All Tomorrow's Parties

"All Tomorrow's Parties"
Single by The Velvet Underground and Nico
Album	The Velvet Underground and Nico
Released	July 1966 (single) March 1967 (album)
Recorded	April 1966, Scepter Studios, New York City
Genre	Avant-garde, Rock, Art Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Length	2:49 (single version) 6:00 (album version)
Label	Verve Records (VK10427)
Writer	Lou Reed
Composer	Lou Reed
Producer	Andy Warhol
The Velvet Underground and Nico track listing
"Sunday Morning" "I'm Waiting for the Man" "Femme Fatale" "Venus In Furs" "Run Run Run" "All Tomorrow's Parties" "Heroin" "There She Goes Again" "I'll Be Your Mirror" "The Black Angel's Death Song" "European Son"
The Velvet Underground singles chronology
	"All Tomorrow's Parties" / I'll Be Your Mirror (1966)	"Sunday Morning" / "Femme Fatale" (1966)

"All Tomorrow's Parties" is a song by The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed and released on the group's 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground and Nico. Inspiration for the song came from Reed's observation of the Warhol clique; according to Reed, the song is "a very apt description of certain people at the Factory at the time. ... I watched Andy. I watched Andy watching everybody. I would hear people say the most astonishing things, the funniest things, the saddest things."^[1] The song was Andy Warhol's favorite by The Velvet Underground.^[2] The song has lent its name to an avant-garde music festival, a William Gibson novel, an issue of The Invisibles by Grant Morrison and a Spanish-language novel titled Todas las fiestas de mañana by Mexican writer and journalist Miguel Cane.

Recording

The song was recorded at Scepter Studios, New York City during April 1966. It features a piano motif played by Cale (initially written as an exercise) based largely on tone clusters. It was one of the first pop songs to make use of prepared piano^[3] (a chain of paper clips were intertwined with the piano strings to change their sounds). The song also features the Ostrich guitar tuning by Reed, by which all of the guitar strings were tuned to D.^[2] Nico provides lead vocals. The song was originally recorded with only one track of her vocals; they were later double-tracked for the final album version. Most versions of the album use this version of the song, though the initial 1987 CD release uses the original mix without the double-tracking.

Alternate versions

Ludlow Street Loft, July 1965

The earliest known recorded version of "All Tomorrow's Parties" was by Lou Reed, John Cale and Sterling Morrison among a set of other notable songs that would appear on the 1967 debut album, including "Heroin", "Venus in Furs" and "I'm Waiting for the Man". The song is recorded with an acoustic guitar. This version is available on the first disc of the Peel Slowly and See compilation.

Single version, July 1966

An edited version of the song was released in July 1966 as a single with "I'll Be Your Mirror" as a b-side. The song cuts out about half of the studio version at just under three minutes long. It did not chart. This version later became available in 2002 on the "Deluxe Edition" of The Velvet Underground and Nico.

Cover versions

Both Nico and Lou Reed have recorded solo versions of the song. Other artists who have covered it include Apoptygma Berzerk, the Ass Ponys, Buffalo Tom, Japan, Jeff Buckley, Icehouse, Los Tres, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, the Oysterband, Rasputina, Tom Robinson, Simple Minds, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Bryan Ferry, June Tabor, Johnette Napolitano, and Iron and Wine.

Sample

References