Released in the Winter of 2006, Japanese Label Nothing Songs Limited continued it's series of Velvet Underground boot re-issues with a 4CD remaster of Live At End Cole Ave, their 7th volume in an on-going series and originally issued on Aulica 111.12/NE83. Also included is another early 90's boot, The First Night originally released on the Italian Aulica Label (A.2151). The first 200 (of 500) copies of this remaster set also included a bonus CDR of an unissued promo version/deluxe edition of Live At Max's Kansas City.
The bands' stop in Dallas October 18 and 19, 1969 would prove to be another landmark moment on the road. It was on the second night, and only the second time on the '69 tour , that the band allowed one of their shows to be professionally recorded. On the 19th an avid fan, who happened to be a recording engineer, was allowed to plug into their equipment and record the set with professional equipment. This is the primary recording for this set, The First Night we'll get to next. The band here is musically in top form and this important set provides a real unique, complete and unadulterated live document of the band in relaxed mode and even a listen at some after hours jamming. This is the entire End Cole Ave performance on October 19th, aside from the edited version of "Blue Velvet Jazz Jam", which apparently only features Doug Yule (who replaced John Cale in late '68), and Moe Tucker with members of the audience jumping up to run through some blues scales - this version still runs just over 30 minutes! The sound here is quite raw and uneven but very good and highlights include the "Ocean" and "What Goes On" for sure, as well as a fun rendition of "Lisa Says" between Lou Reed and the responsive audience here. It's always hard to rule out "Waiting For The Man" too, especially with the wonderful greeting and intro Lou Reed begins the evenings' festivities (and included on the official 1974 live album).
As you listen to this first tape you are immediately struck at how sterile it sounds. The reason of course is that there are no audience microphones utilized so whatever banter that's audible is coming from the vocal and drum microphones (it sounds like nobody is there, though Lou Reed's opening monologue is really great and establishes the right rapport for night #2). One of the critiques of the flat sounding official release, 1974's double LP
1969:
The Velvet Underground Live,
which includes some of the End Cole Ave material along with tapes from 4-track soundboard from The Matrix in San Francisco. That set was also re-issued on CD in 2 separate volumes in 1988. On this remaster from Nothing Songs Ltd. it's both complete sets from the End Cole Ave tapes vs. some highlights on the official set.
Discs 3 & 4 of this package are the sets from the first night in Dallas, October 18th, 1969 - apparently erroneously printed as October 27th on the orginal Aulica title. The fidelity here is definitely an audience tape but a pretty good one actually, and quite lively! It is obvious why the band open with the country-flavored "It's All Too Much" for their first night in Texas. This first night is certainly more energetic than the really laid-back second night, and the recordings certainly accentuate the differences too. Tracks 19-22 are supposedly acetate demos from late 1969 and the last two tracks on disc 2 both get credited to the next nights' performance though "I Found A Reason" also sounds to be from a noisy acetate and "End Cole Ave Jam" seems to be a shorter edit of "Blue Velvet Jazz Jam" from the 2nd night to me - but not as good of quality as the version on "Live At End Cole Ave" on disc 2.
For those who can find the 6CD version of this set that has the bonus 2CDR of "Live At Max's Kansas City", that's the way to go! This live album from a sometimes noisy, mono audience tape was documented on a portable recorder by Brigid Polk, one of Andy Warhol's "factory girls". It's a nice enough recording that certainly touched off someone's emotions at Cotillion Records for an official LP that was released on May 30, 1972 and is probably the highlight of the package for me. Recorded at lower-Manahattan's Max's Kansas City on August 23, 1970 the tape contains both sets. Rhino Records released a double-CD of this title in 1988 with an extra 30 minutes that included "White Light, White Heat" along with a deluxe booklet. In 1970, The Velvet Underground were the house band at Max's and this tape catches a wonderful snapshot of the atmosphere...including the periphery conversations around the actual performance as another reviewer wonderfully conveys:
What makes this recording notable from a historical standpoint is the patter captured between songs documenting a young Jim Carroll as he tries to score Tuinol from another attendee seated at Brigid's table. A fly on the wall perspective of the inner circle of rock chic in the tre decadent early 70's New York Pre-Punk underground music scene.
This bonus set also contains has some tracks that were edited out of the eventual release and includes two rehearsals tracks, "Cool It Down" and "Who Loves The Sun". If that isn't enough, this tape also catches one of Lou Reed's last performances with the band before going solo. So this remastered bootleg title from Nothing Songs Limited is jam-packed with essential live Velvet Underground and hardly one you can pass up.
