Velvet Underground, The - 1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed '1974/2024

Tracks list

       Review by Mark Deming

Sadly, outside of a handful of audience tapes of extremely variable fidelity, no
one thought to make a live recording of the Velvet Underground during their
1967-1968 peak period with John Cale prodding Lou Reed into remarkable flights
of noise-rock fancy. However, in 1969, a VU fan who was a recording engineer
brought a reel-to-reel tape machine to two shows the band played during an
engagement at a club in Dallas called The End of Cole Avenue; a few months
later, the band played The Matrix in San Francisco, where a tape machine had
been installed into the hall's sound system, and the band was allowed to record
their set. Five years later, long after the Velvet Underground had collapsed and
Lou Reed's solo career was on the rise, Mercury Records compiled highlights of
the Dallas and San Francisco tapes into a two-record set, 1969: Velvet
Underground Live, and it is without question the best document of this band's
considerable strengths as a live act. While they were a somewhat more sedate
band with Doug Yule on bass rather than Cale, they still had plenty of life left
in them at this stage of the game; there are few voyages into the sonic unknown
here, but Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison had matured into one of rock's most
potent guitar combinations, Maureen Tucker was as distinctive a drummer as
anyone who picked up a pair of mallets, and with Doug Yule at her side, they
comprised a truly superb rhythm section. Sounding tight, confident, and
passionate on every cut, this set finds the band visiting highlights from all
four of their studio albums, as well as a handful of previously unreleased
numbers. 1969: Velvet Underground Live captures the many sides of VU's musical
personality with commendable skill, and while it isn't their best album, it's
one of the best places for a beginner to explore their body of work. 

Tracklist:
1-1. The Velvet Underground - Waiting For My Man (Live At End Of Cole Avenue,
Dallas, TX  / 1969) (07:01)
1-2. The Velvet Underground - Lisa Says (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA /
1969) (05:51)
1-3. The Velvet Underground - What Goes On (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco,
CA / 1969) (08:51)
1-4. The Velvet Underground - Sweet Jane (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA
/ 1969) (03:57)
1-5. The Velvet Underground - We're Gonna Have A Real Good Time Together (Live
At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA / 1969) (03:14)
1-6. The Velvet Underground - Femme Fatale (Live At End Of Cole Avenue, Dallas,
TX  / 1969) (03:05)
1-7. The Velvet Underground - New Age (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA /
1969) (06:36)
1-8. The Velvet Underground - Rock And Roll (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco,
CA / 1969) (06:04)
1-9. The Velvet Underground - Beginning To See The Light (Live At The Matrix,
San Francisco, CA / 1969) (05:27)
1-10. The Velvet Underground - Ocean (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA /
1969) (10:51)
1-11. The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes (Live At End Of Cole Avenue,
Dallas, TX  / 1969) (05:52)
1-12. The Velvet Underground - Heroin (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA /
1969) (09:45)
1-13. The Velvet Underground - Some Kinda Love (Live At End Of Cole Avenue,
Dallas, TX  / 1969) (04:47)
1-14. The Velvet Underground - Over You (Live At The Matrix, San Francisco, CA /
1969) (02:17)
1-15. The Velvet Underground - Sweet Bonnie Brown / It's Just Too Much (Live At
The Matrix, San Francisco, CA / 1969) (07:54)
1-16. The Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat (Live At The Matrix, San
Francisco, CA / 1969) (08:32)
1-17. The Velvet Underground - I'll Be Your Mirror (Live At End Of Cole Avenue,
Dallas, TX  / 1969) (02:19) 

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