Live MCMXCIII
Encyclopedia
Live MCMXCIII is a live album
by The Velvet Underground
. It was released simultaneously in single and double CD/Cassette
formats on October 26, 1993 by Sire Records
. The single CD is an abridged version of the double CD edition: there are no different takes of songs across the two editions. It was also released in DVD format on January 24, 2006.
, John Cale
, Sterling Morrison
and Maureen Tucker
suddenly decided to reform. The decision was entirely unexpected because the relationship between Reed and Cale had been sour ever since the late Sixties, and though it had ameliorated after back catalogue royalty renegotiations in the mid-Eighties, it had hit another low after their 1990 collaboration Songs for Drella
.
Nevertheless, an impromptu one-song reunion in Jouy-en-Josas
, France, later that year for an Andy Warhol
exhibition set the scene and by 1993, the band had started to rehearse for Europe
an and American
tours. Lou Reed's then-current record company, Sire Records
, agreed to release a live album from the European tour, and ambitious plans were made for both an MTV Unplugged
appearance with accompanying album and a subsequent studio album.
Two key people did not participate in the reunion: sometime singer Nico
, who had died in 1988; and latter-day bassist
/keyboard player
Doug Yule
, whom Sterling Morrison would have liked to participate but who was vetoed out by Reed and Cale. Yule later stated that, although he would have liked being considered at least, he would have declined anyway because of family priorities.
The album was recorded during a three-night residence in the Parisian venue L'Olympia. John Cale later said, "During the second night we hit the home run", and it is of this night that most of the Live MCMXCIII tracks were taken. The rest were taken from the third night.
Live MCMXCIII mainly is a trawl through the back catalogue, with emphasis on the "regular", more structured songs. There are only two major improvisations ("Some Kinda Love" and "Hey Mr. Rain") and two new songs: "Velvet Nursery Rhyme
", a short and lightweight reunion-theme song, and "Coyote", a Reed/Cale collaboration. Emphasis is on the band's first and third records and the "lost fourth album" (see VU
and Another View
), with only two songs from Loaded being included.
During the European tour, relationships quickly soured again and by the end of the tour all other plans were off, never to rematerialise. The band's latest breakup proved final when Sterling Morrison died in the summer of 1995.
Both the tour and the album met with mixed reviews. The public and the critics were split into two camps: those that did not want to spoil their vision of the image that the band had since the Sixties and those that wanted to see the legendary four back together on stage and see whether they could still be relevant. Reviews reflected the views of the two camps.
Disc two
Technical staff
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 released simultaneously in single and double CD/Cassette
Compact Cassette
The Compact Cassette, often referred to as audio cassette, cassette tape, cassette, or simply tape, is a magnetic tape sound recording format. It was designed originally for dictation, but improvements in fidelity led the Compact Cassette to supplant the Stereo 8-track cartridge and reel-to-reel...
formats on October 26, 1993 by Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
. The single CD is an abridged version of the double CD edition: there are no different takes of songs across the two editions. It was also released in DVD format on January 24, 2006.
About the album
In late 1992, the Velvet Underground 1965–1968 core line-up of 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...
, John Cale
John Cale
John 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....
, Sterling Morrison
Sterling Morrison
Holmes 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:...
and Maureen Tucker
Maureen Tucker
Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
suddenly decided to reform. The decision was entirely unexpected because the relationship between Reed and Cale had been sour ever since the late Sixties, and though it had ameliorated after back catalogue royalty renegotiations in the mid-Eighties, it had hit another low after their 1990 collaboration Songs for Drella
Songs for Drella
Songs for Drella is a concept album by Lou Reed and John Cale, both formerly of The Velvet Underground.On January 9, 1989 Cale and Reed performed a selection of Songs for Drella at The Church of St. Anne's in Brooklyn. The first full version was played on November 29–30, and December 2–3 at the...
.
Nevertheless, an impromptu one-song reunion in Jouy-en-Josas
Jouy-en-Josas
Jouy-en-Josas is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France region in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center.Jouy-en-Josas is home to the prestigious HEC School of Management.-Geography:...
, France, later that year for an 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...
exhibition set the scene and by 1993, the band had started to rehearse for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
an and American
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
tours. Lou Reed's then-current record company, Sire Records
Sire Records
Sire Records is an American record label, owned by Warner Music Group and distributed through Warner Bros. Records.-Beginnings:The label was founded in 1966 as Sire Productions by Seymour Stein and Richard Gottehrer, each investing ten thousand dollars into the new company. Its early releases as a...
, agreed to release a live album from the European tour, and ambitious plans were made for both an MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged
MTV Unplugged is a TV series showcasing many popular musical artists usually playing acoustic instruments. The show has received the George Foster Peabody Award and 3 Primetime Emmy nominations among many accolades.-Unplugged:...
appearance with accompanying album and a subsequent studio album.
Two key people did not participate in the reunion: sometime singer Nico
Nico
Nico was a German singer, lyricist, composer, musician, fashion model, and actress, who initially rose to fame as a Warhol Superstar in the 1960s...
, who had died in 1988; and latter-day 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...
/keyboard player
Keyboard instrument
A keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic 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...
, whom Sterling Morrison would have liked to participate but who was vetoed out by Reed and Cale. Yule later stated that, although he would have liked being considered at least, he would have declined anyway because of family priorities.
The album was recorded during a three-night residence in the Parisian venue L'Olympia. John Cale later said, "During the second night we hit the home run", and it is of this night that most of the Live MCMXCIII tracks were taken. The rest were taken from the third night.
Live MCMXCIII mainly is a trawl through the back catalogue, with emphasis on the "regular", more structured songs. There are only two major improvisations ("Some Kinda Love" and "Hey Mr. Rain") and two new songs: "Velvet Nursery Rhyme
Nursery rhyme
The term nursery rhyme is used for "traditional" poems for young children in Britain and many other countries, but usage only dates from the 19th century and in North America the older ‘Mother Goose Rhymes’ is still often used.-Lullabies:...
", a short and lightweight reunion-theme song, and "Coyote", a Reed/Cale collaboration. Emphasis is on the band's first and third records and the "lost fourth album" (see VU
VU (album)
VU is an outtakes compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in February 1985 by Verve Records.-Composition and collection:...
and Another View
Another View
Another View is an outtakes compilation album by The Velvet Underground. It was released in 1986 by Verve Records and is comprised of material recorded between 1967 and 1969.-Composition and collection:...
), with only two songs from Loaded being included.
During the European tour, relationships quickly soured again and by the end of the tour all other plans were off, never to rematerialise. The band's latest breakup proved final when Sterling Morrison died in the summer of 1995.
Both the tour and the album met with mixed reviews. The public and the critics were split into two camps: those that did not want to spoil their vision of the image that the band had since the Sixties and those that wanted to see the legendary four back together on stage and see whether they could still be relevant. Reviews reflected the views of the two camps.
Double-CD edition
Disc one- "We're Gonna Have a Real Good Time Together" – 3:14
- "Venus in Furs" – 5:19
- "Guess I'm Falling in Love" (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....
, 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:...
, Maureen TuckerMaureen TuckerMaureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
) – 3:08 - "After Hours" – 2:41
- "All Tomorrow's Parties" – 6:36
- "Some Kinda Love" – 9:06 (final track on side one of first cassette, remainder on side two)
- "I'll Be Your Mirror" – 3:06
- "Beginning to See the Light" – 4:59
- "The Gift" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 10:33
- "I Heard Her Call My Name" – 4:37
- "Femme Fatale" – 3:23
Disc two
- "Hey Mr. Rain" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 15:42
- "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....
" – 5:21 - "Velvet Nursery Rhyme" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 1:31
- "White Light/White Heat" – 4:21
- "I'm Sticking with You" – 3:23
- "The Black Angel's Death Song" (Reed, Cale) – 4:12
- "Rock and RollRock & Roll (Lou Reed song)"Rock & Roll" is a song by The Velvet Underground, originally appearing on their 1970 album Loaded. The song was written by the Velvet's then-leader Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the song into his own live performances years later as a solo artist.The song recounts the advent of rock &...
" – 6:13 (final track on side one of second cassette, remainder on side two) - "I Can't Stand It" – 4:21
- "I'm Waiting for the Man" – 5:15
- "Heroin" – 9:59
- "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....
" – 6:14 - "Coyote" (Reed, Cale) – 5:25
Single CD edition
- "Venus in Furs" – 5:30
- "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....
" – 5:23 - "After Hours" – 2:44
- "All Tomorrow's Parties" – 6:36
- "Some Kinda Love" – 9:07
- "The Gift" (Reed, Cale, Morrison, Tucker) – 10:33
- "Rock and RollRock & Roll (Lou Reed song)"Rock & Roll" is a song by The Velvet Underground, originally appearing on their 1970 album Loaded. The song was written by the Velvet's then-leader Lou Reed, who continued to incorporate the song into his own live performances years later as a solo artist.The song recounts the advent of rock &...
" – 6:11 - "I'm Waiting for the Man" – 5:16
- "Heroin" – 9:49
- "Pale Blue Eyes" – 6:17
Personnel
The Velvet Underground- 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....
– violaViolaThe viola is a bowed string instrument. It is the middle voice of the violin family, between the violin and the cello.- Form :The viola is similar in material and construction to the violin. A full-size viola's body is between and longer than the body of a full-size violin , with an average...
, keyboardsKeyboard instrumentA keyboard instrument is a musical instrument which is played using a musical keyboard. The most common of these is the piano. Other widely used keyboard instruments include organs of various types as well as other mechanical, electromechanical and electronic instruments...
, bass guitarBass guitarThe bass guitar is a stringed instrument played primarily with the fingers or thumb , or by using a pick....
, backing vocals, lead vocalSingingSinging 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...
on "All Tomorrow's Parties", "The Gift", "Femme Fatale" and "I'm Waiting for the Man" - 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:...
– 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...
, bass guitar, backing vocals - 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...
– vocals, guitar - Maureen TuckerMaureen TuckerMaureen Ann "Moe" Tucker is a musician best known for having been the drummer for the rock group The Velvet Underground.- The Velvet Underground :...
– percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, lead vocal on "After Hours" and "I'm Sticking with You"
Technical staff
- Mike Rathke – producerRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...