VELVET UNDERGROUND - LIVE VOLUME 1 (180g LP)

Velvet Underground Live 1969 Volume 1 on 180g LP from Warner Bros.

The DEFINITIVE Velvet Underground Live Album

Cut from the Original Master Tapes by Legendary Engineer Bernie Grundman

Pressed on 180g Vinyl at RTI: True Audiophile Sound

Be Sure to Also Get Companion Set The Velvet Underground Live 1969 Volume 2

Finding a good-sounding Velvet Underground live album is akin to locating a record needle in a haystack. Unappreciated in its time, the band performed shows that often went unrecorded or which were captured by crude handheld devices that yielded unlistenable lo-fi documents that were later made into on awful, usually unauthorized live compilations. Not so The Velvet Underground Live 1969. Compiled from two shows--the first from Dallas’ The End of Cole Ave. Club in October, and the second from San Francisco’s The Matrix in November--the set opens up a transparent window on the group’s onstage performances of its boundlessly influential music. And now, it finally has superb sound quality to boot.

Cut from the original master tapes by multi-Grammy Award-winning engineer Bernie Grundman and pressed on 180g vinyl at RTI, this analog edition is the best the pioneering New York band has ever sounded outside of the studio. It stands as one of the inarguably finest live records ever made. Much of that is due to the chemistry of the group’s potent lineup. Whether it’s the sheer genius of Lou Reed’s sharp guitar playing and cutting street poetry, minimalist thump and mallet-produced thwack of drumming icon Maureen Tucker’s percussion, or rhythmic pulse afforded by bassist Doug Yule’s spare accompaniment, the Velvet Underground epitomizes brilliance.

And for all the naysayers that claim the quartet faded after original member John Cale departed, here’s proof that isn’t the case. Guitarist Sterling Morrison pushes Reed like no one else before or since, his endless spool of six-string riffs, leads, and fills teaming with Reed's contributions to produce a range of moods and emotions that span melancholic, beautiful, and ferocious. This is sonic hypnosis.

Originally released in 1974 as a two-LP set, the collection has been divided into two separate volumes in accord with the fantastic treatment afforded the packaging and musical contents. Fans will doubtlessly want both volumes. The only difference between the two is that the songs on the first volume are slightly more aggressive and noisy. Each is absolutely essential and unbelievably great. A reissue for the ages!

Velvet Underground Live 1969 Volume 1 Track Listing:

1. Waiting For the Man - (End of Cole Ave)
2. Lisa Says - (The Matrix)
3. What Goes On - (The Matrix)
4. Sweet Jane - (The Matrix)
5. We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together - (The Matrix)
6. Femme Fatale - (End of Cole Ave)
7. New Age - (The Matrix)
8. Rock and Roll - (The Matrix)
9. Beginning to See the Light - (The Matrix)