The Ostrich (MP3s)

One of the secret weapons of the Velvet Underground was Lou Reed's Ostrich Guitar Tuning, where all the strings were tuned to D. It got its name from the 1964 novelty single "The Ostrich" by The Primitives, a pre-Velvet Underground band fronted by Lou Reed. Originally only a studio project, the song about a fake novelty dance generated enough interest to put together a band for a few live gigs. And amazingly enough, that touring version of The Primitives featured John Cale, Tony Conrad, and Walter DeMaria. While I am not aware of any surviving live recordings of these guys, here are both sides of the studio recording in MP3 format: The Ostrich | Sneaky Pete

Only one year later Lou Reed and John Cale would form the Velvet Underground and never record a novelty dance number again.

Comments

[Norton Zenger]

If you ever want to hear something truly horrible, try and get a hold of a copy of New Order's 10-minute live cover of this song from the '80s. So, _so_ bad.

[Zach]

this is the first truly amazing thing I've found on this blog

[RPI]

So we meet again, Norton Zenger.

Mr. Zenger is responsible for my knowledge of this song and, obliquely, for my later obsession with John Cale. It will be nice to hear the song at long last.

[Pete]

Thanks for posting these. I've wanted to hear this stuff for years.

[Do the Ostrich cover compilation]

This underground label put out a whole compilation of different bands interpreting "Do the Ostrich" by The Primitives. Some are very cool. I especially like the version by THE TENTACLES.

[BrianTurner]

Did Lou use the all-D tuning in the VU though? I heard about it during the Primitives. I would guess Metal Machine Music found it in there somewhere...

I'm looking fwd to hearing his New Age album which we should be getting this week here at FMU...

[Lukas]

Supposedly Lou Reed used the Ostrich tuning on the songs "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Venus in Furs".

[lee]

all kidding aside: Mr Reed goes to 12 step meetings regularly. i know 2 people who go to the same meeting Lou does. I was assured that he kneels down in the back of the room and puts his head between his knees for the duration of his stay at each meeting.

a novelty song , huh? ''take your head and put it between your knees, and do the ostrich'' . stop laughing. really. it's serious stuff.

[Brian C.]

on the Banana LP, Lou's credits include "Ostritch Guitar". I'd always thought this was an inside joke, not knowing "the ostritch" had an unusual tuning. I'd guess he played it on the LP.

[Ralph]

Fuckin A! thanks for the Ostrich!

[Steve Van Loon]

Thanks for posting these. I'm trying to go through everything the Velvet Underground did and this seems like a good starting point.