[.ca] V1 Bootleg Series Quine Tapes

From Amazon.co.uk:
Despite the black market vibe of the title (Bootleg Series Volume 1: The Quine Tapes), these grainy but historically significant live Velvet Underground recordings--taken from poorly attended shows in San Francisco during November 1969 (the post-John Cale and pre-Loaded era)--have never been made available before, illegally or otherwise. Furthermore--and unlike most other bootleggers--avid young fan and tape recorder operative Robert Quine (an apprentice disciple of Lou Reed's savage guitar style and a future founding member of punk combo Richard Hell and the Voidoids) didn't have to suffer the personal indignity of standing furtively at the back of the hall with a microphone stuffed down his trousers. Quine's recordings--initially made on cassette tape but later (and rather fortuitously) transferred to the more durable reel-to-reel format--were made with the band's blessing and enthusiasm but have remained hidden away ever since. Consisting of three CDs, the Bootleg Series Volume 1 set is further forensic proof, if needed, that the Velvet's seedy, dissonant, lurid, violent, anarchic pop was well out-of-step with the times but has remained decidedly in-step ever since. Specifically, these shows capture (courtesy of the mute audience philistinism) some kind of culture-clash between the West Coast's "flower in your hair" optimism and the Velvets' "spike into my vein" subterranean nihilism. With sheer bloody-mindedness, the Velvets' treat their audience to 38 soundboard-splintering, pornographic minutes of "Sister Ray", as well as kooky School Concert takes on "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking with You" and a "Venus in Furs" which--in the absence of John Cale's whiplash viola glissandos--creeps and crawls with Doug Yule's spooked Doors' organ. As Jonathan Richman once enquired, "How did they make that sound, Velvet Underground?". Dunno. But they did. And things have never been the same since. --Kevin Maidment

Chronique amazon.fr:
Le son des disques officiels du Velvet captés live en 1969 et 1970 (1969, Velvet Underground Live With Lou Reed, volumes 1 & 2 et Live At Max's Kansas City) n'était déjà pas terrible. Autant le dire tout de go, la prise de son de celui-ci est carrément exécrable - de bien meilleurs pirates circulent. Toutefois, ce n'est pas pour autant qu'il faut bouder ces enregistrements dont l'intérêt est aujourd'hui historique, et donc quasiment réservé aux amateurs purs et durs qui pourront à loisir comparer ces versions de "Sister Ray" et "I Can't Stand It Anymore" aux originales - celui qui ignorerait encore tout du Velvet fera mieux de commencer par les premiers albums en studio. Détail croustillant, d'ailleurs mis en avant par le label qui sort in extremis ces bandes du placard : c'est le guitariste Robert Quine, membre fondateur des Voidoids de Richard Hell, puis compagnon de route de Lou Reed et Lloyd Cole, qui, jeune fan pétri d'admiration, a capturé cette chose sur le vif en 1969. Fort logiquement indiqué aux membres de la famille. --Hervé Comte

Transports you back in time:
This is as raw and real as it can get. Quite possibly the most versatile band of all time. This is absolutely wonderful and only someone like Lou Reed would have the balls to allow something of this sound quality to be released because he knows that the soul rips right through the sound quality and overpowers it on every single track. This is like the sound quality of the garage bands that you grew up with when you were young who would tape their sessions, only this one is from one of the greatest, if not the greatest band of all time. This is a must to own and anyone complaining about the sound quality would do well to insert a q-tip in both ears and violently shove in and out. In and out, try it.

In case you don't know who Robert Quine is.....:
I've not had the chance to listen to this yet, so pay no attention to my rating (it had to be done to get this out on the site) but to give you guys some context about the other reviews on this page: Robert Quine is/was a punk rock guitar pioneer, founding member (w/Fred Maher) of Richard Hell and the Voidoids, an avowed huge fan of Lou Reed's guitar work, and ultimately, a featured guitarist for Reed. Quine, who believe it or not is now 61 years of age, champions a beautifully distorted sound out of his instrument and is probably best known (along with Richard Lloyd) for his labors on Matthew Sweet's breakthrough work in the early '90s. In other words, Quine is not just any other Lou Reed fan....

IF YOU ARE A REAL VU FAN YOU WILL LOVE THIS .....:
These recordings are simply incredible and I would say essential for anyone who considers themselves rabid VU fans. I've seen other reviews whining about lo-fi bootleg quality blah blah blah and I would contend that these "reviewers" are nothing but VU dabblers and dilettantes whose opinions mean nothing.Yes, they are live recordings, but if you've got a semi-decent stereo and play'em loud it'll blow the top of your head off. The different versions of Vu classics presented here will give you a whole new perspective on how really stupendous this line-up was. If you don't like it you're not a fan and I'll fistfight you damn it.

Great sound:
Given that these tapes are still here is something of a miracle - the sound is reasonable. I wasn't expecting perfect quality but it's close enough ( and given these are 30 years old that's pretty good going ). I don't need to say anymore about this - I'll let the rest do the talking

A box set worth having:
These are three live concerts recorded by uber fan Robert Quine at a few of the Velvet's concerts. The fact that these still exist despite the sound quality ( which isn't that bad really ) is remarkable and is probably one of those records that just has to be bought

• I'm Waiting for the Man
• It's Just Too Much
• What Goes On
• I Can't Stand It
• Some Kinda Love
• Foggy Notion
• Femme Fatale
• After Hours
• I'm Sticking With You
• Sunday Morning
• Sister Ray
• Follow the Leader
• White Light/White Heat
• Venus in Furs
• Heroin
• Sister Ray
• Rock & Roll
• New Age
• Over You
• Black Angel's Death Song
• I'm Waiting for the Man
• Ride into the Sun
• Sister Ray/Foggy Notion