The Velvet Underground: Newly Discovered Colour Footage from 1969

Apart from Haslam also Shel Kagan. + VU.
As the production sounds nothing like any other VU, I can only credit the producers.

 

Great footage. Seeing and hearing them play on that balcony is spine tingling.

 

We have little or no recording of them playing outdoors. Sterling Morrison said they played quite differently in those. I personally can't get enough of their live recordings. This footage and the previous stuff from the same day is amazing. This was an anti-war rally where they played a few songs. They played again at Cole Avenue later that night in one of the unrecorded sets.

The Velvet Underground - Live performances and rehearsals - 1969

The entry for this says:

October 15, 1969
on the bank of White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas
Vietnam Moratorium Dallas Peace Day
Ad: in The Dallas Morning News, October 15, 1969.
Films:
The Tincher Family Collection, No. 5 - Music Festivals and Travel
8mm color silent home movie including a 33-seconds segment with The Velvet Underground performing live on stage during the event.
The Portal to Texas History
Dallas Peace Moratorium - October 15, 1969
4:04 color with sound segment featuring Sterling Morrison interviewed by Stoney Burns of Dallas Notes underground newspaper, intersected with excerpts of the band playing live I'm Waiting For The Man, Beginning To See The Light & I'm Set Free.
Lost film flashes back to Dallas' forgotten 1969 Vietnam War protest — starrring the Velvet Underground! by Robert Wilonsky, in Dallas News, June 28, 2019
wrayb: "I went that October afternoon because I was determined to see the VU every second of their public appearances in Dallas and, oh yeah, Vietnam war: boooo. The VU played just a few songs between some speeches. I remember puzzling over what Lou said as an intro, I don't remember what was said. I left soon after the Velvets music lapsed again into the speeches of the day. I had "made the scene," the Velvets had played, I had to go get ready to go see them that night."

 

It’s funny but I always think of the VU in black and white. Seeing them in colour seems kind of... wrong!

 

AHEM!

 

and....

 

With Loaded ( with hits) I’m sure the VU who wanted a very commercial album asked the producer to make it sound like Abbey Road ie; radio friendly.

 

yes!

disagree - by this time they were playing stuff that would appeal to any hippy...im set free, what goes, beginning to see the light....I think it would've been amazing. lou was rocking bellbottoms by then and doug would fit right in

 

The Hilltop Festival was the only one I could think of. What Goes On is amazing. But Sterling Morrison I think implied that they played quite differently to larger crowds outdoors (which they probably didn't do so often), I'm not sure how large this festival actually was. Van Morrison was obviously at the start of his career and the only other name I personally recognise. It's disappointing for instance we don't have more than a fragment of the Toronto Festival in 1969 The Velvet Underground live at Toronto Pop Festival 69

I'm greedy, I'd like to hear more live VU because there's a chance we'd learn something new about them even at this late stage but even a miracle would only bring 3 or 4 more concerts I guess.

 

We have the bootleg of the Hilltop Pop Festival Aug 1969. They headlined.

Here one of the boots. Mine is an earlier VU boot on CD.


The Velvet Underground - The Hilltop Pop Festival

 

Who Loves The Sun.

Is there a live version or was specifically composed for L O A D E D ?

 

There's a live version on Max's Kansas City deluxe edition.

 

In a Lou Reed live version 1972 he says “Hey we wrote a Beatles song called Who Loves The Sun” Does show a striking similarity to Here Comes The Sun ☀️

 

When I first heard it way back in 1982, I was convinced it was the Hollies or maybe another band from the British Invasion. The DJ (this was a very free from radio station) said it was the Velvet Underground. I was shocked, but figured it was probably among their earliest recordings and they then evolved/morphed (kind of like Spinal Tap). Nope, it was on their final album I soon learned.

I love the song. But even after hearing it for decades now, I still think it is the wild card of their work.

 

There's a rehearsal from Max's Kansas City and there's 40 seconds available on the Joseph Freeman Tape Sampler as well as the version mentioned from the 2004 release of both sets recorded at Max's by Brigid Polk (or Berlin - Brigid Berlin - Wikipedia )

 

Classic opening track followed by Sweet Jane now that was a master stroke.

 

Is that anyway to talk about Lou Reed? But, seriously, that old guy was awesome!

 

I went to a later Hilltop festival in Mason NH in 1975 or 76. The bands (George Benson was the only one I remember from the one I saw) were set up at the bottom of a field which went up the side of a hill at about a 45 degree pitch. Maybe room for 1000 people but probably fewer there on the day.

 

last year there was exactly zero footage of yule era vu, amazing to see this. loved that close angle in the silent footage...anyone know the song, doug and lou sing together a bit and just lou….where are the lip readers at !

 

It's so surreal to see the velvets in color, it almost looks... unnatural

 

I was wanting to see if anyone can figure out what song it is! Could overlay some alternate live audio if we could figure it out! Lip readers... We need you!

 

No they weren't. They were namechecked by other bands and artists all the time.

 

Didn’t exactly set the charts alight.

 

These were my thoughts in March:

Wow!

Using amateur lip reading at 8:05, it looks like they're doing "Waiting for the Man" ("Up to a brownstone, up three flights of stairs").


Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground (1969) is 50