I didn't have my library card today in class...
I searched ‘The Velvet Underground’ in EBSCO, and I was surprised to find that I actually got results. Not only were there results, but I even found a biography on the legendary reporter for Rolling Stone, David Fricke. He has conducted some of the most cited interviews in the history of pop culture of subjects including, David Letterman, Kurt Cobain, Pete Townshend, and John Lennon.
I also found this amazing peer-reviewed analysis about, “freedom, repression, and sexuality in Western pouplar music in relation to the Work of the Velvet Underground.” The whole thing is 176 pages long, not including citation. Then I found another academic journal called “the Unbearable Lightness Of Being” about the works of andy Warhol. So then I searched Andy Warhol. There were dozens of articles.
This gives me a lot of confidence about my topic, because I wondered if all times that I’ve come across the Velvet Underground were just due to rock’n’ roll dorks. I don’t think a report on Led Zeppelin or The Who or Jimi Hendrix would be a good topic because a lot of popular artists have no relevance to any other part of American culture except for fans of the genre and people who make money off of them. What I mean is loads of people all the time try to define certain “movements” in pop culture history because they’re a part of them. But in reality all these “movements” are all part of the same scheme. So you couldn’t do a report on one particular popular artist without doing a report on the majority of popular artists, because that is the only way to describe culture as a topic that applies to a lot of people. You can sit in your room, and blog about whether jimi or jimmy was a better guitarist, but that wouldn’t apply to anyone except for ax-nerds.
The Velvet Underground were a part of something bigger that actually had a lasting impact. That’s why they’re worth writing about.
I’m going to attempt to get an interview with the professor of rock ‘n’ roll history at the U. My step-brother took that class, and he said his professor objectively stated that the Velvet Underground’s debut, The Velvet Underground & Nico (the one with the banana on the cover) is the most important record in rock ‘n’ roll history.
Comments
Jimmy and Jimi
Sir, you are trandescending the minds of a thousand guitarists when you say it is pointless to debate the guitar skills of Page and Hendrix. If only they could read this. Maybe they would be able to move on with thier lives and realize that there are more important things to discuss.
However, I do beleive that you are not giving credit where it is due. You are underappreciating the power of The Who and the Experience. You say that the these bands "have no relevance to any other part of American culture". I must beg you to reconsider. In the summer of '69, there was an explosion of American counter-culture, the "hippie" movement. And at the climax of this movement was the famed Woodstock music festival. Jimi Hendrix and The Who both had spectacular performances at Woodstock. At the very least, would say that these bands were as culturally influencial as the Velvet Underground (in my own opinion, I think Hendrix was even more significant).
Your research sounds compelling. I hope you learn a lot and have a lot of fun. God save Rock and Roll.
P.S.
By the way Velvet Underground is cool.