The Velvet Underground: Rock’s Greatest Hitless Band

Jewish singer and songwriter Lou Reed was one of the founding members of The Velvet Underground, which forged new territory in the second half of the 1960s with their unprecedented blend of rock with avant-garde music and taboo-breaking lyrics. Rock historian Richie Unterberger, author of the book White Light/White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day-By-Day, spotlights their 1966-1970 unconventional heyday with rare audiovisual material in this program on this experimental band that has a bigger cult following now than any other rock group. 

Author and rock historian Richie Unterberger presents and discusses film clips of their incomparable songs, which blend rock, blues, jazz, and classical music with daring poetic lyrics. Richie Unterberger is the author of numerous rock history books, including volumes on the Beatles, the Who, the Velvet Underground, Bob Marley, and 1960s folk-rock. He teaches courses on rock and soul music history at several Bay Area colleges. His latest book, San Francisco: Portrait of a City, was published by Taschen earlier this year.