The Velvet Underground and Nico

For several years, Continuum Publishing has been releasing books about albums as part of the "33 1/3" series. The series represents albums from across several genres, and the authors come from backgrounds just as diverse.

Joe Harvard's book on "The Velvet Underground and Nico" can easily be described as more pseudo-academic and less personal narrative. Rather than blathering on about how great the album is and his personal connection to the songs, Harvard takes a much more analytic approach to discussing the album. The book is divided into three major sections: the Setting, the Songs, and the Aftermath.

In "The Setting," Harvard provides some historical background on the band and how the album came to be recorded and produced. It was interesting to find out things like how exactly Andy Warhol was involved on the album as the "producer" (which was not much, although his influence was key to getting the album recorded) as well as how Nico became a member of the band. At times, when the chronology of when a certain song was written and recorded and re-recorded is unclear, the book can become a bit tedious - Harvard explains each and every scenario while acknowledging the contradictions and lack of support.

In "The Songs," Harvard breaks down the influences, history, music, and lyrics of each song from the album, one by one. Although each song is, ostensibly, given equal treatment, it's clear that the more significant songs are discussed with a little more passion and interest. Still, it is at this point that the book loses some of its objective veneer and some of the author's personal feelings sneak into the book.

The final section - "The Aftermath" - discusses the album's public reception and places the album in it's larger place within the history of rock music.

At times the attention to detail in the book interfered with the "bigger picture" that I was hoping for as a reader. Throughout the book, the author assumes that the reader already knows a bit about the band's history, the dynamics between the various band members, and the techniques used in producing the album. Although I did know some of these things, I felt like I "couldn't see the forest because of the trees" at some points - the details were too overwhelming. The author also references details on alternate takes and demo recording which are not widely available (and which are incredibly pricey when they are to be found), which became discouraging.

That being said, this book was very interesting. I appreciate the analytical approach to breaking-down the album. Too often, books of appreciation - such as this - become bogged down in the personal stories of the authors and the idolizing of those involved with the record. Though Harvard definitely treats those involved with an elevated level of artistic respect, it did not seem out of hand. Rather, it felt more like one artist respecting another artist's work. In any case, I've been inspired to read another book in the "33 1/3" series, eventually.