New book on first VU LP just released !

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joeharvard
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New book on first VU LP just released !

Post by joeharvard »

Just letting everyone know that "The Velvet Underground and Nico" is out as of March 15. It's part of Continuum Publishing's 33-1/3 Series, which consists of books written by musicians about one album that was important to them. I think it's pretty cool, but then, I wrote it. Of special interest to fans :lol: should be the material I got interviewing Norman Dolph, the often-overlooked "other Producer" who manned the control room full-time on the first LP during the NY sessions at Scepter Studios. He clarifies a lot of the confusion about the length of the sessions and the various roles played at that pivotal event. You can order it at http://www.continuumbooks.com ... here's the blurb from their site, and if you get it I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it:

Description
Available in the UK and rest of world after May 2004

The Velvet Underground and Nico has influenced the sound of more bands than any other album. And remarkably, it still sounds as fresh and challenging today as it did upon its release in 1967. In this book, Joe Harvard covers everything from Lou Reed's lyrical genius to John Cale's groundbreaking instrumentation, and from the creative input of Andy Warhol to the fine details of the recording process. With input from co-producer Norman Dolph and Velvets fan Jonathan Richman, Harvard documents the creation of a record which - in the eyes of many - has never been matched.

Excerpt
In 1966, some studios, like Abbey Road, had technicians in white lab coats, and even the less formal studios usually had actual engineering graduates behind the consoles. Studios were still more about science than art. Clients who dared make technical suggestions were treated with bemusement, derision, or hostility. The Velvets were a young band under constant critical attack, and the pressure to conform in order to gain acceptance must have been tremendous. Most bands of that era compromised with their record companies, through wholesale revamping of their image from wardrobe to musical style, changing or omitting lyrics, creating drastically edited versions for radio airplay, or eliminating songs entirely from their sets and records. With Andy Warhol in the band's corner, such threats were minimized.

BIO: Joe Harvard, Asbury resident, former archaeologist and Saint soundman, was co-founder and owner of legendary Fort Apache Studios, home of scores of seminal alternative LP’s. As head honcho until '93 Joe captained the studio through a golden age of recording that included releases by Buffalo Tom, the Blake Babies/Juliana Hatfield, Uncle Tupelo, Big Dipper, the Lemonheads, the Pixies, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Mission of Burma, Morphine and tons of other great bands. His personal engineering and production work includes sessions with Tanya Donnelly, the Breeders, the Connells, Syd Straw and Peter Halsapple, Dumptruck and Gwar. A promoter and host of succesful variety nights at Boston's Rat and Plough and Stars, he was co-founder of Helldorado Productions, the 3-man team that brought rock bookings to the now-venerable Middle East Restaurant in Cambridge, MA, and more recently co-founder of World Tribal Soundz in NYC's East Village. Voted Boston’s Best Producer, his guitar, lap steel and gtr. synth playing appears on numerous records including Dinosaur, Jr., Throwing Muses and the Pernice Brothers. Creator of the Boston Rock Storybook (http://www.rockinboston.com), he recently used his considerable gift of the gab to win the first annual Moth Story Slam NYC. He does windows, too.
lostblues
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Post by lostblues »

Wow, THAT sounds interesting! Joe, you worked at Fort Apache?! Then you must be very familiar with the Pixies in their early state?! How cool is that?! I´ll definitely will try to get my copy of this book (haven´t checked the price yet...) :D
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Post by lostblues »

[edit, 10 minutes later]
It seems that - outside the US - you are not (yet?!) able to order online. Very strange. After filling out the form, it says "There is a different currency." uhmmmm
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Post by Homme Fatale »

Sounds great, will have to check it out...
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joeharvard
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Post by joeharvard »

hey, you mean they use DIFFERENT currency in germany than the states? what a surprise. you'd think amazon would be able to deal with that, what with the global village and all :roll: seriously, tho', sorry you can't get the book there yet, that sux. i checked it out, & looks like it's available in the u.s. now, and "in the u.k. and the rest of the world" [as the publisher's website sez] in may. guess it takes a while for the books to float across the ocean, huh :wink: .... jh
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Post by Homme Fatale »

As far as I understand you can order it from this page... Am I wrong? They won't mail it out to Europe?! It has the UK paperback option...

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joeharvard
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Post by joeharvard »

hmmmm. that's true ... a soon as someone i know orders it from the uk i'll pass on the results.
lostblues
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Post by lostblues »

joeharvard wrote:hey, you mean they use DIFFERENT currency in germany than the states? what a surprise. you'd think amazon would be able to deal with that, what with the global village and all :roll: seriously, tho', sorry you can't get the book there yet, that sux. i checked it out, & looks like it's available in the u.s. now, and "in the u.k. and the rest of the world" [as the publisher's website sez] in may. guess it takes a while for the books to float across the ocean, huh :wink: .... jh
"different currency" is what made me smile...
Why shouldn´t I be able to pay with mastercard. In US$?! This is a strange behaviour I never seen before. I guess that their shopping system is not able to handle different postage to other countries. Now I have to wait until may.... Velvet fans got used to wait for releases, so that´s ok with me.

Joe, what do you think of the Pixies reunion?! Have you heard them since then?! I am soooo curious.....
smnm

Post by smnm »

Hmm - just went up to check at Helter Skelter (great music-only bookshop) if they have the new book/ask about it, and was sad to see it's closing down... On the other hand I did get Factory Made half price.
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Post by Chance »

Joe, very interesting, gonna have to check that out for sure. So, uh, when ya gonna whip up a White Light/White Heat companion volume? :wink:
"For one human being to love another: that is perhaps the most difficult of all our tasks; the ultimate, the last test and proof, the work for which all other work is but preparation." - Rainer Maria Rilke
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