The Velvet Forum

Mr. Charlie has unearthed an “extraordinary, previously uncirculated low generation source tape” of this legendary Jamie Klimek recording, which has been bootlegged in inferior quality for decades now.

https://doomandgloomfromthetomb.tumblr. ... k-and-roll

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSfVskZuq2w

The owner of the YouTube is refusing to provide a file - only streaming on Youtube.
Very mysterious!

THANKS! Incredible. I posted a Comment urging them to upload it to the internet archive.

Thanks for posting - a definite upgrade for sure. Could this mean that Klimek's vault may have been cracked open at long last?

Great stuff. Some of the replies from the poster are interesting..

Thank you for your input but it needs to wait. If Jamie's brother is now in charge of the recordings, then he may be looking to cut a deal to get them finally released. Believe me, he needs the money and there's no way I would interfere with that. If in fact this got an official release, this post would come down.

I don't know who J.C. actually is. It was merely a notation made by Jamie. Mr. Charlie is me, and thank you for the technical offer but I did audio editing and restoration work in collaboration with The Happy One (nickname) for an archival label which is sadly out of business.
Anyhow, Jamie's actual masters sound incredible. He played me a clear, uncirculated set from March 1969 at La Cave of which you can find the track listing here: http://olivier.landemaine.free.fr/vu/li ... erf69.html

Jamie also played me his master of Cleveland Music Hall 1968.12.01 and it sounded unbelievable, especially "I'm Set Free" in which Moe's drums resonated like dancing gods. The clarity of Jamie's recordings using a simple Norelco cassette deck is simply astounding, but then again cassette compression as we know is not always a bad thing. If I hear anything about a potential sale, I will post it here.

We should have a whip round and support Jamie's brother.

intriguing stuff all!
Mr Charlie was the name of Peter Laughner's first band, formed in 1966, when PL was 14.

bleach wrote: ↑01 May 2025 16:23 We should have a whip round and support Jamie's brother.

considering how much joy JK's tapes have given me in the last 40+ years, i would be happy to contribute if it could be organised...

JK's brother would be Andrew Klimek. Can't find him online but Michael Weldon is still around, running a record shop in Augusta, GA. fb page https://www.facebook.com/PsychotronicAugusta/ hasn't been updated for a while but there are recent photos on yelp from last year

This is all very interesting indeed. Hopefully Jamie's brother will approach Light in the Attic as they obviously have an ongoing archive release programme in the works, which probably makes it more likely this stuff could see release than has been the case for a long while.

Next best thing would be if Klimek's brother was open to selling the tapes on to an enterprising group of fans who would at least be able to get them heard...

I think any deal would have to go through UMG as the tapes were made when they were signed to MGM. And I presume any such release would also need to be signed off by the remaining group members on the recording - and that would be before anyone like LITA could be involved. A private deal with fans might be simpler. But – if JK 's younger brother is hoping to get a deal, then I presume his eyes are on the dollars.

Were Klimek Tapes ever on the table to be a future installment of the Bootleg Series? It certainly seems like Boston Tea Party was next in line after Quine Tapes, perhaps End of Cole Ave tapes after that but Klimek's tapes have always been the treasure trove in my eyes.

He has tons of unreleased Mirrors stuff as well, his tape collection could contain some massive finds. I love the 12.01.68 Music Hall show he taped, would love to hear I'm Set Free in better quality

A couple of interesting comments have been added from the youtube uploader:

"Jamie told me he recorded VU for the first time during their June 27 - July 2, 1967 run at La Cave. However, he said as it was the first show he ever recorded, he sat too close to the stage and the entire tape sounded like "pulsations". He also loaned that tape not too long after the show to a friend who promptly lost it.
Jamie also insisted to me that the band were much better live with Yule than with Cale, especially as he felt Cale's bass playing was too heavy handed for most of the lighter songs they were starting to do such as "Jesus" and "Candy Says"."

(controversial claim!)

"This was the only recording Jamie gave me, and it was a digital WAV file.
Jamie recorded VU several times between 1968 and 1969, but this - other than a long lost 1967 recording (which I discuss elsewhere) - was the only recording with Cale that survived. The version of "Heroin" from this show was not included in the file.
All of Jamie's VU tapes have circulated save for one recorded at La Cave in March 1969.
Jamie referred to "Sweet Sister Ray" as both "Sweet Sister Ray" and "Sweet Rock & Roll" so hence my use of both titles."

(was hoping for more but on the plus side this is quite an improvement in quality! And the tapes seem to have been digitized instead of rotting away at a garbage dump, as they were in my worst-case scenario..)