The Quine Tapes
During 1969, The Velvet Underground toured the United States and Canada, playing well over 70 dates. By this time, the band had picked up a sizeable fan base and every now and then a fan would bring along, with consent of the band, recording equipment to record a set. Most of the time, this would mean relatively simple hand-held recorders resulting in lo-fi mono audience recordings, as with this set and the 1972 live album Live at Max’s Kansas City (1969: The Velvet Underground Live was the notable exception, using stereo soundboard recordings).
Robert Quine, an avid Velvet Underground fan, used to travel to as many concerts as possible. He became friends with the band and they allowed him to record sets from the audience, occasionally asking for playbacks. Quine recorded many concerts, but as his original musicassette tapes began to wear out, he compiled four reels of what he considered the best material. These “best-of” reels were ultimately released in 2001 as the present The Quine Tapes set. The original musicassettes from which the reels were compiled no longer exist.
Musically, The Quine Tapes finds the band in the same phase in their history as documented on 1969—the two sets even share a performance of “Rock and Roll”, recorded at the same concert by both Quine and the Matrix sound personnel. Quine’s tapes, although lo-fi audience recordings, capture much more of the music’s ambience, especially in the larger venues, such as Washington University in St. Louis. Additionally, The Quine Tapes contains songs that the band only rarely performed by this time, such as “Sunday Morning”, “Venus in Furs” and “The Black Angel’s Death Song”, along with other obscurities such as “Over You”, “Ride into the Sun”, and “Follow the Leader”, which had never even been bootlegged in its original form.
Track listing
All tracks written by Lou Reed except as noted
Disc one
All tracks recorded at The Family Dog, San Francisco
I’m Waiting for the Man (November 8, 1969) – 7:46
It’s Just Too Much (November 8, 1969) – 4:08
What Goes On (November 8, 1969) – 8:25
I Can’t Stand It (November 8, 1969) – 6:20
Some Kinda Love (November 8, 1969) – 4:48
Foggy Notion (November 8, 1969) (Sterling Morrison, Doug Yule, Maureen Tucker, Hy Weiss) – 4:41
Femme Fatale (November 7, 1969) – 3:14
After Hours (November 8, 1969) – 3:05
I’m Sticking with You (November 8, 1969) – 2:48
Sunday Morning (November 9, 1969) (Reed, John Cale) – 2:56
Sister Ray (November 7, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 24:03
Disc two
All tracks recorded at The Matrix, San Francisco
Follow the Leader (November 27, 1969) – 17:05
White Light/White Heat (December 1, 1969) – 10:03
Venus in Furs (December 1, 1969) – 5:14
Heroin (November 23, 1969) – 8:11
Sister Ray (December 3, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 38:00
Disc three
All tracks recorded at The Matrix, November 1969 except for track seven, recorded at Washington University, St. Louis.
Rock and Roll (November 25, 1969) – 6:49
New Age (November 24, 1969) – 11:21
Over You (November 25, 1969) – 2:41
The Black Angel’s Death Song (November 23, 1969) (Reed, Cale) – 5:54
I’m Waiting for the Man (November 27, 1969) – 11:37
Ride into the Sun (November 24, 1969) – 11:11
Sister Ray/Foggy Notion (May 11, 1969) (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker/Morrison, Yule, Tucker, Weiss) – 28:43
Personnel
The Velvet Underground
Sterling Morrison – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals
Lou Reed – vocals, rhythm and lead guitar
Maureen Tucker – percussion, lead vocals on “After Hours” and “I’m Sticking with You”
Doug Yule – bass guitar, organ, backing vocals, lead vocal on “Ride into the Sun”
Technical staff
Robert Quine – recording engineer
The Velvet Underground – producers\