Do What You Fear Most
The History of the Velvet Underground
$86.46
- Hardcover
816 pages
- Release Date
14 May 2026
Summary
No band has reshaped the possibilities of popular music like The Velvet Underground. Formed in New York in 1965, the Velvets emerged from the nexus of art, fashion, politics, music and counterculture.
Although widespread popularity and acclaim evaded them during their four-album lifespan, their enduring, cross-generational appeal meant the Velvets could count iconic contemporaries like Leonard Cohen, David Bowie and Jimi Hendrix as fans, alongside future legends such as Roxy Music, th…
Book Details
| ISBN-13: | 9781913172992 |
|---|---|
| ISBN-10: | 1913172996 |
| Author: | Richie Unterberger, Dean Wareham |
| Publisher: | Omnibus Press |
| Imprint: | Omnibus Press |
| Format: | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages: | 816 |
| Release Date: | 14 May 2026 |
| Weight: | 790g |
| Dimensions: | 234mm x 156mm x 51mm |
What They're Saying
Critics Review
‘A tome finally worthy of Lou Reed’s gang. American writer Richie Unterberger can now safely say that his latest book Do What You Fear Most is the most comprehensive and compelling yet on the stealthy, stupendously influential band of the title’. Record Collector, 5**
‘Unterberger has done serious and exhaustive research into the band… [W]onderful…Fans of the band will love the inside looks at songwriting and record production…First-rate research and writing make this a book that lives up to its legendary subject’. Kirkus Reviews
‘It’s hard to imagine any future book on the Velvets coming close to rivalling the wide-ranging, all-inclusive approach of Do What You Fear Most’. Shindig!, 5**
‘Everyone gets their flowers in Do What You Fear Most, Richie Unterberger’s excellent history of the Velvet Underground, the beloved and iconoclastic New York rock band… [A] devout, expansive history of their music worth relishing’. Foreword
About The Author
Richie Unterberger
Richie Unterberger is the author of around a dozen rock history books, including Unknown Legends of Rock’n’Roll; Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia; and a two-volume history of 1960s folk-rock, Turn! Turn! Turn!/Eight Miles High. His book The Unreleased Beatles: Music and Film won a 2007 Association for Recorded Sound Collections Award for Excellence in Historical Recorded Sound Research.
He has contributed to numerous publications, including Record Collector and MOJO. He’s written liner notes for several hundred album reissues, including the extensive notes for the super deluxe edition of The Velvet Underground & Nico and Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65.
He gives regular presentations on rock and soul history throughout the San Francisco Bay Area and teaches courses at several universities in the US.
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