In 1971, the Velvet Underground consisted of Doug Yule (vocals, guitar), Willie Alexander (keyboards, vocals), Walter Powers (bass guitar) and Maureen Tucker (drums). This version of the band had toured the United Kingdom and the Netherlands in October and November 1971 to support its latest album, "Loaded", which had been written and recorded when Lou Reed was in the band, and which had seen a European release in March 1971. The plan was to record a second and final album for their record company, Atlantic Records, afterwards, but Atlantic lost faith and decided to issue an archive audience recording from 1970 featuring Lou Reed, "Live at Max's Kansas City", instead.