18 replies to this topic

[Hans Christian Anderson]

I've been on a huge VU kick lately and have decided I need to round out my collection of their stuff a little more with a live album. Should I get:

Live at Max's Kansas City

or

1969: Volumes 1 + 2

[r.i.p.]

I really like the Quine Tapes. You get about a hour of Sister Ray.

[cerebralcaustic]

I really like the Quine Tapes. You get about a hour of Sister Ray.

Even more than an hour, right? I'm seeing 90 minutes.

I'd go with 1969--I've always seen that as the definitive live VU album

[theremin]

No doubt at all. Max's Kansas City. Amazing CD.

[The Gram]

Get Quine tapes first if you can find them. Then 1969 vol 1+2. Quine tapes has over an hour of Sister Ray but one of the recordings breaks off into Foggy Notion for 10-15 minutes. Live at Max's has it's charms I guess. Was it the last ever Velvets show? Anyway, from what I know, it was mastered from a tape recorder left on a table at the bar of the gig so the sound quality is below what you'd expect for an offivcial live release. As an added oddity ,now and then you get people drowning out the music asking for drinks. Pernod seems quite popular with one person in particular.I only have the vinyl version but I think the cd has a bunch of extra tracks too. Hell...get them all in whatever order you find them in!

[Badger]

Stop arsing about and just get them all. There's very few bands it's worth getting completist about but this is undoubtedly one. It might even be the only one.

[Badger]

Live at Max's has it's charms I guess....Anyway, from what I know, it was mastered from a tape recorder left on a table at the bar of the gig

Think the recorder was being supervised/held by Brigit Berlin, Factory Fact Fans.

[Hans Christian Anderson]

Live at Max's has it's charms I guess. Was it the last ever Velvets show?
Anyway, from what I know, it was mastered from a tape recorder left on a table at the bar of the gig so the sound quality is below what you'd expect for an offivcial live release. As an added oddity ,now and then you get people drowning out the music asking for drinks. Pernod seems quite popular with one person in particular.

that person apparently is jim carroll, according to wikipedia at least.

honestly, i don't need an hour of sister ray quite yet at this point (although i do love that song, and i thought a lot of people on the SOMB hated it actually for some reason, i must be wrong...)

yeah, i'd like to be a completist and someday may be, but at this point my wallets only gonna allow me to do one or the other, so think of giving me a recc. as helping me prioritize

[theremin]

The recording of Max's Kansas City isn't the best. And, I've always felt that the person talking was actually a purposeful thing. The guy sounds like he's acting. But the performance is first rate.

[Chicken Invaders!]

Yeah, the Quine Tapes are awesome, though the a 38 minute version of "Sister Ray" sounds a lot cooler than it really is. Everything else is awesome, though.

[Badger]

So, yeah, if you're prioritising, I'd start with the Quine tapes. You get a lot of VU for your money aside from the Sister Ray marathon and the sound is no worse than the others. The 1969 pairing is ripe for a tidying-up so it might be worth leaving it for later. Max's has just had one and you still have to put up with a lot of buzz. But buy them all, really. So does anyone know if there is still any chance of a Bootlegs Vol 2? I presume someone must have inherited a trunkload of lost VU from Quine but I've never seen it discussed.

[The Gram]

confession time... I've never managed to listen to the full live versions of Sister Ray on the Quine tapes! It's just too much...people will call over or the phone will ring or I'll go get something to eat or my ears will start bleeding and I gotta go get some tissues. I try and listen to White Light/White Heat at least once a month. Normally on a Friday...leaves most of Saturday to get the ringing outta my ears. Great album. Max's Kansas city sounds like you're drunk! I ordered Pernod

[Badger]

Those Quine Tapes 'Sister Ray's in full: CD1 - 24.03 CD2 - 38.01 CD3 - 28:43 (inc. 'Foggy notion') None of them is really like the WL/WH version, 2 minutes riffing and 15 minutes freaking out, there's a lot more of that leisurely reflective late period VU in each of these versions.

[The Curse Of Millhaven]

The 1993 reunion live album is a killer, but Badger is spot on. Try to be a completist here. Quine tapes are fucking badass.

[Burz]

Here's a pretty great live show from '67 that's supposedly just been unearthed in the last week. Awesome performance and surprisingly good sound quality. This is also apparently the only known live recording of "Sister Ray" to feature John Cale.

From Dead Flowers:

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: LIVE AT THE GYMNASIUM NYC

I'm not into VU bootlegs really, but apparently this is a big deal. It's the ONLY available live stuff from 1967 and has only become available in literally the last two days. Recorded just after the release of The Velvet Underground And Nico and featuring the debut performance of Sister Ray (19 mins long) and the *previously unheard* song I'm Not A Young Man Any More. That's right, A NEW VELVET UNDERGROUND SONG. And it's fucking good too. This version of Sister Ray absolutely shreds and is what the Velvet Underground are all about.

I'm just listening now and i can already say that, in addition to the historical importance of these five recordings, this thing rocks like a motherfucker.

DOWNLOAD IT NOW

http://www.mediafire.com/?9zcetzynbvo

1. I'm Not A Young Man Anymore (previously unheard VU song)
2. Guess I'm Falling In Love
3. I'm Waiting For The Man
4. Run Run Run
5. Sister Ray (debut live performance)

[mouthbreather]

Wow! That looks cool... Weakling comes through yet again.

[stignasty]

http://enten-eller.b...ries-vol-1.html

[petras]

The 1993 reunion live album is a killer

I've always been partial to this. Sure the quine tapes are authentic and from their prime. But when you just wanna hear a whole boat load of VU tunes performed live you can't beat the 2 disc reunion album. Tons of songs...really great sound quality and the performances are pretty good.

[Badger]

Here's a pretty great live show from '67 that's supposedly just been unearthed in the last week. Awesome performance and surprisingly good sound quality.

Lovely, thank you Weakling.