VELVET UNDERGROUND 'LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY' 1970 NYC COTILLION GREEN VINYL

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VELVET UNDERGROUND 'LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY' 1970 NYC ~ COTILLION ~ GREEN VINYL
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND (LOU REED, DOUG YULE, STERLING MORRISON, BILLY YULE) "LIVE AT MAX'S KANSAS CITY" RECORDED LIVE AT 'MAX'S KANSAS CITY' NYC AUGUST 23, 1970 LABEL: COTILLION – SD 9500 RELEASED: (ORIGINALLY) MAY 30th, 1972 RARE 2004 LIMITED 'COLLECTORS' EDITION ON LIME GREEN VINYL ORIGINAL CONCERT RECORDING: BRIGID POLK EDITING & SONG SELECTION: LOU REED & GEOFF HASLAM RECORDING ENGINEER/LACQUERS: DAVID CHEPPA ('DC' IN MATRIX) MASTERING: 'BETTER QUALITY SOUND' ~ NORTH HILLS, CA ('BQS' IN MATRIX) MANUFACTURED BY ATLANTIC RECORDING CORPORATION PRESSED BY RAINBO RECORDS (S-46872) CANOGA PARK, CA DISTRIBUTED BY SCORPIO MUSIC INC. ALBUM ART, ILLUSTRATIONS & DESIGN: DOUG JOHNSON & RICHARD MANTEL MATRIX (SIDE A): (Etched) 5032-SD 9500-1 (A) SD 9500 S- 46871 DC BQS MATRIX (SIDE B): (Etched) 5032-SD 9500-1 (B) S- 46872 DC BQS
CONDITION: VINYL: EX   JACKET: EX   (A BEAUTIFUL COPY!)
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I've been going thru my large vinyl record collection over the past few weeks and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 45 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
After all, we are just temporary 'caretakers' of these musical gems until the next owner and next collection takes them in.
This week on EBay I am offering up this rare 2004 Green vinyl pressing of the Velvet Underground's first live album 'Live at Max's Kansas City', recorded at the legendary NYC nightclub on August 23rd 1970 during their 9-week residency, and originally released on the Cotillion label in May of 1972.
This is a fantastic, energetic Velvets show, packed with all their best-known songs, and was Lou Reed's last performance with the band.
An excellent show and an important document of a special time and place in Rock history and legend.
This is my original, clean, personal copy that I purchased 'new' back when it was first released, 20 years ago. I was living in NYC, and purchased this during one of my regular vinyl digs in the many cool record shops along St Mark's Place in Greenwich Village, not far from where this show originally took place.
I've taken great care of this record for over 20 years now. It's been poly-line sleeved, inside and out, since I purchased it, stored properly in my collection, and it's still in excellent, near perfect, condition. 
Please read the full description of this live album's strange origin, it's recording history, it's content,  and more details on the record's condition below. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This fantastic live Velvet Underground album was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion, a subsidiary label of Atlantic Records. It was the very first official live VU album ever released.
This pressing is a limited release, 'collectors' edition of the original 1972 single disc live album, pressed in 2004 on high quality, thick, heavy, lime green vinyl.
As I mentioned, its in excellent, pristine condition.
This album captured one of the original Velvet Underground band's last shows, and apparently Lou Reed's last performance with the band that he created, nurtured and loved.
This show was recorded on August 23, 1970 at Max's Kansas City in lower Manhattan. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the 1970s, lower Manhattan's Max's Kansas City was the place to be, and be seen. A popular East Village gathering spot for scene-makers and their entourage, hip celebrities, artists, poets, hustlers, queens and provocateurs, as well as musicians – in short, the perfect place for the Velvet Underground to hang out, socialize, and perform.
In the summer of 1970, The Velvet Underground was working as the house band at the now legendary New York dive, doing a 9-week residency at the notorious hot spot.
The band's nightly sets at Max's, propelled by Lou Reed's mesmerizing songs and vocals, were the stuff of legend, and their long sets consisted of both old favorites plus some of the new songs they were working on for the upcoming album 'Loaded'.
Their performances were even more impressive when you considered that the band was dividing their time between daytime recording sessions for the forthcoming "Loaded" album, and playing multiple sets every night at Max's.  ~~~~~~~
During the summer of 1970, the Velvet's were busy recording their next album 'Loaded' at Atlantic Recording Studios up on Broadway at 60th street in Manhattan.
To stay close to home, and close to the studio, the band did a nine-week residency (June – August 1970) playing two sets per night at Max's Kansas City, located down on Park Avenue South at 18th street, next to Union Square park, and just north of the East Village.
The band spent their days at the studio recording 'Loaded' and their nights playing gigs at Max's Kansas City, running back and fortth every day on the #6 subway train.
That grueling schedule would tax most performers, and the Velvets were stretched pretty thin, but they kept their energy up with generous amounts of amphetamines, which is clearly reflected in the frenetic intensity of this performance. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The band's line-up for these Max's shows consisted of Lou Reed, on vocals and rhythm guitar, bassist Doug Yule, lead guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Billy Yule, the younger brother of Doug Yule.
Nico had left the band after the first album, original bassist/viola player John Cale left the group after the September 1968 Boston Tea Party shows, and, for these Max's shows, regular drummer Maureen Tucker had temporarily left the group for several months due to being pregnant with her first child, Kerry "Trucker" Tucker.
Some Velvet Underground fans feel that John Cale 'left a gap' in the band's darker sounds and psyche, but his departure certainly freed up Lou Reed's strengths as writer, performer and band-leader.  This album is full of excellent VU songs, all written by Lou.
Maureen Tucker was such an essential ingredient to the overall sound of the Velvet Underground, so  the absence of her steady, tribal pulse is noticable. She had a real grounding effect, making everything moody, primal and artsy. 
For these 1970 summer shows at Max's, Maureen Tucker was replaced on drums by Billy Yule, the 17 year old younger brother of bassist Doug Yule. 
Billy Yule was already an accomplished drummer, but some feel that Billy plays a little too fast, too busy, and too non-Mo, on this recording. Billy's drumming takes the Velvet's music to a whole different vibe and level; faster, more rocking, and almost Proto-punk.
His style really works on the faster, more upbeat songs, but some think his style doesn't fit the slower songs, like 'Sunday Morning'. His playing is terrific, just 'different'. He plays lots of drum fills, which Maureen rarely ever did. 
Lou Reed really liked and appreciated Billy's playing style, and his drumming on the opening track 'I'm Waiting For The Man' is excellent and gives the song new power and drive. It's more Rock'n'Roll.  It's one of the best versions of the song I've ever heard the band perform live.
The opening one-two punch of 'I'm Waiting For The Man/Sweet Jane' on this album is simply amazing  and powerful. 
Billy's driving, pulsating drumming can be a little jarring in places, but once you get used to it, it's fantastic, and really pushes the amphetamine-fueled, breakneck speed of some of these songs.
This recording is one of the few times the band really sound like nearly out of control speed-freaks - complete with harmonies! 
Still, some purists feel that the Velvet Underground weren’t the Velvet Underground without Moe Tucker. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Velvet Underground in August 1970 consisted of:
Sterling Morrison – Lead guitar, Rhythm guitar, backing vocals Lou Reed – Lead vocals, Rhythm guitar Doug Yule – Bass guitar, Lead & backing vocals Billy Yule – Drums, cowbell, percussion
Doug Yule sings lead vocals on "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "I'll Be Your Mirror", and "New Age". Lou Reed confidently and beautifully handles the rest. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This album captures the band near the end of their long residency at New York's Max's Kansas City in  the summer of 1970. 
Lou Reed was becoming a legend and was definitely the mainstay of the group at the time this recording was made.
Velvet's legend says that this recording captures the last performance Lou Reed was ever to play with  the Velvet Underground (until the 1993 reunion), before he left the group over management and control hassles, and eventually going solo.
The last VU album with Reed, 'Loaded', would be finished and released a couple of months after this concert, in November 1970. 
Despite this being Lou's last show, there's no evidence of that in the music. No solemn moments, no bitterness, in fact, just the opposite.
Lou's in a good mood, chatting with the audience, and making jokes. His voice and guitar playing are both fantastic. Listening to this recording there's no hint that the band was running on fumes and on the brink of dissolution. 
It's a fantastic powerful album. Lou Reed is at the top of his game as a songwriter and performer, and the Velvet Underground seemed poised for the elusive commercial breakthrough they never quite achieved.
This album both immortalizes a precise moment in pop culture history, and also spotlights one of rock's most influential bands at the peak of their extraordinary powers.
The story goes that immediately after this gig, Lou had his Father pick him up from the club and bring him back to his family's home out on Long Island, staying there for a while, and eventually going to work with his father.
Dejected over the commercial demise of the Velvet Underground, a band he formed and created, he gave up on his dreams of “making it” in the music business.
Fortunately for music lovers, he couldn't stay away from his muse, eventually got signed to RCA,  and returned to the music industry as a solo performer. The rest, of course, is history.
Since this show represents Lou Reed’s final moments with the band he created, it's an historically important live recording and an essential album for VU fans.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This album's creation and backstory is as amazing as the great music it contains.
The source of the tapes that became 'Live at Max's Kansas City' originally came from from longtime Velvet's fan and Andy Warhol associate Brigid Berlin.
Brigid Emmett Berlin, was known in Warhol's circle and New York's underground scene as Brigid Polk ('Poke'), because she was known to administer injections or 'pokes' of amphetamines to herself, and others around the East Village, who were into that Speed scene at the time.
Brigid was also known for always carrying a portable cassette recorder with her, in order to 'capture'  the wild, unique, and spontaneous moments happening around her at the time.
She just happened to be in the right place, at the right time, on August 23, 1970, to capture what turned out to be the Velvet Underground's last live performance with Lou Reed. 
The story is that Brigid and her friends sat at a table close to the stage at the legendary club and captured this fantastic Velvets performance on tape.
Velvet's lore claims that Brigid was joined at her table by author and musician Jim Carroll, counter-culture painter/poet Rene Ricard, and musician Johnathan Richman, who would later have success with the Modern Lovers. 
Carroll was assigned with holding the microphone and he can be heard speaking on the tape, ordering drinks and inquiring about drugs between songs.
In-between songs, Jim Carroll orders drinks, 'double Pernods', and asks about scoring Tuinal pills at the downstairs bar.
If you don't know, 'Pernod' was a French herbal liquor made with anisette, wormwood and absinthe. Carroll's decision to party with 'Absinthe and Barbiturates'' says a lot about the scene around Max's, and the Greenwich Village scene in general, at the time.
The crowd noises and voices on this recording aren't that bad or distracting, and hearing Brigid Polk's buddies chatting, clinking glasses, and having a good time, actually adds great atmosphere and an authentic live feel, making the album a better, more interesting, listening experience.
Brigid Polk made her recordings with a high quality, mono, Sony TC-124 cassette recorder with an external mike. Top of the line in those days.
There's some mild inherent tape hiss, ambient club noises, and lots of 'audience  participation', but,  given the situation, circumstances, and source, it's actually a fantastic audience recording and sounds much better than what you would expect. 
The sound quality is actually very good. A terrific, great sounding recording of the Velvet Underground performing an excellent, raw, energetic show in a noisy NYC club, in front of a small loyal audience. 
There's an energy here, you can sense the club's vibe, and you can almost smell the spilled beer, sweat and electricity. 
For a live album, the venue is often just as important as the music, and on this album, Max’s Kansas City, a legendary NY club, is very much part of the ambience and performance.
I grew up in NYC and saw many shows at Max's before they closed around 1980, including The New York Dolls, Tom Waits, Patti Smith, and Iggy. I can confirm that this album truly sounds like you're sitting in the audience at the club.
This is a unique, intimate live album that really captures the feeling of what it must have been like to  have been at one of the Velvet's summer shows at Max's. You really feel like you are there.
Brigid Polk's tapes were well known among us NYC music collectors and her tapes were openly  traded and 'available' in a few of the great record shops in the Village. I have some of her fantastic live recordings of the New York Dolls, and Patti Smith in my collection.
Brigid's tape of the Velvet Underground's Max's KC show circulated among friends and New York collectors and was eventually heard by local Atlantic A&R man Danny Fields, who thought it was good enough to submit to his bosses. Atlantic also liked the tape, and, in 1972, despite the imperfect sound, they decided to use it to fulfill the band's contract and release it as their final Atlantic album.
This record has "Special thanks to Danny Fields" printed on the back. Most people don't realize how important Danny was to making this album a reality.
It's pretty amazing that this show was taped and exists at all; let alone that it managed to go from  a fan's personal souvenir to seeing the light of day as a major label release.
This album, in some ways, became one of the first, most notorious and famous, authorized 'bootlegs' ever.
Lou Reed and Atlantic staff producer Geoff Haslam then went thru the original tape and selected what they thought were the best cuts.
They then arranged the songs and spliced them into two halves, with each side of the record respectively devoted to the band's 'louder' and 'quieter' material.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The songs that Lou Reed and Geoff Haslam chose for this record include:
I'm Waiting For The Man / Sweet Jane Lonesome Cowboy Bill Beginning To See The Light I'll Be Your Mirror / Pale Blue Eyes Sunday Morning / New Age Femme Fatale / After Hours ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The selection of songs on this Live album really show off The Velvet Underground's on-stage prowess.
There's a fierce amount of energy and emotion being generated by this very tight, well-rehearsed band. 
This album has a kind of raw, energetic, proto-punk authenticity to it, and it captures a great band right when it's flame was arguably burning most brightly. Absolutely phenomenal. 
The performances are stellar as the band is amazingly tight, yet completely relaxed, and obviously  very familiar and comfortable with the music and the set list.
Lou, Sterling & Doug are in high spirits and the sound of their instruments, and their levels in the mix, sound absolutely fantastic.
I love the sound of Sterling's guitars. He plays some amazing solos and his tone, vibe and energy is outstanding.
Sterling Morrison and Doug Yule provide great support for the material, elevating Lou's strong vocal work, and they both really nail the harmonies, all while still sounding loose and live.
The songs are interspersed with an unusually chatty and upbeat Lou Reed, providing some witty between song banter, chatting with the audience, making jokes, and giving occasional background explanations of certain songs' origins. 
Lou's in great spirits and his banter between tunes adds to the raw, live, spontaneous vibe of the album.
By this point, Lou Reed was a master craftsman as a song writer, and the songs performed are all heavily focused on Lou's material, which made sense given The VU were basically Lou's band by this time. 
The Velvets were one of the greatest bands of all time, and on this album they play some lively versions  of their best material, in the best way possible; live in a small club, for an appreciative New York audience.
This album has a kind of rough, raw, proto-punk authenticity and oomph to it that I just love, making it  the perfect live VU album and possibly the first ever 'power pop' record. It's gentle and melancholy when called for, but most of the time it's just a fun and exhilarating rush.
The sound quality is quite good, it is what it is, but the songs and the performance are superb.  The performance and material more than compensate for the slightly raw sound quality.
The Velvet Underground play some of their best songs and gems here, such as the awesome, powerful, classics 'I'm Waiting for the Man', 'Sweet Jane' and 'Beginning To See The Light', as well as the beautiful, well-written songs 'Pale Blue Eyes', 'Sunday Morning' and 'I'll Be Your Mirror'. ~~~~~~
The album opens with Lou Reed reminding and inviting the audience to dance, then he introduces 'Waiting For The Man' as a tender love ballad between a man and the uptown subway.
The band then launch into energetic, stomping, rocking versions of two of their signature tunes from 'Loaded', 'I'm Waiting For The Man' and 'Sweet Jane'.
Those are followed by a fantastic version of 'Lonesome Cowboy Bill'.
Reed and Sterling Morrison then fuse and lock their guitars and voices together on a terrific 'Beginning  to See the Light'.
This album contains rarely played live performances of 'After Hours', 'Sunday Morning', and 'New Age'. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Side two, the 'quiet' side, contains 'Pale Blue Eyes', 'Sunday Morning' and Lou singing 'I'll Be Your Mirror', originally performed by Nico on the first album, but she always insisted that Lou sang it better. No argument here.
There's a sinister, innocent sounding, ragtime-style version of 'After Hours' and a breezy, powerhouse version of 'Femme Fatale'.
I can't forget the lovely, fragile 'New Age', whose arrangement sounds like it's going to fall apart any second, only to be saved by Sterling's improvised guitar 'solo' at the end. My favorite version of the song. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
This is a fantastic, minty clean pressing of The Velvet Underground's 'Live at Max's Kansas City', on  cool minty Green vinyl. Overall, a great vintage Velvet Underground record, and one that belongs in  any 70's classic rock vinyl collection. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl is still in fantastic condition. Clean, bright, glossy and pressed on nice thick heavy vinyl. No obvious flaws, dings or damage. It looks great and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
As you can see from my pictures, it is pressed on thick, heavy, mint green colored vinyl. Very cool. Beautifully pressed with fantastic sound to match. 
LABELS: This release, from 2004, uses the original, yellow box, grey Cotillion labels. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or defects. 
The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and my careful handling over  the years.
JACKET: The jacket is in excellent condition. Clean and bright, just like the day I purchased it. No marks, names, writing or damage. No ringwear. 
The corners are sharp, the printed spine is straight, and there are no seam splits or other issues.  No signs of prior ownership. 
I noticed that, in my pictures, the jacket appears to have some damage along the bottom of the front  cover and some 'spots'. That is all part of the cover's artwork and design. Doug Johnson's illustration is purposely meant to look dirty and grimey. The jacket is in perfect condition, the artwork makes it look otherwise.
I've owned this record since it was new and it has been sleeved, inside and out, and stored properly for 20 years now. 
Very nice, all original, and a real gem. I'm sure you'll be very happy to add it to your collection.
This copy still looks fantastic. It's a beauty and an amazing rare survivor. You just don't see these limited edition green pressings anymore. It's about as good a copy of this classic Velvet Underground release as you're ever likely to find these days.
Add this live, classic, Velvet Underground record to your vinyl collection today. It has some great, rare songs, terrific performances, and it would make a great addition to any Classic Rock or VU vinyl record collection.  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare, very clean, and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it. A great, clean, excellent sounding copy. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. 
Over the next few months I'll be offering an assortment of these rare and collectable LP’s. Many of these records have been in my personal collection for decades. Some of them are quite rare and seldom come up for sale. Limited pressings, European imports, promos, fan club releases, live recordings, first pressings and other general rarities.
Keep an eye on my Ebay page, 'jjrbyrne' for more of these great rare collectible albums, EPs and 45 singles. 
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable and system to get a true picture of condition. 
Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,600 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for nearly 30 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a One-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $5.00 on this item. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far. I know I rambled on a bit, but can't help it. I have a passion for records, especially vintage classic NYC bands like the Velvet Underground.  I hope this listing was entertaining and informative.   -- JOHN