I found myself wanting more! Which is not something I usually say about nonfiction. Definitely a little gem in the musical biography world! WOuld recommend!

While it’s probably an exaggeration to say The Velvet Underground changed my life, they kind of did. Before coming across The Gift while riffling through my dad’s record collection, my musical taste was very much dictated by whatever was on Top of the Pops that week (yes, I’m old!). Afterwards, I’m not sure I tuned in again. Instead of being a somewhat passive listener, I became an ardent fan – of the Velvet Underground and lots of other guitar driven bands. I started searching out music rather than waiting for it to come to me. I made friends with people who loved the same music. And gigs vs. nightclubs became my social life. This might have happened without the Velvet Underground, but I kind of doubt it.

Reading about your heroes is always a tricky business. You might find out things that you didn’t know that make you love them more. Or you might found out they are not very nice human beings, putting you off them for ever. I found out plenty about the forming of the band in The Velvet Underground, most of which I didn’t know. And I gained a real insight into what it was like in the late 60’s in New York.

Both were fascinating. I don’t think I’d realised quite how quickly the band formed and fell apart, though I knew it was tumultuous. I did know that much of this chaos was down to Lou Reed, which his laid out in the book. There is a lot of Lou in here. That makes sense but I would have liked to get to know the rest of the band a bit more.

And I think that there was plenty of space in the book to do this because it was a really easy read. I’m not downplaying the book or the author by saying that – it is a compliment – the style is effortless and Chris Roberts obviously knows his stuff. It feels like it was written by a fan, one who loved his subject matter. But because of that, I think it could have gone further into who the rest of the band were.

Instead, the focus was too much on Lou Reed. It felt like his biography, not the bands. It’s a negative but it didn’t stop me really enjoying the book. It’s left me wanting more though, not completely satisfied. 4 out of 5 stars.

It''s an informative and fascinating book about one of the most important rnr bands of the late 60s.
Their stories, the members of the band, the factory, Wahrol.
It's not easy to write a good book that talks about all this topics and not writing a thousand pages. The author delivers a compact, well researched, and interesting biography.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I could never describe myself as a fan of The Velvet Underground or even of Lou Reed although I do own 1 album of each in my vinyl collection. This book was therefore quite good for someone like me to be able to gain more of an understanding as to what they were all about as well as what was going on in their world at the time. The author certainly seems to know his stuff coming across as being genuinely knowledgeable about the personalities within the band as opposed to regurgitating 2nd hand tales and hearsay. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and publisher for my advance review copy of this most enjoyable and informative book.

A short, slim book that echoes the Velvet Underground’s short lifespan and describes their lasting influence.
Sadly, I wasn’t one of those who formed a band after hearing the Velvets. As Brian Eno once opined that ‘although not many people bought a record by the Velvet Underground, whose formative incantation burned brightly but briefly, all those who did formed a band.’ But yes, I did feel part of ‘generation of outsiders,’ when I first heard them aged 14. As one of the band says’ we stood for everything kids loved and parents hated.’ My dad hated them.
I saw Todd Haynes documentary on them at last year’s London Film Festival and marvelled how such a disparate group of people ever came or collided together. Doo-wop, the avant garde, sexual confusion, rage, creativity and a determination to do it their way. And of course, the presence and support of Andy Warhol who was ‘stuffed into a Kroger’s shopping bag and (a friend) took him to New York.’ He and the Velvets cashed together. They became part of his Factory entourage and encountered other Factory regulars such as Billy Name, Brigid Berlin, Ondine and the original 60’s Warhol superstar Edie Sedgwick. Although I knew much of the story of the Velvets, this book did fill in a few blanks for me.
The tensions in the group are explored. With such powerful personalities and backgrounds these were inevitable. Nico was resented and ‘the lunacy’ left with Cale’s departure. The recording engineer refused to listen to ‘Sister Ray’ and left them to it but with the addition of Doug Yule they went onto record ‘Loaded’ and some of their most loved songs such as ‘Sweet Jane’ and ‘Rock and Roll’. Although they were dubbed as The Velveteen Underground by the time nearly everyone had left.
The book also discusses the reunions; in 1972 in Paris and the 1994 tour – I was there as I knew it would never happen again. Also did they influence Goth? Certainly, they looked the part in black and with shades in the mid 60s’ as peace and love and flowers in your hair engulfed the world.
There are also track listings of their albums as well as a section on their solo careers which produced fascinating, intriguing work. Lou Reed and John Cale collaborated again on ‘Songs for Drella’ an album about Any Warhol or as Cale put it’ reporting on how misfits get together and create art.’
Which could sum up the Velvet Underground. A great book – the author interviewed Lou Reed 3 times and accidentally sat on Nico’s coat at a gig - I felt that he was a genuine fan.
My thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an ARC.

There are few pieces of music so arresting that I remember when I first heard them; but Sister Ray by The Velvet Underground is one of them. It was playing loud and my first reaction was, what is this wall of noise? It gripped me though and I realised that this was a group like no other, pushing at the boundaries of music and acceptability.

Chris Roberts, author of this study and reflection on the group, has a couple of pages on the track, of which my favourite remark is that "Reed reports that engineer Gary Kellgren left the studio while the track was recorded, saying, 'I don't have to listen to this. I'll put in record and then I'm leaving. When you're done, hit that button and come get me."

It is this kind of detail that I enjoyed most about the book. Roberts is a journalist and musician who has written widely about rock music, and notes that he "interviewed the late Lou Reed three times" giving the book at times an immediacy that brings it to life.

What we get is a kind of biography of the band with all the key members described, including Andy Warhol, who created the environment in which the group could exist as well as giving direction to its earliest incarnation and supplying the iconic cover art for the first album. Roberts also gives detailed reviews of the four key albums, though he doesn't give that much attention to the many later releases.

In fact, he gives more attention to Lou Reed solo, and this is my slight grumble with the book, which should perhaps be entitled Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground. I would have gladly traded the material on Reed's solo career with more on the original band. The first half of the book is the best in my opinion.

Nevertheless this is a great read and I learned a lot. Roberts is well informed and insightful, even if at times the sweeping phrases like "it's a shaking, quaking ocean of shock and awe" are a tad lazy; this book is more about the story than the music, but it is such a s gripping story that this is a small complaint.

Recommended reading for anyone who wants to know more about this extraordinary band.

The Velvet Underground
by Chris Roberts

This book is an interesting exploration of the life and work of a fascinating band. I have always been intrigued by the Warhol studio and the projects arising from it. Therefore, I have always loved the velvet underground. I love how they simultaneously reflect and subvert their historical period. They have influenced many other artists, including David Bowie and REM. This book looks at their history by exploring the making of their albums. It is a useful primer for anyone who wishes to get to know this influential group.

Chris Roberts has created a small but perfectly formed biography of The Velvet Underground, one of the most inscrutable bands ever. Loud, rough, atonal; influential and iconoclastic. There aren’t enough words to do the band justice.
Having personally met and interviewed Lou Reed three times, and even once accidentally sat on Nico’s coat, Roberts is eminently qualified to write this book, and it is an informative and sometimes shocking joy to read.
Contemporary photographs and ephemera set the scene, whilst archive and personal interviews with the band, many conducted by the author, offer an insight into the minds of the band members - Lou Reed (grouchy), Cale (Welsh), Moe Tucker (sensible), Sterling Morrison (the quiet one).
There is no shortage of books about The Velvet Underground, but few are as enjoyable as Chris Roberts’ one - it has the feel of a work by an insider. Knowledgable, drugged-up and funny as heck, this book is indispensable.

A sensational history of the Velvet Underground, one of my favourite bands, and a Sixties band that featured Lou Reed and Nico, and some other band members. The connection to Andy Warhol is explained, and I learned a lot about the Velvets that I did not know before. I enjoyed listening to their music and now this book has increased my enjoyment. Highly recommended, especially for fans of the Velvets, but also for anyone who is interested in the alternative culture of the Sixties.