Recorded at the peak of Lou Reed's songwriting powers and the band's apex as a well oiled touring machine, The Quine Tapes are undeniably the best official record of the Velvet Underground in all its ear bending splendor. There are live documents of higher sound quality, namely the double LP set 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, but for what The Quine Tapes lack in quality (and in reality, they're not all that bad) they more than make up for in capturing the spirit of a group that was light years beyond its time. Famed for his guitar work throughout the mid 70s/80s, Robert Quine befriended the Velvets somewhere in the midst of the 1969 tour and with the band's permission, began recording all of the shows he'd attend on a personal tape recorder. The best of the best were transferred to reel-to-reel tapes and those that survived comprise this officially released collection. Mirroring the band's set on the 69 tour, each disc climaxes with a monster-sized version of Sister Ray (24, 38 and 28 minutes respectively), while the amount of material pulled from each of the band's four albums is represented in almost equal measure - including plenty of Loaded material roughly a year before it was released, and a bevy of tunes that would never appear on the band's LPs. The consistent quality across these discs proves that even on shows that were recorded up to six months apart as they are here, the Velvet Underground was a live band without equal. Words like transcendent, frothy, superbly melodic, orgasmic, et al come to mind, but they're really of no use in describing what we have here. Just click, wait and reward yourself with a good listen. It hardly gets better than this.
Showing posts with label Velvet Underground. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Velvet Underground. Show all posts
Tuesday
Velvet Underground
Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes
Recorded at the peak of Lou Reed's songwriting powers and the band's apex as a well oiled touring machine, The Quine Tapes are undeniably the best official record of the Velvet Underground in all its ear bending splendor. There are live documents of higher sound quality, namely the double LP set 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, but for what The Quine Tapes lack in quality (and in reality, they're not all that bad) they more than make up for in capturing the spirit of a group that was light years beyond its time. Famed for his guitar work throughout the mid 70s/80s, Robert Quine befriended the Velvets somewhere in the midst of the 1969 tour and with the band's permission, began recording all of the shows he'd attend on a personal tape recorder. The best of the best were transferred to reel-to-reel tapes and those that survived comprise this officially released collection. Mirroring the band's set on the 69 tour, each disc climaxes with a monster-sized version of Sister Ray (24, 38 and 28 minutes respectively), while the amount of material pulled from each of the band's four albums is represented in almost equal measure - including plenty of Loaded material roughly a year before it was released, and a bevy of tunes that would never appear on the band's LPs. The consistent quality across these discs proves that even on shows that were recorded up to six months apart as they are here, the Velvet Underground was a live band without equal. Words like transcendent, frothy, superbly melodic, orgasmic, et al come to mind, but they're really of no use in describing what we have here. Just click, wait and reward yourself with a good listen. It hardly gets better than this.
Recorded at the peak of Lou Reed's songwriting powers and the band's apex as a well oiled touring machine, The Quine Tapes are undeniably the best official record of the Velvet Underground in all its ear bending splendor. There are live documents of higher sound quality, namely the double LP set 1969: The Velvet Underground Live, but for what The Quine Tapes lack in quality (and in reality, they're not all that bad) they more than make up for in capturing the spirit of a group that was light years beyond its time. Famed for his guitar work throughout the mid 70s/80s, Robert Quine befriended the Velvets somewhere in the midst of the 1969 tour and with the band's permission, began recording all of the shows he'd attend on a personal tape recorder. The best of the best were transferred to reel-to-reel tapes and those that survived comprise this officially released collection. Mirroring the band's set on the 69 tour, each disc climaxes with a monster-sized version of Sister Ray (24, 38 and 28 minutes respectively), while the amount of material pulled from each of the band's four albums is represented in almost equal measure - including plenty of Loaded material roughly a year before it was released, and a bevy of tunes that would never appear on the band's LPs. The consistent quality across these discs proves that even on shows that were recorded up to six months apart as they are here, the Velvet Underground was a live band without equal. Words like transcendent, frothy, superbly melodic, orgasmic, et al come to mind, but they're really of no use in describing what we have here. Just click, wait and reward yourself with a good listen. It hardly gets better than this.
Lou Reed
Lou Reed - 1972
Since this self-titled debut is yet to receive the full reissue treatment of his more well known LPs, it's not uncommon to believe that Lou Reed's solo discography begins with Transformer. Not so fast now. Although it continues to be one of Reed's least popular and lesser known albums, Lou Reed is a stripped-down mini masterpiece very much in the vein of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, and nearly as good. Many of the best songs here date back to his tenure in the Velvet Underground, though it would be years before that band's recordings of "I Can't Stand It," "Lisa Says," or "Ocean" would surface. Transformer contains all the hits and "Berlin" would resurface a year later as the title track to his critically lauded concept LP, but Lou Reed has an undeniable charm that keeps me dropping the needle to it more often than any of his other solo albums.
Since this self-titled debut is yet to receive the full reissue treatment of his more well known LPs, it's not uncommon to believe that Lou Reed's solo discography begins with Transformer. Not so fast now. Although it continues to be one of Reed's least popular and lesser known albums, Lou Reed is a stripped-down mini masterpiece very much in the vein of John Lennon's Plastic Ono Band, and nearly as good. Many of the best songs here date back to his tenure in the Velvet Underground, though it would be years before that band's recordings of "I Can't Stand It," "Lisa Says," or "Ocean" would surface. Transformer contains all the hits and "Berlin" would resurface a year later as the title track to his critically lauded concept LP, but Lou Reed has an undeniable charm that keeps me dropping the needle to it more often than any of his other solo albums.
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