The Velvet Underground

Though The Velvet Underground were critically and commercially unsuccessful in their time, in ensuing decades they have become a constant touchstone in art rock, punk, post-punk, indie, avant pop and alternative rock. In the 1970s and 80s Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico produced a number of works that traveled a path between art and pop. In 1993 the original band members of Reed, Cale, Morrison and Tucker briefly reunited for live appearances, and afterwards Reed, Cale and briefly Tucker, continued to produce music that travelled the idiosyncratic path begun in New York in the mid-1960s. The influence of the band and band members, mediated and promoted through famous fans such as David Bowie and Brian Eno, seems only to have expanded since the late 1960s. In 1996 the Velvet Underground were in inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, demonstrating how far the band had traveled in 30 years from an avant-garde cult to the mainstream recognition of their key contributions to popular music. In these collected essays, Pattie and Albiez present the first academic book-length collection on The Velvet Underground. The book covers a range of topics including the band's relationship to US literature, to youth and cultural movements of the 1960s and beyond and to European culture - and examines these contexts from the 1960s through to the present day.

Sean Albiez is an Independent Scholar and musician. He has published on electronic music, music technology, punk and post-punk. He is currently researching topics in electronic music history and has thirty years experience lecturing in popular music at UK universities and colleges. He is co-editor of Kraftwerk: Music Non Stop (2011) and Brian Eno: Oblique Music (2016), and Contributing Editor (Music Technology) for the Bloomsbury Encyclopedia of Popular Music of the World. He produces electronic music as ghost elektron and - with Martin James - as Nostalgia Deathstar. David Pattie is Senior Lecturer in Drama and Theatre Arts at the University of Birmingham, UK. He researches and publishes in a number of areas; popular music performance and culture, contemporary British and Scottish theatre, and the work of Samuel Beckett. He is the author of Rock Music in Performance (2007), and the co-editor of the books Kraftwerk: Music Non Stop (2011) and Brian Eno: Oblique Music (2016).

Contributors Introduction Sean Albiez (Independent Scholar, UK) and David Pattie (University of Birmingham, UK) 1.Saved by Rock and Roll: The Velvet Underground In and Out of History Jeffrey Roessner (Mercyhurst University, USA) 2. The Velvet Underground and the Networks of Sound, Vision and Words of the Fertile Transatlantic Crescent 1965 - 1967 Johnny Hopkins (Solent University, Southampton, UK) and Martin James (Solent University, Southampton, UK) 3. Andy Warhol Films, The Velvet Underground and Nico Glyn Davis (University of St Andrews, UK) 4. 'The Riskiest Kind of Writing Available': Lou Reed, Grove Press and the Literary Underground Thom Robinson (Newcastle University, UK) 5. The Velvet Underground and Musical Archetypes Julijana Papazova (European Scientific Institute, Spain) 6. Lou Reed's Great American Novel Peter Griffiths (East Midlands, UK) 7. Nico, Captain of Her Own Ship: Cultural Accreditation and Mid-60s Experimental Rock Mimi Haddon (University of Sussex, UK) 8. European Son: 'Europe' in Nico, Cale and Reed's Long-1970s Solo Work Toby Manning (Independent Scholar, UK) 9.'I'll be Your Mirror': The Velvet Underground as the legacy of Ziggy Stardust Johnny Hopkins (Solent University, Southampton, UK) and Martin James (Solent University, Southampton, UK) 10. What Caroline Says: Berlin, 1973 and 2006 David Pattie (University of Birmingham, UK) 11. Unfrozen Borderlines: Nico, John Cale and Brian Eno at the Berlin Nationalgalerie Sean Albiez (Independent Scholar, UK) and Timor Kaul (Independent Scholar, Germany) 12. Noise Annoys: Lou Reed's Metal Machine Music Mark Goodall (University of Bradford, UK) 13. The Velvet Underground is a Jonathan Richman Song Cibrán Tenreiro Uzal (Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, Spain) 14. 'It's Not That I Don't Want to Play Your Favourites': Lou Reed, Improvisation, and Performance David Pattie (University of Birmingham, UK) 15. Portrait of the Artist as Andy Warhol: Lou Reed and John Cale's Songs for Drella Elizabeth Ann Lindau (California State University, Long Beach, USA) 16. The Late Musical Voice: John Cale and Lou Reed in the 21st Century Sean Albiez (Independent Scholar, UK) Discography - The Velvet Underground and Solo Works Discographical and Musical Works References Film, Television and Radio References Index