The Velvet Underground - The Gymnasium, New York City, 4-30-1967

I recently wrote that I plan on posting what I consider all the live Velvet Underground (VU) recordings with really good sound quality. This one definitely counts, since it's a pristine soundboard. It was originally released as part of the super deluxe edition of the "White Light/White Heat" album in 2013. But I'm posting it here because I used the UVR5 audio editing program to boost the lead vocals, making this sound even better than the official release.

The band's years together led by Lou Reed can be divided into two phases: 1965 to 1968, when John Cale was in the band, and 1968 to 1970, when Cale was replaced by Doug Yule. The Cale years are more celebrated, helped by the fact that Cale went on to have a long and critically acclaimed solo career. But unfortunately, this is the sole live recording from the Cale years that doesn't sound like crap. (If anyone knows of any other good ones, please let me know.)

This is such a pristine recording that it makes me wonder if it really is a concert recording at all. What I mean is, no audience can be heard whatsoever, not even a single clap. Additionally, there's not a single word spoken between songs. If I hadn't been told otherwise by official sources, I would have assumed these are studio outtakes. But apparently there was a concert on this date, as the cover art shows, and this is what was played. If anyone knows the story behind this recording, and how it sounds like it does, please let us know.

Anyway, regardless of that, these are unique versions, and the sound quality is excellent, so what's not to like? Additionally, some of the songs are quite rare. This is the only known recording of the original "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore," and the best recording of the instrumental "Booker T." Additionally, this version of "Guess I'm Falling in Love" has lyrics that are sung, while the studio version is an instrumental. On the flip side, the studio version of "The Gift" has lyrics while this version is an instrumental.

This album is 59 minutes long.

01 Booker T [Instrumental] (Velvet Underground)
02 I'm Not a Young Man Anymore (Velvet Underground)
03 Guess I'm Falling in Love (Velvet Underground)
04 I'm Waiting for the Man (Velvet Underground)
05 Run, Run, Run (Velvet Underground)
06 Sister Ray (Velvet Underground)
07 The Gift [Instrumental Version] (Velvet Underground)

NOTE: Unfortunately, the download link was removed due to a copyright issue.

I couldn't find any good, fitting color photos of the band for the cover. However, I did find a playbill for this exact show. I made some edits to it, mainly cropping out some of it to get it to fit into a square shape, and adding the background color. But the text you see is largely unchanged. And by the way, although Nico was touted on the playbill, she didn't actually appear in the concert.