Live at Max's Kansas City
Encyclopedia
Live at Max's Kansas City is a live album
by The Velvet Underground
. It was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion
, a subsidiary label
of Atlantic Records
.
deal with Atlantic in late 1969 and released their fourth studio album, Loaded, in September 1970. By the time of its release, however, singer/guitarist
/main songwriter
Lou Reed
had left. The band soldiered on with bassist
Doug Yule
moving to vocals and guitar and Walter Powers
being drafted in to play bass guitar
.
This line-up did a tour of the United States
and Canada
promoting Loaded. As the band still had a contract for another album, they wrote and played new songs eventually to be included on the new album. Atlantic, however, had lost faith in the band's commercial prospects and, wanting to cut their losses after the disappointing chart showings of Loaded, decided to release an archive live recording instead.
The tapes that would later become Live at Max's Kansas City were recorded on August 23, 1970, by Andy Warhol
associate Brigid Polk on a portable cassette recorder. At the same time the band were recording Loaded, the Velvet Underground held a nine-week engagement (June 24 – August 28, 1970) at New York
nightclub
Max's Kansas City
, playing two sets a night. Polk recorded almost everything happening around her at the time, and this happened to include her attendance of the last concert that Lou Reed played with The Velvet Underground. She recorded both the early and the late set. Later that year, Atlantic A&R
employee Danny Fields
heard the tapes and submitted them to his superiors, who accepted the recordings and in 1972 decided to make an album out of them.
Originally, Live at Max's Kansas City was a single album distillation of both sets re-sequenced and edited by Lou Reed and Atlantic staff producer
Geoff Haslam to reflect the band's loud and quiet sides, respectively. On August 3, 2004, Warner Music
re-issue label Rhino Records released a two-CD Deluxe Edition that contains both sets in their entirety in their original running order. The songs were recorded on a mono
recorder using a simple ferro
musicassette in a small venue, resulting in tape hiss
and an audience
often drowning out the quieter bits of music.
Author Jim Carroll
can be heard speaking on the album, ordering drinks and inquiring about drugs
between songs as he was the one holding the microphone.
except as indicated.
Side one
Side two
Disc two
Live album
A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...
by The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground
The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City. First active from 1964 to 1973, their best-known members were Lou Reed and John Cale, who both went on to find success as solo artists. Although experiencing little commercial success while together, the band is often cited...
. It was originally released on May 30, 1972, by Cotillion
Cotillion Records
Cotillion Records was a subsidiary of Atlantic Records and was active from 1968 through 1985. The label was originally formed as an outlet for blues and deep Southern soul; its first single, Otis Clay's version of "She's About A Mover", reached the R&B charts. Cotillion's catalog quickly expanded...
, a subsidiary label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
of Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records
Atlantic Records is an American record label best known for its many recordings of rhythm and blues, rock and roll, and jazz...
.
About the album
The Velvet Underground signed a two-albumAlbum
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
deal with Atlantic in late 1969 and released their fourth studio album, Loaded, in September 1970. By the time of its release, however, singer/guitarist
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
/main songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
Lou Reed
Lou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
had left. The band soldiered on with bassist
Bassist
A bass player, or bassist is a musician who plays a bass instrument such as a double bass, bass guitar, keyboard bass or a low brass instrument such as a tuba or sousaphone. Different musical genres tend to be associated with one or more of these instruments...
Doug Yule
Doug Yule
Douglas Alan Yule is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of The Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.- Early career :Yule began playing with various bands in Boston in the 1960s...
moving to vocals and guitar and Walter Powers
Walter Powers
Walter Powers III is an American bass guitarist best known for having been a member of The Velvet Underground from late 1970 until late 1971.Walter Powers was born in Boston, Massachusetts...
being drafted in to play bass guitar
Bass guitar
The bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
.
This line-up did a tour of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
promoting Loaded. As the band still had a contract for another album, they wrote and played new songs eventually to be included on the new album. Atlantic, however, had lost faith in the band's commercial prospects and, wanting to cut their losses after the disappointing chart showings of Loaded, decided to release an archive live recording instead.
The tapes that would later become Live at Max's Kansas City were recorded on August 23, 1970, by Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol
Andrew Warhola , known as Andy Warhol, was an American painter, printmaker, and filmmaker who was a leading figure in the visual art movement known as pop art...
associate Brigid Polk on a portable cassette recorder. At the same time the band were recording Loaded, the Velvet Underground held a nine-week engagement (June 24 – August 28, 1970) at New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City
Max's Kansas City was a nightclub and restaurant at 213 Park Avenue South, in New York City, which was a gathering spot for musicians, poets, artists and politicians in the 1960s and 1970s.-Origin of name:...
, playing two sets a night. Polk recorded almost everything happening around her at the time, and this happened to include her attendance of the last concert that Lou Reed played with The Velvet Underground. She recorded both the early and the late set. Later that year, Atlantic A&R
A&R
Artists and repertoire is the division of a record label that is responsible for talent scouting and overseeing the artistic development of recording artists. It also acts as a liaison between artists and the record label.- Finding talent :...
employee Danny Fields
Danny Fields
Danny Fields is an American journalist and author. As a music-industry executive in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, he was one of the most influential figures in the underground and punk rock scenes.- Early life :...
heard the tapes and submitted them to his superiors, who accepted the recordings and in 1972 decided to make an album out of them.
Originally, Live at Max's Kansas City was a single album distillation of both sets re-sequenced and edited by Lou Reed and Atlantic staff producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
Geoff Haslam to reflect the band's loud and quiet sides, respectively. On August 3, 2004, Warner Music
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
re-issue label Rhino Records released a two-CD Deluxe Edition that contains both sets in their entirety in their original running order. The songs were recorded on a mono
Monaural
Monaural or monophonic sound reproduction is single-channel. Typically there is only one microphone, one loudspeaker, or channels are fed from a common signal path...
recorder using a simple ferro
Iron(III) oxide
Iron oxide or ferric oxide is the inorganic compound with the formula Fe2O3. It is one of the three main oxides of iron, the other two being iron oxide , which is rare, and iron oxide , which also occurs naturally as the mineral magnetite. As the mineral known as hematite, Fe2O3 is the main...
musicassette in a small venue, resulting in tape hiss
Tape hiss
Tape hiss is the high frequency noise present on analogue magnetic tape recordings caused by the size of the magnetic particles used to make the tape. Effectively it is the noise floor of the recording medium. It can be reduced by the use of finer magnetic particles or by increasing the amount of...
and an audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
often drowning out the quieter bits of music.
Author Jim Carroll
Jim Carroll
James Dennis "Jim" Carroll was an author, poet, autobiographer, and punk musician. Carroll was best known for his 1978 autobiographical work The Basketball Diaries, which was made into the 1995 film of the same name, starring Leonardo DiCaprio as Carroll.-Biography:Carroll was born to a...
can be heard speaking on the album, ordering drinks and inquiring about drugs
DRUGS
Destroy Rebuild Until God Shows are an American post-hardcore band formed in 2010. They released their debut self-titled album on February 22, 2011.- Formation :...
between songs as he was the one holding the microphone.
Track listing
All tracks written by Lou ReedLou Reed
Lewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
except as indicated.
Side one
- "I'm Waiting for the ManI'm Waiting for the Man"I'm Waiting for the Man" is a song by the American rock band The Velvet Underground, written by Lou Reed. It was first released on their 1967 debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico....
" – 4:00 - "Sweet JaneSweet Jane"Sweet Jane" is a song by The Velvet Underground, originally appearing on their 1970 album Loaded. The song was written by band's leader Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the piece into live performances years later as a solo artist....
" – 4:52 - "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" – 3:41
- "Beginning to See the Light" – 5:00
Side two
- "I'll Be Your MirrorI'll Be Your Mirror"I'll Be Your Mirror" is a song by The Velvet Underground. It appeared on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It also surfaced as a single a year earlier with "All Tomorrow's Parties" in 1966....
" – 1:55 - "Pale Blue EyesPale Blue Eyes"Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground. It was included on the band's eponymous 1969 album The Velvet Underground....
" – 5:38 - "Sunday MorningSunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)"Sunday Morning" is a song by The Velvet Underground. It is the opening track on their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. It was also released as a single in 1966 with "Femme Fatale".-Recording:...
" (Reed, John CaleJohn CaleJohn Davies Cale, OBE is a Welsh musician, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the experimental rock band The Velvet Underground....
) – 2:43 - "New AgeNew Age (Velvet Underground song)"New Age" is the fifth song from the 1970 The Velvet Underground album Loaded. It is one of the songs that feature Doug Yule on vocals, encouraged by main singer and songwriter Lou Reed....
" – 5:58 - "Femme FataleFemme Fatale (song)"Femme Fatale" is a song by The Velvet Underground from their 1967 debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico. At producer Andy Warhol's request, band frontman Lou Reed wrote the song about Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick...
" – 2:29 - "After HoursAfter Hours (song)"After Hours" is a 1969 song written by Lou Reed and originally performed by The Velvet Underground. It is the tenth and final track on their self-titled album. It is one of few songs with lead vocals by drummer Maureen Tucker, as Lou Reed stated the song was "so innocent and pure" that he could...
" – 2:05
2004 reissue edition
Disc one- "I'm Waiting for the Man" – 5:50
- "White Light/White HeatWhite Light/White Heat (song)"White Light/White Heat" is a song by American avant-garde rock band The Velvet Underground, the title track on their second album, released in 1968. It is a fast, relatively aggressive start to the album, similar to the punk rock genre it would ultimately influence.The song's vocals are performed...
" – 6:07 - "I'm Set Free" – 5:33
- "Sweet Jane" (Version 1) – 6:18
- "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Version 1) – 4:41
- "New Age" – 6:44
- "Beginning to See the Light" – 5:40
Disc two
- "Who Loves the Sun" – 2:17
- "Sweet Jane" (Version 2) – 5:58
- "I'll Be Your Mirror" – 3:02
- "Pale Blue Eyes" – 7:10
- "Candy Says" – 5:48
- "Sunday Morning" (Reed, Cale) – 3:48
- "After Hours" – 2:50
- "Femme Fatale" – 4:07
- "Some Kinda Love" – 11:22
- "Lonesome Cowboy Bill" (Version 2) – 5:00
- Atlantic release promo (hidden trackHidden trackIn the field of recorded music, a hidden track is a piece of music that has been placed on a CD, audio cassette, vinyl record or other recorded medium in such a way as to avoid detection by the casual listener...
) – 0:49
Personnel
- Sterling MorrisonSterling MorrisonHolmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. was one of the founding members of the rock group The Velvet Underground, usually playing electric guitar, occasionally bass guitar, and singing backing vocals.-Biography:...
– leadLead guitarLead guitar is a guitar part which plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs within a song structure...
, rhythmRhythm guitarRhythm guitar is a technique and rôle that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with singers or other instruments; and to provide all or part of the harmony, ie. the chords, where a chord is a group of notes played together...
guitarGuitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with... - Lou ReedLou ReedLewis Allan "Lou" Reed is an American rock musician, songwriter, and photographer. He is best known as guitarist, vocalist, and principal songwriter of The Velvet Underground, and for his successful solo career, which has spanned several decades...
– vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments...
, rhythm guitar - Doug YuleDoug YuleDouglas Alan Yule is an American musician and singer, most notable for being a member of The Velvet Underground from 1968 to 1973.- Early career :Yule began playing with various bands in Boston in the 1960s...
– bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals, lead vocal on "I'm Set Free", "Lonesome Cowboy Bill", "Who Loves the Sun", "I'll Be Your Mirror", "Candy Says" and "New Age" - Billy YuleBilly YuleWilliam "Billy" Yule is best known for having been a sit-in drummer for The Velvet Underground during 1970.-1970:When in early 1970, regular Velvet Underground drummer Maureen Tucker became pregnant, a temporary replacement was needed to fulfill the band's live obligations...
– drumsDrum kitA drum kit is a collection of drums, cymbals and often other percussion instruments, such as cowbells, wood blocks, triangles, chimes, or tambourines, arranged for convenient playing by a single person ....