A remarkable handwritten letter sent by Velvet Underground drummer to the band’s guitarist, Sterling Morrison (1942-1995), exploring the possibility of a Velvet Underground reunion in Czechoslovakia, and mentioning all of the original group members.

The band briefly reunited for the first time in 1990, at the opening of an Andy Warhol exhibition at the Fondation Cartier, in the French town of Jouy-En-Josas.  This letter dates from sometime after that brief reunion, and prior to their 1993 full reunion and European Tour.

Dated 8/22, with no year, Moe Tucker writes:

Dear Sterl,

the address of the Czech guy is:

Ivo Zazvorka (with address).  I wrote to him and told him to send his fax # (if he has one) to Chris [the band’s lawyer] so we could contact him fast.  He said in his letter that [John] Cale had agreed to go. 

I would love to go but I don’t think I would if it were just me & Cale – I’d feel like I was making a career of Andy openings! The guy also said in his letter ‘we’re negotiating with Lou [Reed] & John’-I guess he means about them performing some Drella stuff.

I’m gonna call L & J tomorrow & find out what’s going on.

[a day later, she continues, using a different pen, and adding the date 8-23] I called Lou & he said he doesn’t know anything about this! I haven’t reached Cale but I left a message.  So I don’t know what goin on but I’ll keep you informed.

Love, Moe.

This letter comes from the legendary Velvet Underground archive of Sterling Morrison.  Included is a letter of authenticity from Morrison’s widow, Martha, along with Recordmecca’s written guarantee of authenticity.

An extraordinary Velvet Underground collectible, with exceptional provenance.

From Far Out Magazine: Cale and Reed would take [their Andy Warhol tribute album Songs For Drella] on a very small tour in promotion of the record and when former VU drummer Maureen Tucker joined the pair on stage for a performance of their song ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ at a special Brooklyn show, the scene was set for a full-scale reunion. But it wasn’t until a small show in the French town of Jouy-En-Josas that rumours of a reunion really started to bed in.

The Songs of Drella duo had been invited to perform at the opening of an Andy Warhol retrospective in the small French town and they decided to bring along with them both Tucker and original Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison. As soon as news of the line-up hit the music world the rumour mill would go into overdrive.

Yet, as Rolling Stone reports, the idea of the Velvet Underground touring again was far from Reed’s mind, “You’ll never get the four of us together on one stage again,” he said at a press conference for the event. “Ever. The Velvet Underground is history.” Defiant words from Reed but it’s fair to say he doesn’t give journalists the most amount of respect.

The decision to join up for the performance came just hours before the curtain call, in typical VU fashion. Morrison and Tucker had joined Cale and Reed for dinner where the occasion of the event took over Reed and he gave in to his primal urges for the band. He softened his original stance and was soon suggesting that they perform together. After the choice of ‘Pale Blue Eyes’ was batted down because it was released after Cale had left the band, they settled on ‘Heroin’ as their anthem to return with.

“It will never happen again,” Reed said after the stunning show. “It was purely a moment in time … I wouldn’t want to give people the impression that there’s any chance that the Velvet Underground could exist again. It won’t.” Three years later, it would.

Following the return of tensions between the bandmates when they landed back in America, they would soon disband. Only to return just three years later when the surviving members performed at the Rock N Roll Hall Of Fame in 1996.