This year will mark the 45th anniversary of The Velvet Underground‘s formation, and not surprising, there are quite a few commemorative items popping up… and in all shapes and sizes for that matter.
In addition to The Velvet Underground Singles 1966–69, a brand new box set dedicated to the band’s singles, September will also bring with it the release of an illustrated box set that looks to chronicle the history of NYC’s original hipsters.
Titled The Velvet Underground: An Illustrated History of A Walk on the Wild Side, the book is the work of Jim DeRogatis, the Chicago Sun-Times’ Pop Music Critic who is perhaps best known for pissing Perry Farrell off by leaking the Lollapalooza lineup each year. It is billed as “the first complete illustrated history published” on the Underground and packs 192 pages of text and never-before-seen photos.
The book also sports excerpts from Andy Warhol’s memoirs, rare interviews with the band, photographs from Exploding Plastic Inevitable dancer Gerard Malanga, and rare images from Factory photographers Nat Finkelstein, Stephen Shore, and Billy Name. And then there’s the additional color concert and candid photography, as well as vintage posters, handbills, memorabilia, and other items not mentioned.
The book sells for about $24 via Voyageur Press, so even PBR-drinking art school dropouts can afford a copy.
