Final V.U. 1971-1973

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Final V.U. 1971-1973
Live album box set by The Velvet Underground
Released	August 2001
Recorded	1971–1973 in England, The Netherlands, Wales and Massachusetts
Genre	Rock and roll
Label	Captain Trip Records
Producer	The Velvet Underground
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link
The Velvet Underground chronology
Rock and Roll: an Introduction to The Velvet Underground (2001) Final V.U. 1971-1973 (2001) Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes (2001)

Final V.U. 1971-1973 is a live box set consisting of recordings of lineups billed at the time as The Velvet Underground. It was released by Japanese record company Captain Trip Records in August of 2001.

Contents 1 About the album 1.1 Is it or isn't it the Velvet Underground? 2 Track listing 2.1 Disc one 2.2 Disc two 2.3 Disc three 2.4 Disc four 3 Personnel 3.1 The band 3.2 Additional musicians 4 External links

[edit] About the album

After Lou Reed had quit The Velvet Underground in August 1970, the band carried on nonetheless. Doug Yule assumed leadership of the band and moved to lead vocals and guitar; Walter Powers joined to play bass guitar. This version of The Velvet Underground, which still featured original members Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker, played around 30 dates to promote the band's latest album, Loaded.

Almost a year after Reed, Morrison also left the band; he was replaced by Boston keyboard player Willie Alexander. The band then went to tour the United Kingdom and The Netherlands, still in support of Loaded, which had had a March 1971 release date in Europe. Two dates of this tour, November 5, 1971 in London and November 19 in Amsterdam, were recorded by members of the audience, and appear as discs 1 and 2 of this set, respectively. The Amsterdam concert was also recorded from the soundboard by Dutch radio station VPRO and subsequently broadcast on FM radio. A few tracks from this broadcast were recorded by a fan and appear as tracks 11-14 on disc 4 of this set.

Once the European tour was completed, the plan was for the Yule/Alexander/Powers/Tucker to record a new studio album. Band manager Steve Sesnick sent Alexander, Powers and Tucker home, however, presumably to retain maximum control over the record, and Yule recorded the album, Squeeze, on his own.

Sesnick then assembled a backing band around Yule to once again tour the United Kingdom in support of the forthcoming album but deserted the band just before the start of the tour. Yule and band struggled through the dates, then called it quits. One date of this tour, December 6, 1972, at St David's College, Lampeter, was recorded by an audience member and appears as disc 3 of this set.

In the spring of 1973, Yule and some friends toured New England, playing covers and Velvet Underground material on the invitation of a tour manager. As he insisted on billing the band as being The Velvet Underground, despite demands from Yule not to do so, he was fired after three dates and the tour dissolved. One date, May 27, 1973 in Boston, was recorded by an audience member and appears as disc 4 of this set.

[edit] Is it or isn't it the Velvet Underground?

Many Reed partisans decline to consider any post-Lou Reed material to be The Velvet Underground^{[citation needed]}. The band playing on discs 1 and 2, however, is a direct continuation, albeit with personnel changes, of the band that played New York City in 1970. By disc 3, everybody except Doug Yule had gone and a backing band now accompanied him. Since the rights to the name "The Velvet Underground" still lay with Sesnick and Yule, technically it would still be The Velvet Underground, but by now it bore hardly any resemblance to the 1965–1970 lineups.

Most fans consider the band playing on discs 1 and 2 to be a legitimate continuation of the band, drawing the line at the point where Alexander, Powers and Tucker were sent home. Presumably to avoid legal issues using the band name on a post-Lou Reed release, the box set is officially not credited to The Velvet Underground but to the nine individuals appearing on it.

[edit] Track listing

All songs written by Lou Reed except as noted.

[edit] Disc one

1. "Chapel of Love" (Barry, Greenwich, Spector)
2. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
3. "Spare Change" (Alexander)
4. "Some Kinda Love — Turn On Your Love Light" (Reed — Malone, Scott)
5. "White Light/White Heat"
6. "Pretty Tree Climber" (Alexander)
7. "Rock and Roll"
8. "Back on the Farm" (Alexander)
9. "Dopey Joe" (Yule)
10. "Sister Ray — Never Going Back to Georgia" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker – Alexander)
11. "After Hours"

[edit] Disc two

1. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
2. "Spare Change" (Alexander)
3. "Some Kinda Love"
4. "White Light/White Heat"
5. "Pretty Tree Climber" (Alexander)
6. "What Goes On"
7. "Cool It Down"
8. "Back on the Farm" (Alexander)
9. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"
10. "Sister Ray — Never Going Back to Georgia" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker — Alexander)
11. "After Hours"
12. "Dopey Joe" (Yule)
13. "Rock and Roll"

[edit] Disc three

1. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
2. "White Light/White Heat"
3. "Some Kinda Love"
4. "Little Jack" (Yule)
5. "Sweet Jane"
6. "Mean Old Man" (Yule)
7. "Run Run Run"
8. "Caroline" (Yule)
9. "Dopey Joe" (Yule)
10. "What Goes On"
11. "Sister Ray — Train Round the Bend" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker — Reed)
12. "Rock and Roll"
13. "I'm Waiting for the Man"

[edit] Disc four

1. "I'm Waiting for the Man"
2. "Little Jack" (Yule)
3. "White Light/White Heat"
4. "Caroline" (Yule)
5. "Sweet Jane"
6. "Mean Old Man" (Yule)
7. "Who's That Man" (Yule)
8. "Let It Shine" (Yule)
9. "Mama's Little Girl" (Yule)
10. "Train Round the Bend" (fragment)
11. "White Light/White Heat"
12. "What Goes On"
13. "Cool It Down"
14. "Oh! Sweet Nuthin'"

[edit] Personnel

[edit] The band

• Doug Yule – vocal, guitar
• Willie Alexander – keyboards, vocals (disc 1, disc 2, disc 4: 11-14)
• Walter Powers – bass guitar, backing vocals (disc 1, disc 2, disc 4: 11-14)
• Maureen Tucker – drums (disc 1, disc 2, disc 4: 11-14)

[edit] Additional musicians

• George Kay – bass guitar (disc 3, disc 4: 1-10)
• Rob Norris – guitar (disc 3)
• Mark Nauseef – drums (disc 3)
• Don Silverman – guitar (disc 4: 1-10)
• Billy Yule – drums (disc 4: 1-10)

[edit] External links

• The Velvet Underground Web Page
• The Velvet Forum, a V.U. discussion forum
• Captain Trip Records (pages in both Japanese and English)

v • d • e The Velvet Underground John Cale · Sterling Morrison · Lou Reed · Maureen Tucker · Doug Yule Willie Alexander · Angus MacLise · Walter Powers Studio albums The Velvet Underground and Nico · White Light/White Heat · The Velvet Underground · Loaded · Squeeze Live albums Live at Max's Kansas City · 1969 · Live MCMXCIII · Final V.U. · The Quine Tapes Compilations VU · Another View · What Goes On · Peel Slowly and See Songs After Hours · All Tomorrow's Parties · European Son · Femme Fatale · Here She Comes Now · Heroin · I Heard Her Call My Name · I'll Be Your Mirror · I'm Waiting for the Man · Lady Godiva's Operation · New Age · Pale Blue Eyes · Run Run Run · Satellite of Love · Sister Ray · Stephanie Says · Sunday Morning · Sweet Jane · The Black Angel's Death Song · The Gift · There She Goes Again · Venus in Furs · White Light/White Heat Related articles Discography · Songs · Chelsea Girl · Walter De Maria · Exploding Plastic Inevitable · Lou Reed · Nico · Steve Sesnick · Songs for Drella · Andy Warhol · Tom Wilson · Billy Yule