The Velvet Forum

Has anyone looked at this book - The Velvet Underground Songography by Claudio Guerrieri ? Thoughts?

Couldn’t resist. I’ll report back around 1st September or so when it arrives. Thanks for the heads up.

It’s 244 pages and, along with the description, I thought it sounded promising.

Couldn't resist either - Since nobody replied I gave in and ordered it last night...

The front cover design is terrible and the back cover has a typo ("Undergound"), but I saw good reviews for his John Fahey book so decided to give it a chance.

Got this today.

I don't think a VU fan will learn much here that they do not know already. There's a lot of information packed in but I feel like he's gleaned it all from the sources we all probably have access to or know about. There's nothing really new or insightful to be found here. And I feel that it's not very deeply or rigorously researched. Some obvious things struck me:

a. I dont feel that in writing the sessionography that he accessed any Verve session records. There are four possibly unused studio track recordings/takes listed for WLWH in the Verve WLWH era sessions he has apparently missed. And whether or not these takes ended up being reworked on following sessions he simply does not mention them. He does not make use of the Verve session index numbers for each recording as far as I can see.

b. He seems to have no idea that a vocal version of Guess I'm Falling In Love exists in addition to the instrumental version - something that Sterling Morrison talked about.

c. Two versions of I Heard Her Call My Name are listed. He accepts that version 1 was an alternative take - as it is described on the WLWH 45th box set. But I think anyone who knows their VU history understands it to be a different (earlier) mix.

d. There were two sessions where they worked on Here She Comes Now.

e. He is happy to perpetuate the myth of the Swan Mix compilation of Lady Godiva being a distinct mix.

Maybe there is new stuff in here that I have so far missed but I think £20 is too muc for a book like this. However, if you want all (most) the information on almost every version of every song (studio and live) in one place, then yes this will help you.

Sorry I cannot be more positive,

Thanks for the recap - my copy is on the way, so it is what it is.
I actually didn't expect much more than what you describe - a convenient place to find all the available info, as opposed to a deep dive that someone like Lewisohn would do.

iaredatsun wrote: ↑02 Sep 2024 20:11 Maybe there is new stuff in here that I have so far missed but I think £20 is too muc for a book like this. However, if you want all (most) the information on almost every version of every song (studio and live) in one place, then yes this will help you.
Sorry I cannot be more positive,

Speaking of books, there are two recent books tangentially related to the VU. One about La Cave by Steve Traina that came out a few months ago. It's mainly about the story of the club, with very little new VU info, however it includes breakdowns of the attendance for various shows and the fees the band earned, which I found interesting.
There's also The Days Are Long But The Years Are Shorter - a book by Angel Balestier, the engineer for the 3rd lp, but I haven't read it (yet).