On August 23, 1970, Lou Reed, lead singer and primary songwriter of the pioneering alt-rock band the Velvet Underground play their last gig together at the famous Manhattan rock club Max’s Kansas City.
One of the most influential American bands of the late 1960s and early 1970s, the Velvet Underground had an impact on modern rock and roll that was well out of proportion to the popularity they achieved in their short-lived heyday. At the heart of the Velvet Underground’s classic lineup were Long Island native Reed and the Welsh-born John Cale, who met and began collaborating in New York City in 1964. Cale’s droning instrumentals and Lou Reed’s half-sung, half-spoken vocals on subject matter such as drug use and prostitution were, it is safe to say, well outside of the mainstream of mid-1960s commercial rock.
When they were adopted as a pet project by pop artist Andy Warhol, however, the Velvets found themselves and their unorthodox sound being embraced by New York’s avant garde—an association that persisted even after Warhol and his enigmatic muse Nico, whom he installed as Reed’s co-vocalist for their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) exited the group’s professional lives.
It was that first album that yielded more of the Velvets’ biggest songs than any other, including "Heroin,” “All Tomorrow’s Parties” and “Venus in Furs.” The late 1960s saw numerous lineup changes in the band, including the departure of founding member Cale in 1968. It also saw the Velvet Underground release three more studio albums, each one of them a significant musical departure from the last. The final album featuring Lou Reed as leader was Live at Max’s Kansas City, which was released in 1972 but recorded on this day in 1970 immediately prior to Reed’s departure for a storied solo career of his own.
In 1993, tensions quickly derailed a Velvet Underground reunion tour. They played one last time together at their induction to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. Reed died in 2013.
