Guest: Richie Unterberger, author of Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground

In this episode of Reading Is Funktamental, we are joined again by Richie Unterberger, one of the most productive and insightful authors of rock history books, to discuss his latest, a complete history of the Velvet Underground.

Blending new archival insights and first-hand accounts, Richie Unterberger illuminates the band’s radical global impact on New York’s progenitors of punk, who bridged pure rock’n’roll, avant-garde experimentation and literary songwriting to take rock music into previously uncharted territory. Beginning with each member’s path to the band, it details their influences, successes and (many) failures, the whirlwind with Warhol, the triumph of the Banana album, the fractured and strained relationships and egos, and beyond to the end of the Velvets and the beginnings of various solo careers.

Rigorously researched and packed with previously undocumented insights, this book features firsthand interviews with the group’s associates, as well as a substantial amount of material newly unearthed from the Lou Reed Archive and the Andy Warhol Archive, as well as never-before-seen images and ephemera.

An entertaining and exhilarating narrative, Do What You Fear Most vividly captures the grit and uninhibited creativity of the 1960s New York cultural scene and is an essential portrait of one of the 20th century’s most visionary and influential bands. For more, read my review of this great book over at PopMatters: https://www.popmatters.com/velvet-underground-richie-unterberger  

"Reading is Funktamental" is a monthly one-hour show about great books written about music and music-makers. In each episode, host Sal Cataldi speaks to the authors of some of the best reads about rock, jazz, punk, world, experimental music, and much more. Occasionally, the host is joined by notable musicians who have written about their careers. Recent guests have included eccentric British singer-songwriter Robyn Hitchcock, Roxy Music’s Phil Manzanera, Traffic co-founder Dave Mason, and Moon Zappa. Expect a great conversation and a playlist of great music to go with it.

Sal Cataldi is a musician and writer based in Saugerties. He is best known for his work with his genre-leaping solo project, Spaghetti Eastern Music, and is also a member of the ambient guitar duo, Guitars A Go Go, the poetry and music duo, Vapor Vespers, the jazz ensemble Hari Karaoke Trio of Doom and the quartet, Spaceheater. His writing on music, books and film has been featured in The New York Times, Rolling Stone, PopMatters, Seattle Times, Huffington Post, Inside+Out Upstate NY, and NYSMusic.com, where he is the book reviewer.