Music: 1969 Live by The Velvet Underground

Today I will be presenting 1969 Live by The Velvet Underground, a seminal live record by the band of bands.

The Velvet Underground, active 1965-1970, with members Lou Reed, Moreen Tucker, Doug Yule, John Cale and Sterling Morrison, is seen as one of the most influential bands of all time. One popular saying is that while their first album The Velvet Underground & Nico, produced by Andy Warhol (Yes, the pop-artist himself) did not fair well in sales, everyone who did buy the album went on to make a band and become famous.

This first song, written in 1965, and aptly called Heroin, was unheard of during this time. To put this into perspective, in 1965, The Beatles were still in their mop-tops singing about "You're Gonna Lose That Girl", the jazz album "Getz/Gilberto" by the American saxophonist
Stan Getz won the Grammy Album of the Year, and Bob Dylan still hadn't gone electric.

Next we have Sweet Jane, in one of its debut performances, a full year before its first studio album appearance on Loaded (1970). It's a bit more peaceful then the final version, trading its future rock punch for a more serine vibe, and it in turn provides us with a more somber telling of the life of Jane, or could Lou be referring to a certain herbal leaf? You be the judge.

Lisa Says, written around 1968, and not released officially until VU (1985), a compilations and outtakes album, is an interesting fixture on this live album, as this track contains unique lyrics, never again recorded for this song. Like all songs by the Velvets, Lisa Says' lyrical content seems very tame, but turns racy once its true meaning is revealed.  In the case of Lisa Says, and all of the songs in the Says series (Candy Says, Stephanie Says, Lisa Says, Caroline Says), each song in actuality describes a series of trans-gendered prostitutes who hung around the band and its friends in the underground artsy New York Scene at the time.

Bonus video: I hesitated to include this in my post solely because of Lou's one minute pre-song introduction, even though this is one of the best on the album. Song starts at 1:28. Enjoy!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed listening to my selection of Live 1969 by The Velvet Underground, I certainly had fun writing it. I'm interested in seeing how many people had heard of The Velvet Underground before this post? If so, what is your favorite Velvet period? If not, tell me what you think!