Last week I joined the scores of enthusiasts crowded into the basement of the Park Branch Library in San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury to listen to Rock and Roll obscurist Richie Unterberger drop some knowledge. Unterberger curates screenings of rare concert footage and lectures every other month, and if you haven’t been, you’re missing out.
This particular lecture was particularly enthusiastic because it’s about the Velvet Underground, the subject of Unterberger’s latest book, White Light/ White Heat: The Velvet Underground Day by Day. Unterberger lectured over rare photos from his book and showed some moving footage of a 1972 performance by Lou Reed, John Cale and Nico. This performance happened, of course, a few years after Reed, Cale, and Nico left the VU, but it’s high-quality– more than can be said about anything recorded during the VU’s prime. Click here for some of it bastardized by YouTube.
Besides plugging his book, Unterberger made a plea on behalf of local booksellers: Buy Local.
Check it out…