Velvet Underground 1969 (2LP) - (M) (ONLINE ONLY!!)

Personnel: Lou Reed (vocals, guitar); Doug Yule (vocals, bass); Sterling Morrison (guitar); Maureen Tucker (drums).Recorded live in Texas and San Fransisco in 1969. Includes liner notes by Elliott Murphy and Paul Nelson.This 2-LP set was split into 2 separate CDs.Though 1970 brought LOADED and (relative) commercial success for the Velvets, it also saw the beginning of their decline. Apparent commercial concessions and interpersonal tensions had already begun to tear the band apart at the seams. Their real peak came the year before, when--finding themselves halfway between artiness and pop pursuits--they dived headlong into amphetamine-fueled, minimalist-influenced proto-punk. The European influence had lessened with the departure of John Cale, allowing the VU to become a pure rock & roll band of unprecedented fervor.From the strung-out stomp of "Waiting For the Man" to the churning, perversely repetitious rhythms of "What Goes On" and the ironically revelatory "I'm Beginning To See