The Velvet Underground: New York Art Review

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(More customer reviews)When people speak of the work of New York's first underground art-rock band, the word that usually comes to mind is 'seminal' - after all this is the group that later influenced an entire NY rock scene from Television to Sonic Youth and many others (their influence extended well beyond these shores to most of Europe as well.)
In this new book, edited by Johan Kugelberg, the word that most comes to mind, is `art.' Kugelberg, in his love and devotion to this early NY rock ensemble, has assembled the first and only monograph of the band's formative years. This unique, coffee-table format art book compiles an impressive collection of rare photographs, handbills, press clippings, flyers, posters and handwritten lyrics from the beginning and early days of the Velvets journey.
Known in the beginning as `Andy Warhol's Velvet Underground,' (the book begins with a classified ad that Warhol placed offering to associate his name with products, bands, etc, in the New York area), the band made their name largely by playing `events' rather than mere concerts, that revolved around places like Warhol's loft parties and Steve Paul's NY club, The Scene.
While this volume's focus is primarily on the early days of the band, there is also an updated interview with the VU's Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker (the band's Sterling Morrison has since passed away while Reed and John Cale remain somewhat distant) as well as an extensive band chronology which adds the perspective of time to the mix. Several of the other reprinted articles and interviews (from Lester Bangs and others) provide a window into many of the thoughts of the band at the time of their ascent (Beatles, good - Zappa, bad.)
Kugelberg's research and rendering give way to a feeling that given the highly visual nature of rock'n'roll - and the notion of rock music as art, that there are many groups who would benefit from the almost catalog raisonne nature of this book. Hopefully, this will be a harbinger of things to come.

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The Velvet Underground is an astonishing assembly of rare objects and artworks and the first book of its scale to document the formative years of the band Time Out magazine named the greatest New York musicians of all time. From never-before-seen photographs of the band's first live show in New York to Andy Warhol's cover and poster designs, Lou Reed's handwritten music and lyrics, underground press clippings and controversial reviews, flyers, handbills, and posters, the materials here comprise a uniquely comprehensive survey of the first rock group ever to transcend the genre and embrace underground popular culture. Including a conversation recorded especially for the book between founding members Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker, this beautifully illustrated book is the first to present a definitive picture of the band's genesis and development in the extraordinary New York scene of the mid- to late-1960s.

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