The Velvet Underground Album: “Bootleg Series Vol. 1: The Quine Tapes”

This three CD box set finially sets the record straight for the Velvet Underground's claim as the greatest avant-guard live rock band of all time. The REAL bootlegs have proven this for years. Legends of the Velvets doing a 44 minute version of Sweet Sister Ray, into a 25 minute Sister Ray, have up to this point, never been documented on any of their official live albums. That's too bad, because they were ten times better live, than on their studio output. This set is not the best sound quality that you could hope for. I'd place it between LIVE 1969 and LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY for sound. But for content, it beats everything else out there. Finially, you can hear Lou play 17 minute extemporaneous pieces like FOLLOW THE LEADER, melding poetry slams and rock jam sessions. Or hear BLACK ANGEL'S DEATH SONG live, or Moe do both her numbers as a setpeice. But the real reason for buying this gem, is the 38 minute SISTER RAY. It shows the band doing what they did best...exploring the musical unknown, through the synthesis of LaMonte Young's fluxus downtown NYC influence, Bo Didley rock, and Bill Burrough's junkie cut up visions of cinematic literature. It's amazing how Sister Ray perfectly blends heroin mental chaos, dark humor, murder,and every other social taboo that Lou's genius could throw into a 38 minute journey of sonic film noire. Not only did the Velvet Underground start punk, alternative, gothic, and trance music, in many ways, they were its most perfect example of the genre. Here is the textbook, the formula. Peel the banana and step inside.

Im very surprised no one reviewed this yet, so here goes.

People who buy this album, should be familiar with the studio albums and (at least) a bit of the live recorded material to feel the full effect of the all out SHOCK! that comes from exploring the "Quin tapes". Basically, these Recordings come from a series of shows the Velvets played in San Francisco, (1969), which was at the time, the home of psychedelica itself. The Velvets were far from home, and just as far away from the hippie, summer of love ideology. Robert Quin, recorded the shows with the band's permission and in fact went on to become a fantastic guitar player often playing with Lou Reed's solo efforts. Quin actually lost his precious tapes, and what we get here is just a greatest hits reel that survived the rigors of time.

A true Velvet fan will notice the significance of these recordings immediately; Jams all over, Lou improvising new words on the spot, tons and tons of one of a kind moments. Unbelievable version of "Follow the Leader" that would make you think it to be one of the Velvets best, when in fact, its an incredibly rare tune. The Sister Ray>Foggy Notion>Sister Ray, played in the huge family dog auditorium has to be one of the greatest moments of Rock>Avant guard>total jam-out (you still with me?) of all time. Velvet Fans should be massively grateful to Mr. Quin that this material made it to publication. Robert Quin Passed away recently by his own choosing. This album is a monument to him simply because he recognized in 1969 that what the Velvets were doing needed to be recorded. The rest of the world took many years to catch on, and even now, the Velvets are not given the full glory they deserve; The greatest American band of all time. I give this album 5 stars (from the perspective of a Velvet Underground fan, 10 years and still madly in love).

!!This is not entry level material!!

Final note,

I wish Dead heads (Grateful Dead Fans) would get this album, and see that in 1969, the Velvet Underground jammed more and had a larger active repetuoir of original songs than the Dead. Yes I'm a Dead Head too, But the Velvets ARE a Band Beyond Description. Thanks for reading my review

These newly released recordings -- made in 1969 by fan and future guitar virtuoso Robert Quine -- expand on the terrain mapped out on the awesome 1974 release "1969 Live." The sound quality on these recordings are not as good, but, as with "1969 Live," "The Bootleg Series Vol. 1" shows some interesting rearrangements of songs that were originally recorded featuring either Nico on vocals ("Femme Fatale") or John Cale on viola ("Venus in Furs," "Heroin" and "Black Angel's Death Song"). The obvious highlights are the three extended (if a 17 minute song can be extended!) versions of "Sister Ray." My favorite is the version on disc one, while the medley of "Sister Ray" with "Foggy Notion" on the third disc somehow seems very faithful to the studio version on "White Light/White Heat." The versions on disc one and two sound like two completely different songs. The previously unreleased cut "Follow the Leader" is also a very good addition to the officially released VU song catalog. Also, some of the performances sound very similar in arrangement to those on "1969 Live," so fans of that record might find some of these cuts redundant (particularly "I Can't Stand It," -- from the CD version of "1969 Live"-- "Rock and Roll," -- which is recorded from the same performance as the one on "1969 Live" -- "White Light/White Heat," "Heroin," "New Age" and "Over You"). But overall, I think these discs are great for all VU fans, but might not be as compelling as an introduction to first-time listeners of the Velvet Underground. For an adequate introduction, try any of their four official studio albums, and work your way from there.

I don't think it's a stretch to say that with better sound we would be talking about one of the great live albums ever, if not the greatest. The Quine Tapes captures an awesome band at their peak (notwithstanding the absence of John Cale) on three discs worth of classic material, recorded by an avid fan (Quine) on a hand-held cassette recorder!!

The more you listen, the less the sound seems to matter. Several tunes are given definitive performances here, including a raucous 10-minute "White Light/White Heat", versions of "New Age", and "Ride Into the Sun" that conclude with long, intense solos, and a 38-minute(!) reading of "Sister Ray".

I resent some of the comments I've read here comparing this set to bands like the Dead or the Allmans. THAT is endless, boring noodling. THIS is the purest essence of what rock'n'roll is supposed to be!

If you're new to the band, it's still a good idea to start with the four studio albums. But if you're a fan, this is an absolute must-own. While it would be wonderful to have these recordings with perfect sound, we should consider ourselves fortunate that Robert Quine had the foresight to preserve these tapes, and thankful to him for sharing them with us.

These recordings are simply incredible and I would say essential for anyone who considers themselves rabid VU fans. I've seen other reviews whining about lo-fi bootleg quality blah blah blah and I would contend that these "reviewers" are nothing but VU dabblers and dilettantes whose opinions mean nothing.Yes, they are live recordings, but if you've got a semi-decent stereo and play'em loud it'll blow the top of your head off. The different versions of Vu classics presented here will give you a whole new perspective on how really stupendous this line-up was. If you don't like it you're not a fan and I'll fistfight you damn it.