:
Here’s the official version for comparison:
Last month, Light In The Attic Records released a demo of “I’m Waiting For The Man” from the same sessions:
“Words & Music, May 1965,” drops Aug. 26.