Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes
Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes | ||||
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Live album by The Velvet Underground | ||||
Released | October 16, 2001 | |||
Recorded | May, November–December 1969, St. Louis and San Francisco, United States | |||
Genre | Rock | |||
Length | 230:03 | |||
Language | English | |||
Label |
Polydor Records; and Universai Records (314 589 067-2) | |||
Producer | The Velvet Underground | |||
The Velvet Underground chronology | ||||
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Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Robert Christgau | A− [2] |
Pitchfork Media | (9.4/10) [3] |
Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes is a triple live album by the Velvet Underground. It was released on October 16, 2001, by Polydor, the record label overseeing the Velvet Underground's Universal Music Group back catalogue.
The Quine Tapes is currently the first and only release in the proposed Bootleg Series. It was originally recorded live by Robert Quine, a fan of the band who would later become an influential guitarist and played with musicians such as Richard Hell, Lou Reed and Lloyd Cole.
The second volume in The Bootleg Series was to be an April 1967 show recorded at The Gymnasium in New York City. (Two songs from this show, "Guess I'm Falling in Love" and "Booker T," appeared on the 1995 box set Peel Slowly and See.) Apparently monetary disputes between the band and Universal have put a hold on future entries in the series. (This same dispute over a revised contract also kept "Miss Joanie Lee," recorded during a rehearsal at Andy Warhol's Factory, from appearing on the deluxe two-CD reissue of The Velvet Underground & Nico.) The Gymnasium show was eventually released in December 2013 as part of the 'Super Deluxe' reissue of "White Light/White Heat", and features the only known recorded performance of the song "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore," as well as the live debut of "Sister Ray".
The Quine Tapes
During 1969, the Velvet Underground toured the United States and Canada, playing well over 70 dates. By this time, the band had picked up a sizeable fan base and every now and then a fan would bring along, with consent of the band, recording equipment to record a set. Most of the time, this would mean relatively simple hand-held recorders resulting in lo-fi mono audience recordings, as with this set and the 1972 live album Live at Max's Kansas City (1969: The Velvet Underground Live was the notable exception, using stereo soundboard recordings).
Robert Quine, an avid Velvet Underground fan, used to travel to as many concerts as possible. He became friends with the band and they allowed him to record sets from the audience, occasionally asking for playbacks. Quine recorded many concerts, but as his original musicassette tapes began to wear out, he compiled four reels of what he considered the best material. These "best-of" reels were ultimately released in 2001 as the present The Quine Tapes set. The original musicassettes from which the reels were compiled no longer exist.
Musically, The Quine Tapes finds the band in the same phase in their history as documented on 1969—the two sets even share a performance of "Rock and Roll", recorded at the same concert by both Quine and the Matrix sound personnel. Quine's tapes, although lo-fi audience recordings, capture much more of the music's ambience, especially in the larger venues, such as Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, The Quine Tapes contains songs that the band only rarely performed by this time, such as "Sunday Morning", "Venus in Furs" and "The Black Angel's Death Song", along with other obscurities such as "Over You", "Ride into the Sun", and "Follow the Leader", which had never even been bootlegged in its original form.
Track listing
All tracks written by Lou Reed except as noted
- Disc one
Tracks 1-11 recorded various dates in November 1969 at the Family Dog Ballroom, San Francisco, California
- "I'm Waiting for the Man" (November 8, 1969) – 7:46
- "It's Just Too Much" (November 8, 1969) – 4:08
- "What Goes On" (November 8, 1969) – 8:25
- "I Can't Stand It" (November 8, 1969) – 6:20
- "Some Kinda Love" (November 8, 1969) – 4:48
- "Foggy Notion" (November 8, 1969) (Reed, Sterling Morrison, Doug Yule, Maureen Tucker, Hy Weiss) – 4:41
- "Femme Fatale" (November 7, 1969) – 3:14
- "After Hours" (November 8, 1969) – 3:05
- "I'm Sticking with You" (November 8, 1969) – 2:48
- "Sunday Morning" (November 9, 1969) (Reed, John Cale) – 2:56
- "Sister Ray" (November 7, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 24:03
- Disc two
Tracks 1-5 recorded various dates in late 1969 at the Matrix, San Francisco, California
- "Follow the Leader" (November 27, 1969) – 17:05
- "White Light/White Heat" (December 1, 1969) – 10:03
- "Venus in Furs" (December 1, 1969) – 5:14
- "Heroin" (November 23, 1969) – 8:11
- "Sister Ray" (December 3, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 38:00
- Disc three
Tracks 1-6 recorded various dates in November 1969 at the Matrix, San Francisco, California
Track 7 recorded the 11th of May 1969 at Washington University, St.Louis, Missouri
- "Rock and Roll" (November 25, 1969) – 6:49
- "New Age" (November 24, 1969) – 11:21
- "Over You" (November 25, 1969) – 2:41
- "The Black Angel's Death Song" (November 23, 1969) (Reed, Cale) – 5:54
- "I'm Waiting for the Man" (November 27, 1969) – 11:37
- "Ride into the Sun" (November 24, 1969) – 11:11
- "Sister Ray"/"Foggy Notion" (May 11, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker/Reed, Morrison, Yule, Tucker, Weiss) – 28:43
Personnel
- The Velvet Underground
- Sterling Morrison – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
- Lou Reed – vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
- Maureen Tucker – percussion, lead vocals on "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking with You"
- Doug Yule – bass guitar, organ, backing vocals, lead vocal on "Ride into the Sun"
- Technical staff
- Robert Quine – recording engineer
- The Velvet Underground – producers