Here’s an impossible Velvet Underground related collectible: #1 of only ten copies of a CD featuring Velvets guitarist Sterling Morrison performing with the Hudson Valley (New York) Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra.  We can find no previous documentation of the existence of this CD.

On Saturday, Feb 12, 1994 Morrison was a special guest performer with the Hudson Valley Philharmonic,  performing a piece called ‘Absolutely,’ conducted and composed by Randall Craig Fleischer. At the time, Morrison lived in the Hudson Valley of New York.

Ten CDs were made of the performance in a ‘Limited Xmas Edition’, of which this is numbered on the back of the sleeve #1/10.

The performance featured 25 musicians and Morrison; it’s 14 minutes long, and in the final section, after applause, the conductor says ‘Let Sterling blow his brains out!’

This CD was part of Sterling Morrison’s legendary Velvet Underground archive; we obtained this directly from Morrison’s widow Martha, who’s signed letter of authenticity is included.

From the insert: This piece is rock material organized in a symphonic structure.  The music is fairly simple and models the harmonies one might expect in a Pink Floyd song.  There are opportunities for improvisation from the rock band, especially the guitar.   Like the Tchaikovsky Violin Concerto, where the orchestra echos the violin, there is a dialog between the guitar and the orchestra-a call and answer type of thing.  There is a texture in the sound which you don’t often find in rock music, but when I was writing it, my main purpose was to find an expressive voice for the electric guitar -Randall Craig Fleischer.