Favourite Velvet Underground album (with extra facility)

White Light/White Heat is almost ruined by "The Gift", as far as I'm concerned. "Murder Mystery" on the next album is a much more listenable -- and less obtrusive -- experiment.

"The Velvet underground" is quite consistent.

It ended up being the second favourite, the second second favourite, the second third favourite, and the fourth fourth favourite.

"The Gift" is awesome - turn your balance to the left speaker, pump up the volume and surrender.

Ha! I've done that!

I voted for the Quine Tapes because of the monster "Sister Ray" versions, which for me just fry the studio one (not to mention the as-yet-not-officially-released Boston Tea Party version).

What are everyone's favorite VU bootlegs, that's what I wanna know...

off the top of my head:
Gymnasium 67
Any of the Boston Tea Party Shows
La Cave 68
Factory Rehearsals 1966 (?)
Melody Laughter
End of Cole Avenue
Hilltop/Ostrich 1969

oh sweet sister ray, too ...

http://www.esquire.com/media/cm/esquire/images/velvet-underground-acetate-061808-lg-40307135.jpg
and this!

Don't forget the Legendary Guitar Amp Tape! (though you should just try to track down the 4 disc Tea Party set since it is one of the included shows).

I really like the EPI/1966 show from Valleydale OH. Good show with Nico.

Otherwise, Tyler got 'em all.

Guitar Amp tape is indeed great fun ... I think that "Melody Laughter" is at least part of the Valleydale show ...
In the Unterberger book, someone talks about having heard newly mastered Boston Tea Party recordings that are better than anything currently circulating ... Would love to hear those. The Tea Party tapes are listenable, but not fabulous. Performances are out of this world, obviously.

I keep hearing about both the Tea Party thing and the Legendary Guitar Amp thing... the 4cd set (which I have also heard about) is the best source/way to get them, then?

i'm actually not sure what the Boston Tea Party 4 CD thing consists of -- is it a comp of different shows? I just have 4 or 5 two-disc shows (incl. the Guitar Amp Tape) ...

oh and if anyone hasn't seen it uhhhh http://thenunsareontheseawall.blogspot.com/

I was just gonna post this in answer to the Boston Tea Party question:

http://thenunsareontheseawall.blogspot.com/2009/06/velvet-underground-boston-tea-party_21.html

ah ok ... I think I have all of those shows -- are these improved quality?

I don't think so - I had a couple of these previously, but only as partials with other stuff tacked on or replacing things. This was all of 'em in order, with (I think) the correct set order.

I think the version I had previously of the Guitar Amp tape was better, actually.

cool -- the Unterberger stuff I mentioned sounds neat. The former Tea Party manager Steve Nelson says he has heard "newly mastered live recordings of three VU shows at the club from late 1968 and early 1969 and says that they are notably superior to live recordings of the band from the same era ... 'I've been dying to have that released, but apparently it's tied up with various kinds of things with personnel and record companies ... to me, those are the best Velvet Underground performances recorded anywhere.'"

a cool thing about the Tea Party tapes is how enthusiastic the crowd sounds! definitely a crowd full of die-hards (including Jonathan Richman, I guess).

I'd love them to do a Tea Party set like they did The Quine Tapes. Hell, I'd love a box set of say five shows - one each from 66-70 - to complement Peel Slowly and See.

yeah, this tea party thing the guy is talking about is probably the unreleased Vol. 2 of the VU Bootleg Series ... which may never emerge, I don't know.

A lot of these bootlegs seem to be incomplete shows or a mix of different nights or in the wrong order or whatever. Is there anything that puts the full guitar amp recordings in proper sequence/completion? Or the Boston Tea Party gigs?

Remember that in that time, 2 sets a night were played and multiple-day runs weren't unusual either. Combine that with multiple sources and some tapers who cut their tracks after spoken intros and others who cut just after the applause of the previous track, some who cut medleys into separate tracks and others who don't and you end up with this kind of thing. And then you get the 01/02 = January 2nd or February 1st and other illegible/unknown dates on tapes = confusing mess. I'm into Stooges stuff from the early 70s, same story. :-(

guess i should have started a new thread for this...thanks for all the responses

Worth tracking down the Legendary Guitar Amp tape if I manage to snag the 4-disc Boston Tea Party set? How's the 2006 remaster?

The remaster I heard is just louder and has digital clipping. Don't bother.