More often than not, most of what you read concerning the Velvet Underground will inevitably note how woefully underappreciated the group were during its brief lifespan. But the VU were superstars — and not just in the Warholian sense — in certain parts of the U.S., including Boston. This quintessential New York City band made Boston its home away from home for much of the late 60s, playing dozens of sold-out shows at the Boston Tea Party to a devoted cult of followers. And what kind of people attended these shows? Let’s hand the mic to Jonathan Richman, Velvets superfan, who was often in the audience: “[T]he crowd was FUN!” Wall-to-wall hippies, bikers, Harvard students, Northeastern students, fashion models, professors, drug dealers, art teachers, groupies, MIT students, photographers, local thugs, local disc jockeys, skinny-bohemian-artist girls, visiting dignitaries from the New York art scene, and the royalty of the Boston music set — the local singers and guitar-players in their mod suits strolling around with their beautiful girlfriends.” Rock And Roll, indeed.
The bootleg of this January show is probably the best fidelity of the various audience tapes made in 1969 at the Boston Tea Party. Not to say it’s fantastic — it’s still a 43-year-old audience tape — but crank it up and it’s highly listenable. And it’s a phenomenal performance, with the Velvets shifting effortlessly from the lowdown noise boogie of “Run Run Run” and “White Light/White Heat” to hymn-like renditions of “I’m Set Free” and “Candy Says”. While an instrumental version of “Move Right In” appeared on the Another View odds-n-sods compilation, the one that appears here is the definitive reading, with Moe Tucker raving up a storm. Naturally, the megalithic “Sister Ray” closes out the set, offering a twisted, 21-minute trip through parts unknown. I’ll give the last word to Richman: “[S]ometimes you just plain couldn’t figure out where on the stage those strange sounds and harmonics were coming from, because of the eerie calm with which they played and improvised in front of you, and because every time they’d come to town they’d introduce at least one new song that would, for better or worse, sound like nothing else that had gone before in rock music.” words/ t wilcox
Download: The Velvet Underground :: The Boston Tea Party – January, 1969
Footnote! The Jonathan Richman quotes come from this book — http://www.richieunterberger.com/vu.html. Basically the bible for VU heads.
1 | tylerw November 13th, 2012 at 1:14 pmworked for me
2 | chris November 13th, 2012 at 2:49 pmI was reading John Cale’s book, and they mentioned recording their own shows to critique the shows. Wonder where those tapes wound up?
There’s a 4 track soundboard of a San Diego VU gig from 1968 (mentioned in Richie’s book) that people are still trying to find. The importance of this show was that Lester Bangs became an acolyte. Unfortunately, it was stolen, but this is the live holy grail of VU tapes because John was still in the band. Happy hunting!
3 | Danny November 14th, 2012 at 7:09 amThis rules
4 | Aaron November 14th, 2012 at 11:14 amOK, note the date (11/14) this is the 3rd link, sourced from the first one that worked for half of yall.
http://www.mediafire.com/?dttctldb0voc8as
5 | Satisfied '75 November 14th, 2012 at 12:08 pmGreat! It all seemed to work this time!
6 | Steve November 14th, 2012 at 1:34 pmthese are so good. i’d heard the 12.12.68 shows (also called ‘boston tea party’) and liked them but these are even better. thank you!
7 | Robin November 14th, 2012 at 2:17 pmThis last link worked perfect. Thanks for taking the time to repost. Wonderful show.
8 | Eric November 14th, 2012 at 2:26 pmGlad this one is working. If it’s not enough (and how could it be enough?), here’s another Boston show from a couple months later: http://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr.com/post/30395247670/endless-revisions-in-honor-of-sterling-morrisons
9 | tylerw November 14th, 2012 at 2:28 pmsuccess! thank you!!!
10 | theMike November 14th, 2012 at 4:28 pm[...] sound like their ears may still have been ringing from seeing the Velvets blast the house down at the Boston Tea Party a few years earlier. The Modern Lovers are a killer band here, all thumping drums, farfisa organs [...]
11 | Aquarium Drunkard » The Modern Lovers :: Stonehenge Club – Ipswich, MA, 1970/1971 November 16th, 2012 at 9:00 amThanks. I wish I could get ahold of the Holy Modal Rounders set, too!
12 | Tom November 16th, 2012 at 12:42 pmOh man, how awesome it was stumbling across this. Thank you so much for sharing!!!
13 | Leroy Brown November 18th, 2012 at 2:47 pm[...] Download This: Velvet Underground – The Boston Tea Party – January 1969 [...]
14 | Hidden Track » Bloggy Goodness: Dave Grohl Presents Sound City November 29th, 2012 at 9:00 am