What do you say about a band that’s as legendary as the Velvet Underground? Although they were initially slow to win fans over, they caught the ear of Andy Warhol and the rest is pretty much history. From their Warhol designed The Velvet Underground & Nico through Loaded they put out a ton of classic material that helped to define the world of music that was to come. 1969: The Velvet Underground Live features live versions of many of the songs from the three albums they had released up to that point. The band toured extensively in 1969 with Lou Reed still involved. Some of the songs were recorded by fans that had shown up with recording gear, while others were recorded at The Matrix in San Francisco. It’s a great snapshot of the band at the top of their game, right on the brink of destruction.

• music label: Mercury 1999

reviewed by Michu Meszaros 11/2013