1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

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hkmartin
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1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by hkmartin » 29 Jun 2018 06:08

Just tweeted by Ryan Walsh: "1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas. Similar to what he placed in his 'Scenes from the life of Andy Warhol' film, but not identical. This montage is from Mekas's 'In Between' film. Never seen it online b4, take a looksee."

https://twitter.com/JahHills/status/1012540553244872704

sm7609
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by sm7609 » 29 Jun 2018 21:06

Well, I'll be doggied. Excellent find!

By the way, I just found some new (to me) 1966 footage from (probably) the Fillmore Auditorium in SF. I'll post about that separately.

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lurid
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by lurid » 30 Jun 2018 10:02

Well that would be very interesting indeed!

peppergomez
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by peppergomez » 01 Jul 2018 01:49

'66 footage of VU from SF? That was rumored to exist and would be awesome if it does. Link?

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lurid
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by lurid » 02 Jul 2018 21:39

just following up on my previous post. Are you serious about this? Could you post a link? This would be a major find if it is really from the Fillmore in 1966, even if it is silent!
sm7609 wrote:
29 Jun 2018 21:06

By the way, I just found some new (to me) 1966 footage from (probably) the Fillmore Auditorium in SF. I'll post about that separately.

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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by sm7609 » 03 Jul 2018 03:41

Hey guys!

Sorry! I've been a bit under the weather and haven't been able to separate and upload the footage for you all. Before you get excited, there isn't much footage at all, and what I found was quite by accident.

I was watching the documentary ACID TESTS, released by Ken Kesey's Key-Z Productions in 1989 (I think). At one point in the middle of the film, I saw some dancers intercut with shots of a mirror ball -- a very unique-looking mirror ball. Where had I seen it before? In the Velvet Underground In Boston film. Neat, I thought, but didn't think anything more of it. After all, it's just a mirror ball. But those dancers looked -- I don't know, familiar somehow. It just didn't LOOK like an Acid Test to me.

Well, imagine my surprise when a moment or two later I see a young, short-haired woman playing drums with mallets while standing up, the bass drum turned toward its side like a snare. "Nahhhhh..." I thought, then wound it back and watched about 10 more times. Sure enough, it was unmistakably Maureen Tucker, banging away (no sound, natch). Weird! Then a few moments later, there she is -- a very brief shot of what very much appears to be Nico onstage. One of the other musicians is in the foreground of the shot, but I cannot tell who it is (my money is on Sterling though).

So where is this from? And why is it included in an Acid Test video? We don't know, and we probably will never know. Obvously Kesey didn't pick up on this when editing his video, taking it to be footage from an Acid Test. It has a WAY different feel that any real Acid Test footage. Now we know that the Velvets played at the Fillmore in late May 1966, San Francisco being ground zero for the Merry Pranksters at the time (an Acid Test was held at the Fillmore in January). Could Kesey have filmed the Velvets at the Fillmore? The other possibility -- based on nothing -- is that the footage is from The Trip in L.A. in early May. The venue looks smallish, so it could be either.

In any case, I will upload couple of screenshots if I can. Judge for yourselves. They're not great, but I'm satisfied that we have another precious few minutes of VU footage -- from a most unexpected source.

sm7609
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by sm7609 » 03 Jul 2018 03:43

Oops! Apparently I can't upload images?

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taxine
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by taxine » 03 Jul 2018 11:26

sm7609 wrote:
03 Jul 2018 03:41
Hey guys!

Sorry! I've been a bit under the weather and haven't been able to separate and upload the footage for you all. Before you get excited, there isn't much footage at all, and what I found was quite by accident.

I was watching the documentary ACID TESTS, released by Ken Kesey's Key-Z Productions in 1989 (I think). At one point in the middle of the film, I saw some dancers intercut with shots of a mirror ball -- a very unique-looking mirror ball. Where had I seen it before? In the Velvet Underground In Boston film. Neat, I thought, but didn't think anything more of it. After all, it's just a mirror ball. But those dancers looked -- I don't know, familiar somehow. It just didn't LOOK like an Acid Test to me.

Well, imagine my surprise when a moment or two later I see a young, short-haired woman playing drums with mallets while standing up, the bass drum turned toward its side like a snare. "Nahhhhh..." I thought, then wound it back and watched about 10 more times. Sure enough, it was unmistakably Maureen Tucker, banging away (no sound, natch). Weird! Then a few moments later, there she is -- a very brief shot of what very much appears to be Nico onstage. One of the other musicians is in the foreground of the shot, but I cannot tell who it is (my money is on Sterling though).

So where is this from? And why is it included in an Acid Test video? We don't know, and we probably will never know. Obvously Kesey didn't pick up on this when editing his video, taking it to be footage from an Acid Test. It has a WAY different feel that any real Acid Test footage. Now we know that the Velvets played at the Fillmore in late May 1966, San Francisco being ground zero for the Merry Pranksters at the time (an Acid Test was held at the Fillmore in January). Could Kesey have filmed the Velvets at the Fillmore? The other possibility -- based on nothing -- is that the footage is from The Trip in L.A. in early May. The venue looks smallish, so it could be either.

In any case, I will upload couple of screenshots if I can. Judge for yourselves. They're not great, but I'm satisfied that we have another precious few minutes of VU footage -- from a most unexpected source.

Wow,Scott that sounds really cool ...,I bet we gonna freak out with these stuff,you made my day man.Just check out your PM !!

PS.Finally you have your own Emerson proyect,well done man :lol: :lol:
But there are no stars in New York sky, they're all on the ground.
This is the place where she lay her head when she went to bed at night....

sm7609
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by sm7609 » 05 Jul 2018 18:19

My pleasure brother! I put the screenshot of Moe on my Facebook...see what you think!

(posted on July 5th in case it gets buried) :-

https://www.facebook.com/scott.parker.31337

sm7609
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Re: 1966 footage of the Velvet Underground shot by Jonas Mekas

Post by sm7609 » 05 Jul 2018 19:20

I am actually thinking that this is most likely from the Fillmore, by the way...looking at the photos from the Trip, Moe seemed to be playing on the floor, with the bass drum turned right-side up. Plus San Francisco makes the most sense, given that the film was evidently shot by the Merry Pranksters :-)

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