Final V.U. 1971–1973
2001 live album by The Velvet Underground

Final V.U. 1971–1973 is a box set by the Velvet Underground, comprising live recordings from after founding members Lou Reed and Sterling Morrison had left the group. It was released by Japanese record company Captain Trip Records in August 2001.
Background
After singer, guitarist and main songwriter Lou Reed quit the Velvet Underground in August 1970, the band carried on: Doug Yule assumed leadership and moved to lead vocals and guitar, and Walter Powers joined to play bass guitar. This version of the Velvet Underground, which still featured original member Sterling Morrison and longtime drummer Maureen Tucker, played around 30 dates to promote the band's fourth album, Loaded (1970).
Almost a year after Reed's departure, Morrison also left the band; he was replaced by Boston-based keyboardist Willie Alexander. The band now contained no founding members (although Tucker had been a member since before the recording of the Velvets' debut album). They then went to tour the United Kingdom and the Netherlands, still in support of Loaded, which had had a March 1971 release date in Europe. Two dates of this tour, November 5, 1971 in London and November 19 in Amsterdam, were recorded by members of the audience, and appear as discs one and two of this set, respectively. The Amsterdam concert was also recorded from the soundboard by Dutch radio station VPRO and subsequently broadcast on FM radio. A few tracks from this broadcast were recorded by a fan and appear as tracks 11–14 on disc four of this set.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Final V.U. 1971–1973” is 2001 live album by The Velvet Underground. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Final, live and album, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “2001 live album by The Velvet Underground” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Attribution, date and provenance are strongest when supported by the original work, a catalogue record and documented transmission. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 26, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1747679. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1971, 1973, 2001 and 1970.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
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The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Final V.U. 1971–1973”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Final V.U. 1971–1973 primary sources, Final V.U. 1971–1973 archive and Final research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Final V.U. 1971–1973” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.