The Velvet Underground ‎– White Light/White Heat

• Artwork – Andy Warhol
• Percussion – Moe Tucker
• Vocals, Guitar, Bass – Sterling Morrison
• Vocals, Lead Guitar, Piano – Lou Reed
• Vocals, Viola, Organ, Bass – John Cale

White Light/White Heat and Cale's departure (1968) [ edit ]

Nico moved on after the Velvets severed their relationship with Andy Warhol. Reed once commented on their leaving Warhol: "[Warhol asked] do you want to just keep playing museums from now on and the art festivals? Or do you want to start moving into other areas?" I thought about it, and I fired him. […] I never saw Andy mad, but I did that day. He was really mad, called me a rat. It was the worst thing he could think of."[38] Steve Sesnick was soon brought in as a replacement manager, much to the chagrin of Cale, who believes that Sesnick tried to push Reed as band leader at the expense of band harmony. Both Cale and Reed called Sesnick a "snake" in different interviews after leaving the band.[39] In September 1967, the Velvet Underground began recording their second album, White Light/White Heat, with Tom Wilson as producer.

The band performed live often, and their performances became louder and harsher and often included extended improvisations.

Warhol arranged for the band to get an endorsement deal with Vox which enabled them to use Vox equipment, which included special effects pedals and an organ, for free.[40][41]Sterling Morrison felt they were the first American band to get a Vox endorsement.[42]

Sterling Morrison offered the following input regarding the recording:

There was fantastic leakage 'cause everyone was playing so loud and we had so much electronic junk with us in the studio—all these fuzzers and compressors. Gary Kellgren, who is ultra-competent, told us repeatedly: "You can't do it—all the needles are on red." and we reacted as we always reacted: "Look, we don't know what goes on in there and we don't want to hear about it. Just do the best you can." And so the album is fuzzy, there's all that white noise...we wanted to do something electronic and energetic. We had the energy and the electronics, but we didn't know it couldn't be recorded...what we were trying to do was really fry the tracks.[43]

Cale has stated that while the debut had some moments of fragility and beauty, White Light/White Heat was "consciously anti-beauty".[44] The title track sets a harsh opening; bassist Cale overdubbing a piano that has been described as "a cross between Jerry Lee Lewis and Henry Cowell".[45] Along with brash songs like "Sister Ray" and "I Heard Her Call My Name", there was the darkly comic "The Gift", a short story written by Reed and narrated by Cale in his deadpan Welsh accent. The meditative "Here She Comes Now" was later covered by Galaxie 500, Cabaret Voltaire, and Nirvana, among others. The album was released on January 30, 1968, entering the Billboard Top 200 chart for two weeks, at number 199.