1969: The Velvet Underground Live

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1969: The Velvet Underground Live
1969: The Velvet Underground Live cover
Live album by The Velvet Underground
Released September 1974
September 1988 (CD issues)
Recorded October 19, 1969, Dallas and November 1969, San Francisco, United States
Genre Rock
Length 114:43
Label Mercury
Producer The Velvet Underground
Professional reviews
The Velvet Underground chronology
Squeeze
(1973)		 1969: The Velvet Underground Live
(1974)		 VU
(1985)
1969: The Velvet Underground Live, Volume 2
1969: The Velvet Underground Live, Volume 2

1969: The Velvet Underground Live is a live album by The Velvet Underground. It was originally released as a double album in September 1974 by Mercury Records. The 1988 CD re-release was issued as two separate single CD volumes. Since many of the band's studio albums were out of print in the USA from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, 1969 was one of the more popular albums by the band, and is a fan favorite. Spin Magazine's Alternative Record Guide included it in the top 100 alternative albums of all time in 1995.

Contents

[edit] About the album

During 1969, The Velvet Underground extensively toured the United States and Canada, playing well over 70 dates[1]. By this time, the band had picked up a sizeable fan base and every now and then a fan would bring along, with consent of the band, recording equipment to record a set.

Most of the time, this would mean relatively simple hand-held recorders resulting in lo-fi audience recordings. On two occasions, however, professional equipment was used. On October 19, 1969 in the End of Cole Ave. club, Dallas, a fan who happened to be a recording engineer brought along his professional gear; and in November at The Matrix in San Francisco, the band was given permission to use the in-house four-track recording desk.

The band were given two-track mixdown tapes from the recordings for reference, but nothing was done with them until 1974, after the band had dissolved and Lou Reed had gained popularity/notoriety in his own right. According to bassist Doug Yule, "The release of 1969 Live [...] was started by Steve Sesnick [former band manager], who had the tapes and was trying to sell them to get money for himself claiming that he owned the [band] name and the rights to the album. [...] Somehow somebody else got involved and contacted other people in the group and basically Sesnick got done. [Lou Reed's management] took the tapes and said 'It's not yours' and released it" [2].

The mixdown tapes were submitted to Mercury Records, who agreed to release a compilation of the best performances as a double album. When 1969 was released, it immediately became subject of a lawsuit as The Matrix's management had never given permission for their material to be used on a commercial release. The matter was, however, settled out of court.

The tracks on 1969 are for the most part of good sound quality, resulting from four-track recording equipment being used. Some of the tracks feature light crackling, however, as they were sourced from acetates, the original tapes having been lost. There is little ambience or audience sound, however, because no audience mic was used and so the only ambience the listener gets is whatever little the vocal and drums mics picked up. This makes the record sound relatively flat and small and makes it seem that only a handful of people were present.

At the time of the album's release, three of its songs ("We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together", "Over You", "Sweet Bonnie Brown — It's Just Too Much") were previously unreleased in any form, two ("Lisa Says" and "Ocean") were previously only known as Lou Reed solo songs, and "New Age" and "Sweet Jane" were radically different from the eventual Loaded studio versions.

[edit] Track listing

[edit] Original LP

All tracks written by Lou Reed.

[edit] Side one

  1. "I'm Waiting for the Man" - 7:00 End of Cole Ave, Dallas, October 19, 1969
  2. "Lisa Says" - 5:46 The Matrix, San Francisco, November 1969
  3. "What Goes On" - 8:47 The Matrix
  4. "Sweet Jane" - 3:58 The Matrix

[edit] Side two

  1. "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" - 3:12 The Matrix
  2. "Femme Fatale" - 3:01 End of Cole Ave
  3. "New Age" - 6:31 The Matrix
  4. "Rock and Roll" - 6:00 The Matrix
  5. "Beginning to See the Light" - 5:26 The Matrix

[edit] Side three

  1. "Ocean" - 10:46 The Matrix
  2. "Pale Blue Eyes" - 5:50 End of Cole Ave
  3. "Heroin" - 9:42 The Matrix

[edit] Side four

  1. "Some Kinda Love" - 4:44 End of Cole Ave (intro) The Matrix
  2. "Over You" - 2:15 The Matrix
  3. Medley: "Sweet Bonnie Brown" / " It's Just Too Much" - 7:50
  4. "White Light/White Heat" - 8:32
  5. "I'll Be Your Mirror" - 2:17 End of Cole Ave

[edit] Compact Discs

[edit] Volume 1

  1. "I'm Waiting for the Man" - 7:03
  2. "Lisa Says" - 5:52
  3. "What Goes On" - 8:55
  4. "Sweet Jane" - 4:00
  5. "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" - 3:15
  6. "Femme Fatale" - 3:04
  7. "New Age" - 6:36
  8. "Rock and Roll" - 6:06
  9. "Beginning to See the Light" - 5:30
  10. "Heroin" - 8:14

[edit] Volume 2

  1. "Ocean" - 10:55
  2. "Pale Blue Eyes" - 5:51
  3. "Heroin" - 9:49
  4. "Some Kinda Love" - 4:48
  5. "Over You" - 2:17
  6. Medley: "Sweet Bonnie Brown" / " It's Just Too Much"- 7:55
  7. "White Light/White Heat" - 8:35
  8. "I Can't Stand It" - 7:51
  9. "I'll Be Your Mirror" 2:21

[edit] Notes on CD releases

When issued on CD by Polygram in 1988, the double album (which always sold for the price of a single album) was split into two budget-priced CDs. As noted above, there is one extra track on each CD. However, there are some serious technical deficiencies with the CDs, most likely due to the fact that the original album was mastered from acetates rather than the original two-track masters. Many tracks, in particular "Beginning to See the Light" and "Over You," appear to be recorded straight from a vinyl edition of the album. Concerning the bonus tracks, there were several options available for Polygram to choose from, including studio demos of "Ride Into the Sun" and "Rock and Roll" (the latter an acoustic version titled "Rock and Roll Movie"), along with other live material. (A popular CD bootleg called Live At End Cole Ave. features the entire set from the Texas portions of this album, providing an idea of what material was available.) However, Polygram executives decided that the two included bonus tracks--an alternate version of "Heroin" and "I Can't Stand It"--were the only two tracks suitable for release. [1].

[edit] Personnel

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Figure derived from the 1969 gig list at The Velvet Underground Web Page
  2. ^ Quoted from "Head Held High - The Velvet Underground featuring Doug Yule", interview with Yule by Sal Mercuri, originally published in What Goes On - The Velvet Underground Fanzine #3, Fall 1994 and republished at The Velvet Underground Web Page

[edit] External links

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The Velvet Underground
John Cale · Sterling Morrison · Lou Reed · Maureen Tucker · Doug Yule
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