Live At The 2nd Fret, January 1970

Third press, silver ink on black jacket
If you’re a Velvet Underground fanatic, you’ve no doubt checked out some pretty shitty-sounding bootlegs, desperately listening through the hiss, echo and murk to get your live Velvets fix (it’s your wife and it’s your life, after all). But who cares? Such is the power of the band that they can make even the muddiest of tapes sound like gold
Take this reel-to-reel capture of an early 1970 set. It’s not the complete show, but it’s a blast, presenting the VU just before drummer Moe Tucker went on maternity leave. There are fiery renditions of “White Light / White Heat,” “Sister Ray” and “Foggy Notion” (Sterling Morrison sounding especially killer on the latter tune). There’s a rare take on the lovely “Over You,” for some reason never attempted in the studio — here, Lou Reed calls it his “Billie Holiday impersonation.” And then there’s “Sweet Jane,” still in its original, slow-and-steady incarnation, Reed making up lyrics as he goes. Lo-fi quality? Yeah. Hi-fi experience? Oh yeah. Turn it up and take it for a ride ride.