The Velvet Underground
1969 Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed

THE REVIEW

At the end of the recorded concert, Lou Reed bids farewell to everyone and leaves the Velvet Underground.
He leaves a quartet that, live, as in this occasion, plays like no one had ever done before, but that had lost that exceptional creative drive of the early years. A drive that was missing with the departure of Lou's rival-genius, John Cale: the clash between two artists with exceptional charisma and the collaboration between these two musical innovators had been missing, which had led to the creation of what would prove to be among the greatest rock poems of all time.

Doug Yule (the new bassist), despite everything, proves to be an excellent musician and the live synergy with the mentor-companion Reed is excellent. The double live album is composed of some classic V.U. tracks from previous albums and other prototype songs that would later appear in the group's final CD, "Loaded" (though with only Doug Yule present).

Among the classics, "I'm Waiting For The Man" stands out, here the opening piece of the concert in a less rhythmic but slower and bluesier version. In the most recent mastering of the album (the one from 1984), there are two different versions of Heroin. Both fantastic, it couldn't be otherwise.
In volume B, a remarkably different version of "White Light/White Heat" is noteworthy: an interesting 5-minute instrumental piece, making the live version much longer than the studio one. Among the prototype songs that will appear in "Loaded," there's "Rock 'n' Roll" and a "Sweet Jane" with lyrics different from the original. The themes addressed by the "cursed poet" of rock mark the different phases of composition from 1964 to 1969. It's pointless to talk about "Heroin" (of which someone like Patti Smith has spoken as one of the most perfect works of art in American history); it goes from common life experiences, for example waiting for a dealer in "I'm Waiting For The Man," to love in "Beginning To See The Light" from the third V.U. album (now without John Cale), where we find softened and less self-destructive lyrics than usual.

All recorded with an undefined and artisanal sound, characteristic of all V.U. live albums, making this album one of the many pearls recorded by Reed and company.