The Velvet Forum

I'll put a link below to a ~17 minute recording of a conversation with John Cale. Possibly from May 1967?. Can you identify the person that is talking to John? Or pin down a definitive date?

John Cale undated 1967-05-24 (?) conversation

17 minutes 9 seconds

A conversation involving John Cale and an unidentified male with occasional contributions by Sterling Morrison and Moe Tucker.

It's difficult to tell what the subject of the conversation is, but one topic seems to be the mode of transport for an imminent trip to Boston (possibly to play at the Tea Party on 26th and 27th May?). Another topic seems to be Lou's confidence in his ability as a vocalist.....

lineage: TDK D90 cassette from the collection of Bill Allerton - Pioneer CT-S670D player - wav - flac

wav transfer October 2025 by lurid_uk

post-transfer file processing by BB

RIP Sterling and Bill

the audio: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/m9jb4slw ... q5pn5&dl=0

the unknown person could be Steve Sesnick [sounds very much like his voice in the 1966,June Studs Terkel radio show]
in the conversation are mentioned problems with Lou Reed's voice and the name of Val Valentin, so to me it seems in a periood of studio recordings

Therefore I suggest the date being 1967.September.20-21
--during the WLWH sessions 1967.September
--just before they played 1967.Sep.22-24 the Savoy Theatre in Boston

Well, whenever it was recorded, and whoever the other guy is, one's thing for sure: they're both high as balls.

Steve was my first guess, but I didn't realise that I had an example of his voice to compare it with. I had completely forgotten that he was on the Studs Terkel recording.

And yes, the mention of Val implies studio so Sept 67 a solid possibility.....

mangue wrote: ↑26 Oct 2025 21:34 the unknown person could be Steve Sesnick [sounds very much like his voice in the 1966,June Studs Terkel radio show]
in the conversation are mentioned problems with Lou Reed's voice and the name of Val Valentin, so to me it seems in a periood of studio recordings

Therefore I suggest the date being 1967.September.20-21
--during the WLWH sessions 1967.September
--just before they played 1967.Sep.22-24 the Savoy Theatre in Boston

lurid wrote: ↑27 Oct 2025 16:52 Steve was my first guess, but I didn't realise that I had an example of his voice to compare it with. I had completely forgotten that he was on the Studs Terkel recording.

And yes, the mention of Val implies studio so Sept 67 a solid possibility.....

mangue wrote: ↑26 Oct 2025 21:34 the unknown person could be Steve Sesnick [sounds very much like his voice in the 1966,June Studs Terkel radio show]
in the conversation are mentioned problems with Lou Reed's voice and the name of Val Valentin, so to me it seems in a periood of studio recordings

Therefore I suggest the date being 1967.September.20-21
--during the WLWH sessions 1967.September
--just before they played 1967.Sep.22-24 the Savoy Theatre in Boston

One thing is for sure, he's annoying to listen to, kind of like listening to Ondine
Is that Sterling noodling on the guitar in the background?

yes I would guess that is Sterl noodling away in the background. The cassette I received titled this "conversation between John Cale and Sterling Morrison" but that is obviously incorrect. Both Sterl and Moe make occasional small contributions to the discussion.

Maybe this was recorded in the studio during the WL/WH sessions?

Dud999 wrote: ↑28 Oct 2025 00:01

lurid wrote: ↑27 Oct 2025 16:52 Steve was my first guess, but I didn't realise that I had an example of his voice to compare it with. I had completely forgotten that he was on the Studs Terkel recording.

And yes, the mention of Val implies studio so Sept 67 a solid possibility.....

One thing is for sure, he's annoying to listen to, kind of like listening to Ondine
Is that Sterling noodling on the guitar in the background?

The manner of speech of the main voice on this tape doesn't correspond at all to what I imagine Steve Sesnick sounding like. This speaker is campy, and seems far more likely to have been someone from the Factory -- Ondine, perhaps, or Rene Ricard or someone like that. Without poking around in the Studs Terkel interview to pin down Sesnick's voice, I imagine him sounding much more square than the person here.

Agreed
It sounds like a theatrical factory speed freak

It sounds VERY much like Ondine. It could be Rene Ricard too, but before I read the replies to the original post I recognized the voice as being Ondine.