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Seeing the Light: Inside the Velvet Underground
With exclusive new interviews from the band, this is a captivating account of one of the most influential groups in rock history.
Brian Eno famously said “the first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.” Perhaps no other musicians can claim such limited chart success and so enduring a musical legacy as The Velvet Underg...more
Brian Eno famously said “the first Velvet Underground album only sold 10,000 copies, but everyone who bought it formed a band.” Perhaps no other musicians can claim such limited chart success and so enduring a musical legacy as The Velvet Underg...more
Hardcover, 320 pages
Published
March 27th 2012
by St. Martin's Press
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Seminal rock band Velvet Underground are dissected from the musician's individual upbringings to their interesting trajectories.
I came at this book as a huge fan of the VU, so the book helped me fill in the backstory, and some of the unique circumstances with each recording. You begin to see how their personalities converged or collided at different times, for instance Lou Reed's dismissal of Nico when she has a modicum of success. You also see just how unlikely all the recordings were..and sadl...more
I came at this book as a huge fan of the VU, so the book helped me fill in the backstory, and some of the unique circumstances with each recording. You begin to see how their personalities converged or collided at different times, for instance Lou Reed's dismissal of Nico when she has a modicum of success. You also see just how unlikely all the recordings were..and sadl...more
SPOILERS! Maybe you want to read this after you've had a go at the book.
I could have done with a bit less hyperbole about what a vital band the VU were. I know. That's why I picked up the book. Steve Sesnick, manager of the band after they parted ways with Warhol, is made out to be the band-guy in this story, and he most likely is. But Jovanovic makes the point a couple of times that this was a band that never talked to each other, and personality conflicts were allowed to fester, creating the p
...more
I picked this up as it was in the library as I thought I'd like to read something about one of my favourite bands. This may be one of my favourite bands, reader. But this was not one of my favourite books.
Sample line to sum up the quality of the writing:
"The summer of 1967 has become known as the Summer Of Love, but there wasn't much love in the Velvet Underground camp." Come on, man.
It is a bit of a hack job, and rather than giving you any insight into what made the Velvets great, it just trots...more
Sample line to sum up the quality of the writing:
"The summer of 1967 has become known as the Summer Of Love, but there wasn't much love in the Velvet Underground camp." Come on, man.
It is a bit of a hack job, and rather than giving you any insight into what made the Velvets great, it just trots...more
The Velvet Underground "...were the perfect blend of art and rock..." "..they were like nothing anyone had even seen before," says Rob Jovanovic in "Seeing the Light inside the Velvet Underground." They were more than music they were an explosion of light on the stage. But what were they really like? John Cale remembers in this book "Paul Morrissey and Danny Williams had different visions of what the light show should be like and one night I looked up to see them fighting, hitting each other in...more
A fair, chronological, and factual look at the history of the Velvet Underground. I enjoyed the discussion of the Pre-Warhol days (not covered in other accounts like Please Kill Me) and the equal treatment given to the VU albums after Nico and Cale left. That equal treatment also becomes a fault as plenty of time is given to Doug Yule and his version of the band with no original members. I'll give Jovanovic credit for not trying to crack the nut that is Lou Reed, but the book felt a little unfoc...more
Despite the numerous spelling errors/typos in my copy, I enjoyed the story of one of the greatest American bands of all time. Yes, Lou Reed is kind of an asshole. This isnt exactly news. Hearing that John Cale once played a piece of Ravel's almost 200 times was news to me. And furthered my appreciation for such a unique, unparalleled, combination of people.
*Disclosure: I received this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.*
This has to be one of the most engrossing non-fiction books I've read in a long time. It was fascinating just how it was written, giving you the pertinent information about each of the band members without delving into their individual lives too much. The real story is the relationship between the various members, and how it changes in relation to their music over the time they were together. How much went into their music...more
This has to be one of the most engrossing non-fiction books I've read in a long time. It was fascinating just how it was written, giving you the pertinent information about each of the band members without delving into their individual lives too much. The real story is the relationship between the various members, and how it changes in relation to their music over the time they were together. How much went into their music...more
An extra proofread or two would have helped this book a lot-- some topic sentences are repeated almost verbatim in certain chapters. Overall, a factual, interesting look at the Velvet Underground's rise from unknown bar band to cultural icon.
In reading this I realized that there was a lot I did not understand about the 60s and 70s. Being a teenager in the 60s, I thought most of it was about peace and love. But I see that there was a whole world I did not see. If you are interested in the time period then you should read this. If you love the band, then definitely read this.
A bit on the breezy side for such a dark band, but informative. This, one of the greatest of bands, deserves better. Very little in the way of critical analysis.
You need to be a die-hard fan of the Velvet Underground to enjoy Seeing the Light. It is described as "An absorbing account...", but although it was written in depth, it lacked anything that urged me to keep reading. I received this book through a Goodreads giveaway, thinking I would thoroughly enjoy The Velvet Underground's story. Unfortunately I felt it was not well told. It needs major editing.
May 07, 2013
Marcus Roberson
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Jan 25, 2013
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Dec 29, 2012
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