Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground

"Of all the books I have read on the story of the Velvet Underground, Richie's is probably the best. He brings us the voices of the people who were also important to those times, but who either go unmentioned, unheard, or not written about in a balanced way. I also like the way he writes, and some of the many reviews of recordings and live shows were insightful in a way l have not come across in the work of anyone else. Bravo, Richie" --Jonathan Richman

This is the definitive history of the Velvet Underground, complete and more fully researched than any before

Do What You Fear Most is the authoritative tome on the band that changed music, fashion and culture forever.

Blending new archival insights and first-hand accounts, Richie Unterberger illuminates the band's radical global impact on New York's progenitors of punk, who bridged pure rock'n'roll, avant-garde experimentation and literary songwriting to take rock music into previously uncharted territory. Beginning with each member's path to the band, it details their influences, successes and (many) failures, the whirlwind with Warhol, the triumph of the Banana album, the fractured and strained relationships and egos, and beyond to the end of the Velvets and the beginnings of various solo careers.

Rigorously researched and packed with previously undocumented insights, this book features first-hand interviews with the group's associates, as well as a substantial amount of material newly unearthed from the Lou Reed Archive and the Andy Warhol Archive, as well as never-before-seen images and ephemera.

An entertaining and exhilarating narrative, Do What You Fear Most vividly captures the grit and uninhibited creativity of the 1960s New York cultural scene and is an essential portrait of one of the 20th century's most visionary and influential bands.

Author: Richie Unterberger
Publisher: Omnibus Press
Published: 06/16/2026
Pages: 816
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 3.20lbs
Size: 9.40h x 6.40w x 2.40d
ISBN: 9781913172992


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 03/01/2026
Library Journal 04/24/2026 pg. 1
Foreword 04/27/2026
Booklist 06/01/2026

About the Author
Unterberger, Richie: - 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 Turn! Turn! Turn!. 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.Wareham, Dean: - Dean Wareham was born in Wellington, New Zealand. He moved to New York City as a teenager in 1977, and attended the high school where he met his future Galaxie 500 bandmates. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in Social Studies. In 1987 he founded Galaxie 500, who released three albums, all produced by Kramer and released on Rough Trade. His memoir Black Postcards is a chronicle of his years in indie rock and was published by Penguin. He has also co-composed soundtracks and acted in several films for Noah Baumbach, most recently White Noise.