Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground

by Dylan Jones

Drawing on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, filmmakers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, this definitive oral history celebrates not only the impact of The Velvet Underground but their legacy, which burns brighter than ever in the 21st century.
 
Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen—whether it be the 1960s or the 2020s—The Velvet Underground represents ground zero.

Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang around a psychedelic rock and roll band—a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol’s Factory—The Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up. They never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense they invented punk and then some. It could even be argued that they invented modern New York.

Drawing on interviews and material relating to all major players, from Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, Andy Warhol, Jon Savage, Nico, David Bowie, Mary Harron, and many more, award-winning journalist Dylan Jones breaks down the band’s whirlwind of subversion and, in a narrative rich in drama and detail, proves why The Velvets remain the original kings and queens of edge.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, History, Biography, Art, Audiobook, Pop Culture

400 pages, Hardcover

First published December 1, 2023

Reviews

[Vivian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The original protopunk band.

Lou Reed and John Cale experimentation phase promoted and encouraged by Andy Warhol. The interviews and direct quote show the wild intersections occurring during the mid-sixties onwards.

John Cale — Betsy Johnson
Nico — Jim Morrison

This book actually makes one want to create. The art forms mentioned here might not be your playground, but the discussion of craft is exciting. And if you’re worried about everything you do being derivative, well, one word—Warhol. I always thought his art was schlock, but, I have to admit he really created an art incubator at the Factory.

[T]he original Velvets, a unit preternaturally devoted to transgression. For them, staking a claim for the avant-garde in the pop canon was not simply about altering the narrative but unraveling conceptions of wha the avant-garde could be.

I suspect that if you’re ever in the perfect mood to play The Marble Index, then it’s probably the last thing you should be playing.”— Dorian Lynskey reviewing for the Guardian.

Nick Kent: The only two hits that Lou Reed ever had were “Walk on the Wild Side” and “Perfect Day,” proper mainstream hits, produced with great elegance by David Bowie.

—later various quotes pointed out Mick Ronson’s arrangement work as being pivotal.

This book is based on interviews and you will be reading quotes from contemporaries at the time, with context given, but needless to say, if you don’t like reading transcripts than this might be a miss for you. I am actually interested in listening to some of John Cales music after reading these descriptions.

I’m so far behind in posting any reviews of my 2024 books that this is abridged, but I hope gives a fair understanding of the material.

[Stewart Tame · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been a fan of the Velvet Underground for a long time, ever since hearing “Venus In Furs” on the local college radio station back in the mid 80's. Technically, the first song of theirs I ever heard was Bauhaus’ live version of “I'm Waiting for the Man.” But the point is: I've been into them for a while.

While I've read a few things about them over the years, this is the first full-on history of the band I've checked out. Sure, I've read a biography of Lou Reed before, but the rest of the band, and their early association with Andy Warhol, are of equal importance to the story.

And it's not just the VU. Jones also touches on some of the various solo releases from Reed, Cale, and Nico, and just generally follows the post breakup trajectories of everyone involved. He touches–too briefly for my liking because I particularly love the album–on the Reed/Cale Songs For Drella album, and the all too brief Velvets reunion of the 90's.

There was one point I happened to notice that showed a dismaying lack of research, or at least of access to a map. The band were driving back to New York from a performance in Cleveland, and were stopped by state troopers “... in the middle of Ohio …” As someone born in Cleveland, and who grew up in the area, I happen to know that any reasonable journey from there to New York isn't going to pass anywhere close to the middle of the state. Poetic license, I suppose.

Overall, I found the book riveting. If you have no interest in the subject matter, I suppose you wouldn't care for it. If you've any familiarity with the Velvet Underground, though, it is most definitely recommended!

[Trio · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dylan Jones’ recent release Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground is a must for fans of VU, Warhol, Bowie, and NYC punk scene of the 1980’s. Centered heavily on Andy and his Factory crew, Loaded is a winner for me.

Jones does focus quite a bit on Lou and John - in fact, there were scads of new stories I’d never heard before. The secondary sources are extremely vast (talk about everyone getting their fifteen minutes of fame lol). I enjoyed how Jones weaves together all the input from the various players.

As far as the audio version is concerned, it is super fun listening. I got a kick out of how Dylan Jones and Robert G. Slade make up unique voices for each of the players. Though I have a feeling I might have missed out on viewing the pictures which I’m sure accompanied the print version of Loaded.


an audiobook copy of Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of The Velvet Underground was provided by Hachette Audio, Grand Central Publishing, via NetGalley, for the purpose of my honest review, all opinions are my own

[Catherine Victor Simpson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Thanks to NetGalley and Grand Central publishing for an advanced audio copy of this book.
Loaded is the comprehensive history of musical pioneers of the punk rock movement of the Bank The Velvet underground, its members and those that surrounded them.
I have to be honest being a child of the 90s I had never even heard of the band and I'm usually quite versed in history but I guess seeing as this is one of those music genres I'm not too familiar with this type of things happen. Having said that once I started listening to the book I had heard of some of these people in and out of the band.
The book is well narrated although at times did feel like a history textbook. It might have to do with the way ots written in third person. It is not a memoir, although there are clips here and there of certain people using direct quotes which proved quite colourful. Overall an interesting read especially for those who loved and know the band but even for those like me who wish to know more.

[James Marshall · Rating 1 out of 5]

The firt person interviews are interesting (although some are definetly mis-quoted, Danny Fields has no sister, Jac Holzman was not the Doors producer, he was president and owner of the record company, John Cale did not producer The Marble Index, he was the arranger, etc. etc. etc.) and its tone so snarking (from the Julie Birchill style of crap writing) that I felt the impulse to throw the book in the fireplace almost every paragraph. There's not that much left to say about the Velvets but there are some great never told stories that have yet to see the light (no, I'm not spilling) but Dylan Jones seems more concerned with trying to convince the reader he is c00l (I assure y0u, he is in no danger of ever being mistaken for cool) than doing research, or even fact checking. For the completist only...

[Ray Cullen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Such an annoying read. I ploughed through just to get rid of the damn thing. Badly written, edited and presented. It gives voice to the most tedious, narrasistic nobodies. Again and again and again as if it is some kind of injoke on the repetition of the sound of the early Velvets.
There is the occasional worthy insight and revelation but not enough to save this tripe. Decent commentary by Richard Williams and Danny Fields is drowned out by utter drivel of Mary Woronov, nick Kent and ( god help us all) Tony Parsons.
The author wanted to write about Andy Warhol but disguised it in a book pretending to be about the velvet underground. Utter shite.
Returned to the local library with extreme prejudice.

[Kristin · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed this, but it was disjointed and poorly edited. Errors everywhere, so much so that I had trouble deciphering the text. Some quotes were totally throwaway, too, like the one from Kurt Vile (the only one): Cooler than cool… or something to that effect. Was that necessary to include? I’m always frustrated by how little is said about Sterling Morrison and Moe Tucker. They were integral members of the group, but they’re always pushed aside by Nico, Cale and Reed. This book had a pretty heavy emphasis on Warhol, but that was just one aspect of their group. I would have liked to hear more from the people they influenced. A lot of the people mentioned, I also had never heard of. Some of them were associates, but others were inconsequential. One person mostly talked about her relationship with Malcolm McLaren, who really wasn’t that involved (if at all) with the Velvet Underground. I always enjoy the group’s story, even when I’ve heard it all before, but I think I’ve finally had my fill now.

[Trevor Seigler · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm calling an audible; on page 236 and giving up on this "oral history" that isn't nearly as interesting as a more straight-ahead biography of the Velvet Underground or Lou Reed would be. Dylan Jones has the makings of a great idea here (tracing the VU's history not just during their brief existence but after), but unless I'm missing something that will come together in the last 140 pages, I don't think this will live up to that. The worst book that I spent a good chunk of money on this year, and what sucks is that I *love* the Velvet Underground and have read much, much better books about them (Victor Bockris' "Up-Tight," as well as his biography of Lou, Anthony DeCurtis' bio of Lou, and even a Rough Guide to Music book devoted to the band and their solo projects). Beware, VU fans, because this is a waste of your time and money.

[Brady McLaughlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

There’s probably a good 200 page book in here with something to say. Alas, it’s about twice that length, so anything it’s trying to say either gets repeated into meaninglessness, or just lost in the haze.

[Martin Maenza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground will be published on December 5, 2023. Grand Central Publishing provided an early galley for review.

Earlier this year, I read the graphic novel All Tomorrow's Parties and did my first dive into the story of the Velvet Underground. Here, with Loaded I am going to learn a lot more about the band - from those who knew them and those who were influenced by them. The six-page list of who contributed to the book reads a who's who of music and entertainment. This one is an oral history, done in the style of a chapter starting narrative followed by statements and quotes from a variety of people. I liken this style of writing to that of a documentary transcript.

Jones gives a very detailed accounting of the band - from the establishment of Andy Warhol's Factory to the creation of the band itself, through the recording of several studio albums and many live performances, to the break-up and beyond. I found myself learning a lot more about the music that came from the members, both as a group and later as solo performers.

Definitely recommended for fans of music from this period (late 1960's through 1970's).

[Andrew Mossberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mostly liked the book, which is far more wide-ranging than its title suggests but barely touches on Mo Tucker and Sterling Morrison until near the end. Much of the book, though, seems to have a giddy obsession with Andy Warhol’s sexuality.

The book certainly paints a wide landscape of the whole scene that surrounded and fed and was fed by the Velvet Underground, and the very kind portraits it draws of Nico and also of Lou’s relationship with Laurie Anderson add to the appreciation for them both as artists and people who made use of their demons to create great art. Anyone already a fan of the members collectively or individually will find a lot to like in this book, as well as people interested in Warhol’s Factory.

[Annarella · Rating 5 out of 5]

Velvet Underground are a seminal rock band and this the best book I read/heard about them. Plenty of details, voices, facts.
It brought me back in time and let me know the artists since the beginning.
A great audiobook
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

[Coffee & Kindles · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review for Loaded by Dylan Jones
This is an amazing book, it puts the Velvet Underground in its importance in music history. There were the Beatles and the Velvet Underground as the most important influences in music. Bowie would not have done Ziggy if it was not for them and every punk and New wave act to come. The book has insight by the author and interviews with artists and people of the time. The book is great that it talks about all members and not just Lou. If you are a fan of music and its history you must have this book in your collection. I give 5 plus stars

[Bernard Laugen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 great oral history on the velvet underground, Andy Warhol, and the factory scene in general. I had written a lot more but good reads crashed in the middle of it, so this is it.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked hearing from all the different voices and perspectives throughout this book, and the narrator did a great job. It covers a long time frame and you really get to know many interesting characters: Andy Warhol, Nico, Lou Reed, and John Cage primarily, with a hefty dash of David Bowie.

[Chad Alexander Guarino da Verona · Rating 5 out of 5]

Dylan Jones unloads a fantastic oral history of the greatest band of all times, the Velvet Underground.
One might wonder, what more could be said about this highly mythologized, admired, influential band of avant-garde noise pioneers? Answer: let the band and their vast network of cohorts, colleagues, and admirers tell their story.
Excerpts from band members Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker, and Nico are joined by their manager Andy Warhol, David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Mary Woronov, Doug Yule, Danny Fields, and dozens of others who bore witness to the band's formation and rise in the late 60s, breakup and individual solo work, all the way to Reed's death in 2013 and their continued intrigue and legend.

A must for VU and music fans.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Grand Central Publishing and Netgalley**

[Hein Matthew Hattie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Getting Loaded with the Velvet Underground Experience

1. These two books are about people who listened to the Velvet Underground, but I'm not mentioned by name in either. Which seems like an oversight.

2. The problem with that, and with Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground, is that it's 350 pages of people saying, "They elevated art-rock." "They were really great."

3. Well, it's 100 pages of that, then 100 pages of rock journalists debating whether Lou Reed was mean to them a) because he was sensitive, or b) because he was mean. Also, the quote compiler, Dylan Jones, suggests that the VU invented both drugs and homosexuality.

4. But there's fifty worthwhile pages in there. And fifty out of 350 is fine if you're me, because: Velvet Underground and Andy Warhol. The day after Andy died, my high school science class lab partner painted her fingernails black in mourning. I couldn't have passed that class without her.

5. If I had been mentioned in The Velvet Underground Experience, there'd be a big cool black and white photo of me next to some beatnik handmade posters. It's a beautiful, beautiful book by Hat & Beard Press. It even smells terrific. I'll keep it forever.

6. This one admits and embraces focusing on early 1960s artists and radicals, rather than music. The VU plays their first show on page 112. Their last two albums (out of four) get sixteen pages. Bass player Doug Yule gets two pages, one page more than the Strokes. No mention of "Sweet Jane."

7. The Velvet Underground Experience is the coolest coffee table book I've opened this year. And Loaded is the fifth-best Velvet Underground book I've ever read. So far.

[tortoise dreams · Rating 3 out of 5]

Best quote about a rock band: "Only a thousand people bought the first Velvet Underground album, but every one of them started a group."

Loaded is a book (sort of) about that influential band. Subtitled "The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground," Dylan Jones here seems more interested, obsessed with even, in Andy Warhol and his coterie -- as if Jones had written a biography of Warhol, couldn't sell the thing, and so overhauled it as an account of the VU. Of course Lou Reed will get an outsize number of pages, he was the heart of the band. John Cale warrants even more space than given here. Even Nico, who sang lead on just three songs on one album, is worthy of a fair share of attention. But I wish more pages in Loaded had been devoted to the music, the songs, the sound, the albums, and the people who created it all instead of the hangers-on at the Factory. But if you're an Andy Warhol acolyte (and he deserves them) then this will please you no end. If you're looking for more on Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker, and the Yule brothers there's not as much as you might've hoped. There's not even enough good gossip, despite this being mostly an oral history, with periodic notes by Jones giving context and background. There's also a quite a few inaccuracies and incorrect facts (e.g., Jimmy Page did not replace Eric Clapton in the Yardbirds). Loaded is good enough for what it is, but a great band deserves a great biography. [3½★]

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.

Very good, although it should have been subtitled "the Life of the VU and Warhol" as there was as much about Andy's world as there was about music. (I would have preferred less of Warhol & his world and more exploration of Reed & Cale's post VU music.)

Two gripes: Like many (most?) oral histories there was too much repetition with multiple people's stories. And reading endless episodes of Reed's rudeness (especially to journalists) became tiresome.

[Barry Kennedy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some great detail but far too much about Andy Warhol. book felt it was about Andy Warhol and not the Velvets. Very repetitious.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

My thanks to both NetGalley and the publisher Grand Central Publishing for an advance copy of this new musical history on one of the greatest and most influential bands in the 20th century, a band that inspired many even as they were only together for a short time.

Shiny bits of leather. Sunglasses after dark. Breton shirts. A cacophony of sound, driving away audiences and causing promoters to drink to lost revenue. Those that stayed were changed in ways they never thought possible. A universe was ripped open by the white heat and white light the band gave off, one that burned so strong, it couldn't last long. And sadly it didn't. The Velvet Underground was the coolest band that ever was, one whose shadow influenced many from Bowie, to Iggy Pop to bands like the Strokes and more. The band was only together for a short time, shedding members as it went from everything, to nothing, but leaving a mighty wake, a mix of art, music, fashion, and the beginnings of glam, punk, and other music. Loaded: The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground by music journalist, historian and chronicler Dylan Jones is an oral history of the band, the members, the music, and many who were swept in the wake, or sailed on to this land and to that under the band's influence.

The book begins with a look at Velvet Underground's benefactor, banker and muse Andy Warhol, discussing the artist, his idea for the Factory where he produced and made money and the night after hearing the nascent band play, thought about representing getting into music. Without Warhol, there would have been no Velvet Underground and music would have been changed in myriad ways. The began began with a meeting between Lou Reed, a middle class kid from Long Island with a gift for music and writing, and a huge chip on his shoulder, and John Cale, a Welshman, son of a miner and a teacher who was a musical prodigy, along with having good looks and charm. For various reasons Reed had written a song that needed a band, and it was here that he met Cale, who moved into together to work on more music projects. Reed met a college buddy, Sterling Morrison, who played guitar and gave Reed a sounding board to work on his unique way of playing. After one drummer left Moe Tucker was brought in as drummer, who played standing up, with one mallet and one stick, and a strong sense of what a beat should be. Warhol took the band in, for 25% of the (small) profits, and added the singer Nico, a German chanteuse with an icy manner, that made the band memorable, but caused dissention. And this was a band that had a lot of dissention. And musical history began to be made.

I have long been a fan of the band since hearing the song Heroin played on after midnight radio show called For Headphones Only years and years ago. I could not get that song out of my head, the slow build the odd lyrics, the way it built and built. As a fan I have read a lot of books on the band, Lou Reed, Nico, John Cale, and even a graphic novel or 2, and a podcast on the band. This book though gets to the heart of the band, without repeating every story ever heard. Jones does a great job of getting fresh information, archival interviews, and his own knowledge to really do this band and it's legacy justice. So many different voices describing the scene, the music, familiar stories seen through different eyes, and a lot of different perspectives. What comes across most is that a lot of this band's history was based on the whims of some of the biggest players. Warhol had a whim to get into music. Lou woke up in a bad mood and decided to make everyone else have a bad news. After the break-up many years later, Reed decides hey let's do some songs. Jones really does a very good job of capturing these moments, along with finding new stories, and trying to answer a lot of unanswerable questions. One of the best books about the band I have read.

Recommended for fans of the band, or it's members without a doubt. This is a well-written and well-researched history that tells a lot about the band, without delving into the familiar. Music fans and cultural historians will also find it interesting with the look on art, and fashion that Jones goes into. A fantastic gift for the holidays for any music lover.

[Jesse · Rating 3 out of 5]

An engaging and often highly quotable account of the VU's short life and much longer afterlife in which probably 2/3 of the book covers what happened after the band broke up. It's a series of studies in relative gravity--Warhol v the band's sense of self; Reed v Nico; the whole band v Nico; Reed v Cale; Reed v pop; Reed v the avant-garde; Doug Yule v the band.

This just ramifies afterward: Reed v Bowie; Warhol (again) v the band's legacy; Reed v 70s punks (Johnny Rotten: "Sid [Vicious's] downfall was that he didn't get a chance to meet Lou Reed before he knew what he was doing. He would never have messed with heroin if he had seen what a vacuous fat slob Lou Reed really [became]"); Reed v pretty much every journalist in existence; Nico v her past; the band v its legacy; Reed v Cale, round 2. Most quotable lines: "David [Bowie] was a vampire, but a good vampire, he did something good with the blood." "Lou was a prime member of the awkward squad. He could lose a charm competition with Van Morrison." Jon Savage on the Velvets in the 80s, when it seemed like every cool indie band was somehow derived from or in conversation with their legacy: "the music was picked over until only the bare bones remained....And then, no one had any new ideas for about ten years." Gillian McCain on the trials of interviewing original Factory habitués about their contributions for Please Kill Me: "you have to let them go with it for a while. Lots of them just didn't have very good stories."

There's some great thinking and writing about how truly transgressive the band was in its time, how openly it embraced ugliness and marginality (as well as sporadic notes that Reed, as a middle-class kid, could always go home, so he approached his subjects more as a novelist than a full participant), though I would have loved more on the band's resonances in the 80s, when they became a standard part of the rock-history narrative, which of course Reed resented on general principles. After that, it's a bunch of long, slow, sad declines: first Nico, who never overcomes her drug addiction, then Sterling Morrison, who pursues an Algrenesque trajectory where he enters UT Austin's English PhD program (soft-selling his musical career as he does), takes 14 years to finish, and eventually works as a tugboat captain before dying fairly young of lymphoma. Lou and John reunite, briefly, and there are some charming anecdotes about Cale's family and Welsh roots. Moe Tucker, sadly, becomes a Tea Party nutter ranting ignorantly about Obama's policies--though Jones notes that the band itself was not necessarily liberal, so, as he essentially puts, what could you expect? Reed did become a mainstream liberal in the 80s and 90s, but several people note that Cale loved conspiracy theories, the content of which is not specified. I'm not going to look into that, given the heel turns of Eric Clapton and Morrison. Jones thanks Laurie Anderson, who seems like the person who wrestled Lou into some semblance of human generosity (as per usual, there are complaints from fellow rich people near the end about how cheap and kvetchy a neighbor he was), in the acknowledgements, but she's never quoted, so clearly she chose not to talk, perhaps recognizing that it's quite hard to avoid all of the usual questions.
Also: Nico's second album is already two-thirds of the way to being a cosmic-horror story. Why has no one written this?

[False · Rating 4 out of 5]

I mainly ordered this book from the library for my husband to read. We are both of the era where we owned Velvet Underground records, knew of their history—the Warhol connection-influence, the funding (Andy said he never made a penny off of their records,) the introduction of Nico, the ongoing curmudgeonly behavior of Lou Reed. Yet I knew I, too, would want to read this book, only to remember and refresh my memory. When you know a lot about a subject, you will find a lot redundant, there are usually one or two nuggets you weren’t aware of and following the deaths of so many of the featured players, it’s interesting how said death can free up silented tongues in the past. Such is it here.

I do think the author made too much of funerals Andy Warhol did not attend, nor Lou. In my experience, with family and friends, everyone has to arrive at their own decisions on what to do in such circumstances. It’s not a time for judgment on who should and should not have been there.

Things that did remind me, and reinforce for me, were the level of musicianship in John Cale. Lou was the one always shouting for the attention and spotlight while feeling contempt for his audience. I always thought of Cale as a serious musician and still do to this day. My current opinion of Lou Reed, especially in his later years, was of an over-indulged petulant child given to temper tantrums; not someone you would necessarily want to claim a relationship with unless you had a masochistic nature. He lived in comfort in New Jersey, travelled with an overscaled Asian sword to exercise with while traveling (can you imagine the wasted costs involved in transporting such a thing?) I still like some of Lou Reed’s songs. My heart still aches for Edie Sedgwick and Nico. One person said, regarding Nico’s death. She was a nice girl. She died riding a bicycle. Only nice girls die riding bicycles. There was something simplistically sweet about that comment , and for all of her need for drug-induced obliteration, what a horrible young life she had, growing up in World War II Nazi Germany. What’s Lou Reed’s excuse?

You’re getting snippets from this book as it is written as a gathered oral history. I was surprised Richard and Lisa Robinson weren’t interviewed. I listened to Nico singing “Femme Fatale” before writing this. It made me remember all of the ones chewed up and tossed aside in those decades. The folly of youth.

[Andrew]

I've wanted to read a book about the Velvets for a while. Without much scrutinizing on my own part, I recalled this title was at my local library and gave it a shot. Having read the author's book Bowie, I was familiar with his style and prepared for a similar approach.

With that said, I had reservations. My issue with Bowie was how Jones filtered the story through the direct quotes of his subjects, many of whom I found obnoxious. The same criticism applies with Loaded. Every so often I came across a quote in this book and wondered, did that need to be said? Did this quote serve a purpose? Did it shed light on anything, or offer a new understanding?

Granted, it's a creative idea to offer the story from the horse's mouth, so to speak; that is, assuming the people you're asking are central to the story being told. I will acknowledge that Jones mentions in the preface he interviewed these peripheral figures with the purpose of telling the story from that angle. But the story really takes some tangential turns. Jim Morrison is weirdly prominent in this book, for example, despite having very little to do with the Velvet Underground.

The structure is also a bit haphazard at times. While most of the book is a list of direct quotes, the author will occasionally go into exposition mode, writing a couple paragraphs in the style of a conventional biography. I wondered to myself why he included quotes within these sections as well, when he could have included them in the style of the rest of the book.

My favorite part of the book was the discussion of what Sterling did after he left the band, and the little anecdotes Reed, Cale and Tucker had about him surrounding his death. I just wished the rest of the book was more like that, quoting the members of the band talking about each other. Talking about their music, their lives. As is, many of the subjects here are so peripheral to the story that much of the book is focused on New York and Andy Warhol. We get it, you love New York; the rest of us are tired of hearing about it.

Overall, I was frustrated by how little of this book was actually about the Velvet Underground. The author seemed to introduce a thesis about how Lou Reed is misunderstood, but as many of the people quoted in this book hate him, it doesn't do much to convince me. Others are far more forgiving, but I tended to agree with the ones somewhere in the middle.

[Alexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

amazing, fantastic, can't recommend highly enough!!! this book brought me back to my senses. I had to put a two day embargo on reading the last couple of chapters because I wanted to savour it more. This isn't a tactic I've had to resort to in a long time!

Jones' editorial choices are so transparent, yet sophisticated. I think a problem with so-called 'oral histories' of music scenes is that they usually wind up being the last parasite standing putting down their own version of events, trying to make themselves the centre of events... Ahem... But what Jones' has done here is make it clear that he is consciously editing together bits and pieces of a scene we will never know the full picture of. He brings out a really vibrant image of the world around the band, and the people that were part of it, from so many conflicting perspectives.

Jones is not afraid to engage with the hard to define 'queerness' of the subject. So refreshing to not get the usual "just ignore it or make a joke of it" approach or the awkward, tentative 'correct' categorisation approach. Honestly, I'd love to see more of that spirit in the world today...

This was also one of the rare books I've read about this scene/people/music that really had much sensitivity at all about addiction. Of course, there were some of the crazy stories you'd expect in there, but it wasn't the 'true sordid tales of rock n' roll'.

And really, kudos to anyone who dares to tackle Maureen Tucker's current political trajectory... Rather you than me

[Erica B · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was keen to read this after getting an audio ARC from NetGalley. I had roommates in my first year of university who were into Lou Reed and the kind of Factory vibe, so I dabbled in the music and knew of The Velvet Underground, but I didn't know a lot. So was intrigued to hear more.

This book I guess from the cover is meant to be more of an oral history. It felt like the author was trying to do Daisy Jones, but non-fiction. And that's what didn't do it for me. Because it was actual facts it didn't fit as well to try and find the quotes one needed to drive the story. Instead it felt like a jumble of information randomly thrown together. As an audiobook, I also found it hard to keep who was speaking in the blurbs straight. The author reads parts and then there's a narrator who does do different voices for the characters, but since I didn't connect the voices as something I could recognize each one, I also sometimes missed when it said who it was. So maybe this would be better in paper where you'd have the name by the quote right there to help remember whi said what.

I did find bits of it interesting and did learn more about the band - and a whole lot more. However if I were one who DNF'd I may have DNG'd this one. It was relatively long and without a clear story arc, I did not look forward to reading it. But I didn't give up, and overall it has some merit. May be better if you're a die hard fan, not with just a tangential interest wanting to learn more.

Thanks to NetGally for the audio ARC.

[AnnieM · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book which is an oral history of the band the Velvet Underground told through people who were part of the band, part of the scene, and/or were heavily influenced by them. I have read other histories about the band including John Cale's autobiography, Nico's autobiography, Warhol's biography, and even a beautifully done Graphic Novel on the band (reviewed previously in my list). So coming in to the book, I felt like I knew a fair amount about the rise and fall of the band and the fall-out between Lou Reed and John Cale, but this book provided a lot of new insights and information through its comments of a variety of people, including Laurie Anderson who was married to Lou Reed. We learn about David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Bryan Ferry, Debbie Harry, the Talking Heads, Jonathan Richman, and others along the way. We also hear from Mary Harron, who directed "I Shot Andy Warhol." This is not a book you need to read in one-sitting, but I really looked forward to picking it up each time I did. This book is a must read for fans of the Velvet Underground, Andy Warhol, and the NYC music scene during the 1960's and beyond. I highly recommend this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Grand Central Publishing for an ARC and I voluntarily left this review.

[Alexis Lopez · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a wonderful and accurate depiction of the stance of an artist (Lou Reed), the value of beauty, the magic of art & capitalism colliding. It showed how unapologetic NYC was during the 60s being full of: sex, intelligence, great songs, drugs, dirt, the desire for more, sunglasses 24/7, hating LA.

I resonated with Lou Reed seeking out the outskirts and alternative scenes of society as a kid who also grew up in a "average" environment as he did. It made me reflect why I seek out these people, values, music, and art that may not be conventional. They provide an escape that I never had growing up while showing me how weird, unique, and yet how beautiful the world can be in its weird way.

I will admit by the time it got to 80s-00s it did lose steam. The author seemed more focused on Andy Warhol and his final years then the members of the Velvets. I think this is more due to the fact the members calmed down and became more settled into society by then. By the end however it was clear just how impactful the velvets were.

Most of the music I listen to today would not exist or be completely different if these misfits never banded together. For that I think this book will forever hold a soft spot in unveiling the curtain these weird yet beautiful people put up.

[Shan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thanks to Grand Central for giving me this book upon publication. In return, my honest review...
This book was misrepresented... It should be titled The Life (of VU) but mostly Warhol. If I wanted to read a book about Warhol, I would have picked one. Instead I was hoodwinked into reading about Warhol with a little bit of VU history. Blah.
The biggest mistake was VU getting Warhol as manager. Narcissistic junkies cannot be "managed" and VU was "loaded" with said folks. Lou Reed was a horrible person but super talented musically. Nico was a total fantasy come to life for Warhol and I think he wanted more out of her than she could ever give him. She's a tragedy. Truly.
I have read a couple books on VU that were leaps and bounds better than this one. The only thing that made this one palatable was the "oral history" layout of the narrative.
Mostly a waste of time. Pick another book on the Velvets if you want to be entertained.

[Cecily · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever read a music biography before and I'm only a passive fan of the Velvet Underground, but I really loved this. It's like a social and cultural history of New York, and deep dived into the leading characters of the era. Not just Lou Reed and John Cale, but Andy Warhol and David Bowie and other key individuals on music history. I think the way it presents Nico and the racism she espoused versus her troubled life was sensitively done, and as a whole its presentation of the big characters was nuanced and exploratory. The book is structured around interviews of people who knew and who were influenced by the Velvet Underground, so you get a range of opinions as well. It also has a big emphasis on highlighting the queerness of VU and the New York scene. A really great intro for me on a period I'm not super familiar with.