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The Life (and Afterlife) of the Velvet Underground
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Narrated by:
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Dylan Jones
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Robert G. Slade
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By:
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Dylan Jones
About this listen
Drawing on contributions from remaining members, contemporaneous musicians, critics, filmmakers, and the generation of artists who emerged in their wake, this definitive oral history celebrates not only the impact of The Velvet Underground but their legacy, which burns brighter than ever in the 21st century.
Rebellion always starts somewhere, and in the music world of the transgressive teen—whether it be the 1960s or the 2020s—The Velvet Underground represents ground zero.
Crystallizing the idea of the bohemian, urban, narcissistic art school gang around a psychedelic rock and roll band—a stylistic idea that evolved in the rarefied environs of Andy Warhol’s Factory—The Velvets were the first major American rock group with a mixed gender line-up. They never smiled in photographs, wore sunglasses indoors, and invented the archetype that would be copied by everyone from Sid Vicious to Bobby Gillespie. They were avant-garde nihilists, writing about drug abuse, prostitution, paranoia, and sado-masochistic sex at a time when the rest of the world was singing about peace and love. In that sense they invented punk and then some. It could even be argued that they invented modern New York.
Drawing on interviews and material relating to all major players, from Lou Reed, John Cale, Mo Tucker, Andy Warhol, Jon Savage, Nico, David Bowie, Mary Harron, and many more, award-winning journalist Dylan Jones breaks down the band’s whirlwind of subversion and, in a narrative rich in drama and detail, proves why The Velvets remain the original kings and queens of edge.
©2023 Dylan Jones (P)2023 Grand Central PublishingListeners also enjoyed...
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Story
Brilliant composer, smooth soul singer, killer drummer, and charismatic band leader Morris Day has been a force in American music for the past four decades. In On Time, the renowned funkster looks back on a life of turbulence and triumph, chronicling his creative process with an explosive prose that mirrors his intoxicating music. A major theme throughout the book is Morris' enduring friendship and musical partnership with Prince.
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Right on time
- By detroitdolly on 10-11-19
By: Morris Day, and others
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Set the Boy Free
- The Autobiography
- By: Johnny Marr
- Narrated by: Johnny Marr
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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An artist who helped define a period in popular culture, Johnny Marr tells his story in a memoir as vivid and arresting as his music. The Smiths, the band with the signature sound he cofounded, remains one of the most beloved bands ever and have had a profound influence on a number of acts that followed - from the Stone Roses, Suede, Blur, and Radiohead to Oasis, The Libertines, and Arctic Monkeys.
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The best autobiography I've ever read!
- By Lulu P. on 01-24-17
By: Johnny Marr
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Homer and His Iliad
- By: Robin Lane Fox
- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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The Iliad is the world’s greatest epic poem—heroic battle and divine fate set against the Trojan War. Its beauty and profound bleakness are intensely moving, but great questions remain: Where, how, and when was it composed and why does it endure? Robin Lane Fox addresses these questions, drawing on a lifelong love and engagement with the poem. He argues for a place, a date, and a method for its composition—subjects of ongoing controversy—combining the detailed expertise of a historian with a poetic reader’s sensitivity.
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Masterful!
- By J. C. Weaver on 01-08-24
By: Robin Lane Fox
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Crow Planet
- Essential Wisdom from the Urban Wilderness
- By: Lyanda Lynn Haupt
- Narrated by: Christine Williams
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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There are more crows now than ever. Their abundance is both an indicator of ecological imbalance and a generous opportunity to connect with the animal world. Crow Planet reminds us that we do not need to head to faraway places to encounter "nature". Rather, even in the suburbs and cities where we live we are surrounded by wild life such as crows, and through observing them we can enhance our appreciation of the world's natural order.
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Thought this would be better
- By K Dod on 09-08-20
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Leonard Cohen: The Man Who Saw the Angels Fall
- By: Christophe Lebold
- Narrated by: Vlasta Vrana
- Length: 19 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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After more than two decades of research and travels, Christophe Lebold, who befriended the poet and spent time with him in Los Angeles, delivers a stimulating analysis of Cohen’s life and art. Gracefully blending biography and essay, he interrogates the mission Cohen set out for himself: to show us that darkness is just the flip side of light.
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as much an analysis as a biography
- By Judy on 10-05-24
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He Knew He Was Right
- By: Anthony Trollope
- Narrated by: Nigel Patterson
- Length: 30 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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When Louis Trevelyan's young wife meets an old family acquaintance, his unreasonable jealousy of their friendship sparks a quarrel that leads to a brutal and tragic estrangement.
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Nigel Patterson as the narrator is great
- By NH on 10-31-16
By: Anthony Trollope
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Serving the Servant
- Remembering Kurt Cobain
- By: Danny Goldberg
- Narrated by: Danny Goldberg
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Danny Goldberg explores what it is about Kurt Cobain that still resonates today, even with a generation who wasn’t alive until after Kurt’s death. In the process, he provides a portrait of an icon unlike any that has come before.
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Good Perspective Danny but you left some stuff out
- By Amazon Customer on 07-12-19
By: Danny Goldberg
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The Great Successor
- The Divinely Perfect Destiny of Brilliant Comrade Kim Jong Un
- By: Anna Fifield
- Narrated by: Olivia Mackenzie-Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Anna Fifield reconstructs Kim's past and present with exclusive access to sources near him and brings her unique understanding to explain the dynastic mission of the Kim family in North Korea. The archaic notion of despotic family rule matches the almost medieval hardship the country has suffered under the Kims. Few people thought that a young, untested, unhealthy, Swiss-educated basketball fanatic could hold together a country that should have fallen apart years ago. But Kim Jong Un has not just survived, he has thrived.
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Great book
- By WPD on 06-26-19
By: Anna Fifield
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Martin Scorsese
- A Journey
- By: Mary Pat Kelly, Leonardo DiCaprio, Steven Spielberg
- Narrated by: Nancy Linari, P.J. Ochlan
- Length: 13 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Few filmmakers, if any, make the kind of impact that Martin Scorsese has made on American cinema. The winner of every prestigious film award, including the Oscar, Scorsese is a living legend. Bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker Mary Pat Kelly’s groundbreaking biography reveals how this working-class boy from Manhattan’s Little Italy became one of our most acclaimed, celebrated, and influential filmmakers. Martin Scorsese: A Journey maps Scorsese’s personal and artistic evolution.
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Good behind the scenes of early Scorsese films
- By Boxing Fan on 12-04-23
By: Mary Pat Kelly, and others
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The Strat in the Attic
- Thrilling Stories of Guitar Archaeology
- By: Deke Dickerson, Jonathan Kellerman
- Narrated by: Deke Dickerson
- Length: 8 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Guitar sleuth and music-history detective Deke Dickerson tells the true tales behind 48 rare-guitar and amplifier finds that will make any player or collector green with envy. Finding that holy grail of a guitar stashed away beneath a bed, in a closet, in the dusty corner of a guitar shop, or up in an attic is something that all guitar aficionados dream of. Strat in the Attic shares some of those real-life stories, related in spine-tingling detail by the author.
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A must read for guitar fanatics
- By Alfred "killa bee" Parsons on 11-10-23
By: Deke Dickerson, and others
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Synchronicity
- The Epic Quest to Understand the Quantum Nature of Cause and Effect
- By: Paul Halpern
- Narrated by: Jeff Hoyt
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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By 100 years ago, it seemed clear that the speed of light was the fastest possible speed. Causality was safe. And then quantum mechanics happened, introducing spooky connections that seemed to circumvent the law of cause and effect. From Aristotle's Physics to quantum teleportation, learn about the scientific pursuit of instantaneous connections in this insightful examination of our world.
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Good enough for lay audience, but lacks depth
- By James S. on 10-12-20
By: Paul Halpern
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Altamont
- The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock's Darkest Day
- By: Joel Selvin
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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In this breathtaking cultural history filled with exclusive, never-before-revealed details, celebrated rock journalist Joel Selvin tells the definitive story of the Rolling Stones' infamous Altamont concert in San Francisco, the disastrous historic event that marked the end of the idealistic 1960s.
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I was there...
- By Marcheta on 08-29-16
By: Joel Selvin
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The Great Cat Massacre
- And Other Episodes in French Cultural History
- By: Robert Darnton
- Narrated by: Ken Kliban
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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The landmark history of France and French culture in the 18th century, a winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize.
By: Robert Darnton
Great, despite the inadequate structure
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