Take Off Your Wraparound Shades
Unterberger's approach is to build up from the factual details to convey their seismic, searing and hypnotic sound along with their enigmatic and extremely layered history. This approach allows readers to step back to observe and appreciate how this unlikely combination of misfit musicians and contrasting personalities somehow coalesced to create some of the most groundbreaking rock ‘n’ roll music of the 20th century. While providing the requisite coverage of founding members Lou Reed and John Cale, Unterberger equally recognizes the integral contributions of drummer Maureen Tucker, guitarist Sterling Morrison and multi-instrumentalist Doug Yule to make them a collective creative force. Extensive attention is also given to the Teutonic singer, model, actress Nico who hovers over the narrative like a spectral presence. Furthermore, Unterberger chronicles how the international, mixed-religion and mixed-gender musical aggregation crossed over to Andy Warhol’s Factory and the high art world during his peak Pop art years and became synonymous with the artist for more than 15 minutes. Unterberger skillfully balances the group’s two eras which yielded four official albums. Their first two albums were a riveting combination of Lou’s gritty literary style and "subway sound" guitar playing with John Cale’s avant-garde/classical background, allowing them to be the consummate ‘60s art-rock group that never proceeded in a predictable fashion. A transitional turn towards a more subdued and somewhat spiritual sound characterised their self-titled third album made after the versatile, yet much more conventional musician Doug Yule replaced John Cale. Still, their pivotal third album contains the surging “What Goes On” where the enthralling intertwined guitars take on the wonderful drone of what Lou Reed described as “1000 bagpipes.” They finished with Loaded, which was supposed to be loaded with "hits"-if one is to believe Lou Reed lore. Accordingly, Unterberger traces their trajectory from a band, when they were known as the Primitives and the Warlocks, who played for themselves to an act that played for Andy, Nico and the art world before arriving and finishing as a group who played for their audience.
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| L-R Nico, Andy Warhol, Maureen Tucker, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison, John Cale |
The author’s research is as deep as it’s vast as he draws upon recordings, film, publications, as well as his own discoveries derived from his research at the Lou Reed Archives at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in the Lincoln Center and Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum. He surveys their historical press coverage-ranging from from mostly dismissive and sometimes disparaging treatment they received as being part of Andy Warhol’s Exploding Plastic Inevitable (aka EPI or Andy’s traveling avant-garde multimedia happening) from the major metropolitan newspapers to the slightly more accepting critiques appearing in college newspapers. While Unterberger asserts that Warhol was instrumental in putting the group on the map, he also contends that VU began to outgrow Andy's spectacle and become an attraction in their own right. Nonetheless, Warhol would prove to be a lasting influence on VU and on Lou Reed in particular as he remained Lou’s mentor who challenged and encouraged Lou to continually write and work.
The Modern Lover
Unterberger also incorporates quotes from contemporaneous interviews culled from obscure underground publications like Cleveland’s The Buddhist Third Class Junkmail Oracle and the influential Fusion based out of Boston as well as later interviews with band members that appeared in '80s fanzines like What Goes On. One of his greatest strengths is his own interviews with those who were there and close to the band. Some of the most valuable commentary and insight comes from acolyte and musician Jonanthan Richman and Steve Nelson who managed the Boston Tea Party venue, where the band drew their largest following in Boston. Both offer lucid first-hand accounts of their live performances with Richman mentioning the group’s ongoing musical shapeshifting, versatility and range, and Nelson on their danceability. Unterberger is also inclusive of the essential audience perspective. Susan Pile, who went from a fan to working for Andy Warhol at the Factory during the late '60s, also provides acutely perceptive recollections throughout the book. Meanwhile, Tom Wishing, then a Notre Dame student from South Bend, shares a wonderful memory of meeting them after their show at the Quiet Knight in Chicago and reporting that they were not Andy’s menacing monsters, but were decent folk with even Lou being described as “friendly” and "humble.”
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| L-R: John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Lou Reed |
Unterberger recognizes that the band’s striking contrasts are now a major reason for the group's large and lasting appeal, while their unclassifiability hindered them during their active years as their label, MGM, misguidedly promoted them. Both on stage and in the studio the group transversed from over-the-top onslaught to a rarefied understated minimalism. Their sound was simultaneously commanding and charming, which is a rare combination then and now. As attested by Richman and other observers, they were a formidable live act who knew how to build intensity and had remarkable command of contrasts and dynamics. Their varied arrangements and Lou’s improvisational lyrics from performance to performance gave them the opportunity to be brilliant and make each live show a new experience. For these reasons, Unterberger provides almost an equal amount of coverage to the live recordings (both official releases and bootlegs) as he does their four studio albums and two revelatory compilations of previously unissued material released by Polygram during the mid-80s. Further, he also examines John Cale’s and Nico’s solo albums from the era that reveal additional dimensions. His overall approach to their recordings meets the needs of both novices, experts and many in-between listeners. As expected, Unterberger includes the critical, underground and popular reception of their official albums in the wake of their release. These reviews span from the then emerging wave of astute rock ‘n’ roll criticism like Crawdaddy and Vibrations that was just starting to percolate to blurbs in the music trade publications (Billboard & Cashbox) to even unexpected small-town newspaper outlets where their albums somehow reached and impacted the hinterlands.
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| VU 1969 L-R:Doug Yule, Maureen Tucker, Lou Reed, Sterling Morrison |
He also places the band in context of their times and interestingly considers them against two comparable music acts where antagonism ran both ways, even in the presence of some parallels and commonalities. Although not at all friendly with the Grateful Dead, both both bands partook in the practice of performing "lengthy improvisations on stage” and both were previously known as the Warlocks. VU and the Dead would also greatly benefit from being widely bootlegged with flourishing tape trading communities emerging in decades to come. Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention and the Velvet Underground were downright hostile to each other, but they shared the same label (MGM), producer (Tom Wilson) and bent towards the avant-garde.
There are a few aspects that could have been incorporated and a couple minor criticisms that did surface. One aspect I wished Unterberger covered was the Velvet Underground sharing a seemingly incongruous bill with Chicago (Transit Authority) at Hollywood’s Whisky A Go Go in October 1968. However, odd pairings were somewhat the order of the day in the late ‘60s, Chicago (CTA) was considered a progressive jazz pop group at the time and the show is covered in his aforementioned White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day book. In addition, the standard practice of endnotes would have served this book well and would have provided a resource for researchers. From time to time, Underberger does have the tendency to get a little too matter-of-fact and shouldn’t be afraid of bringing out his inner-Lester Bangs more often. As good as his granular details, Unterberger's writing gains momentum and takes flight when describing their music that spurs revisiting, relistening and reevaluation. For instance, Unterberger’s details regarding how the recording sessions for Loaded were loaded with problems are especially illuminating. He then proceeds to convey the essence of these mostly straight-ahead songs. Despite all the complications, the group arrives at their most accessible record with “fully rounded pop-rock harmonies” in their catalogue that acts as an entry point for new listeners as well as an enduring classic for long-time fans. Still, I have always appreciated that Unterberger keeps his writing music-centric and mostly objective in a world that is otherwise. If one wants more dirt and conjecture, there’s a towering stack of Lou Reed biographies readily available. Further, his chronological history is also not a hagiography, but an even-handed account on how they were on the vanguard of the ‘60s. As a journalist who values and trades in actual fact, Unterberger manages to keep their mystique intact with his careful handling and passion for their music.
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| L-R: Lou Reed, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison, Doug Yule |
Do What You Fear Most advances our understanding and admiration for what the group accomplished in the second-half of the ‘60s. It’s never something current listeners should take for granted because so many of the stones have been unturned and their music catalogue is now readily available. The proto-punk group were so ahead of their 1964-1970 time, it has required decades for their sounds of extreme contrasts and everything in-between to find their multi-generational audience. Overall, Unterberger provides readers and listeners with an even deeper and greater appreciation of a daring and courageous group who made music both endearingly human and startlingly original. In the end, the Velvet Underground created their own musical waves that continue to move forward today.
A version of this review was submitted for for possible publication in the fall 2025 (Volume 56, No.2) edition of the ARSC Journal.
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