That came bubbling out of Long Island, melting crystalline structures-which was just what we had had in mind.”įor at least four decades, discussions of the Velvet Underground have revolved around how this 1960s obscurity-a dark and culturally queer counterforce to what’s usually remembered of 1960s counterculture-became a far-reaching influence after the fact. But as Conrad is heard saying later in the film, in their work, “Pop dissolved high culture. The VU itself, also featuring guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker as well as various temporary members, failed extravagantly at attaining any such success. None of the three slumming avant-gardists in the Primitives harbored the pop ambitions Reed did. But this “mistake” set off a partnership that before long would lead Reed and Cale to form the Velvet Underground. All they ever really produced was a novelty dance single called “ The Ostrich” for a bargain record label. He’s describing the circumstances that brought together himself, the visual artist Walter De Maria, and the recent Welsh immigrant classical musician John Cale to back a druggy, ornery writer from the suburbs named Lou Reed in the early 1960s garage-rock group the Primitives. Neophytes and the casually interested should check out 1969: Velvet Underground Live instead, but for longtime fans, Live MCMXCIII is an enjoyable and unexpectedly moving performance, as four of rock's unsung heroes take one last stroll through the songs that made them belatedly famous.and finally get the ovations they deserve.“It was an almost magical mistake.” That’s the late experimental composer and filmmaker Tony Conrad, heard via archival audio in director Todd Haynes’ new documentary. But when they come together, with Tucker's always-steady beat behind them, something remarkable happens - they become the Velvet Underground, perhaps older and a bit worse for wear, but still sounding like one of the greatest rock bands of all time, and when the spirit is with them, they can still make the earth shake. What's more, Reed often seems to be having a hard time with his vocals, Cale's singing makes him sound like an especially pretentious veteran of the Old Vic, and Morrison should have spent a bit more time wood-shedding before taking the stage for the first time in two decades.
Anyone hoping for a hi-fi re-creation of this band's astounding 1966-1968 live shows is pretty much out of luck Live MCMXCIII is short on exploration of the outer limits of noise, and long on tightly paced songs, with all of the "hits" featured prominently. Similarly, in 1992 the prospect of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker burying the collective hatchet and mounting a concert tour as the Velvet Underground seemed only marginally more likely than the previous scenario, so perhaps the most remarkable thing about this live document of the briefly reunited VU performing for a wildly enthusiastic crowd in Paris is that it exists at all. If you stepped out on your back porch one morning and saw Pegasus contentedly munching your crabgrass shortly before taking flight, you'd sound a bit churlish if you pointed out that his figure-eight was not perfectly executed.
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