December 21, 1973 (30 years ago today). R & R Animal recorded live at Howard Stein's Academy of Music, NYC. Dust it off. How good was Steve Hunter?
You mean 40 years ago, and we are fast approaching 50 years for Velvet Underground and Nico. R&R animal was a great album, maybe one of the best live Rock albums of the era, yet I feel somewhat the same way about it as I do about the Nico songs. Fantastic musicians providing their take on great songs, but judging by my own listening habits I guess I prefer the rougher and simpler versions by VU. Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison couldn't have come close to matching the musicianship of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner and the rest of that band, but the VU sound continues to resonate with me nonetheless.
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Jud T.
I haven't and probably won't. I am not really much of a completist when it comes to music or golf courses. I think I have heard most or all of that live recording, though. Bootlegs have been floating around for a few years and at least some of the tracks are on the internet so you can at least check them out before you decide whether to buy.
Here is a link to the live recording of "Booker T" (similar to the the music side of The Gift) and another to "I'm Not a Young Man Anymore" which I don't think is on any other album.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o2YJNIsSdohttps://soundcloud.com/umesongs/the-velvet-underground-im-not/s-BV5ie