It's possible, even probable, that no one has the depth of knowledge about rock 'n' roll history that Richie Unterberger has. His 40+ year career, starting as a DJ in college to writing 15 books, countless reviews and articles, has focused on the music of the 60s and 70s. This episode focuses on his new books about the Velvet Underground and The Who and looks back at how rock music has changed over the decades. As a DJ at the University of Pennsylvania’s FM station, WXPN, Richie Unterberger delved into the roots of rock and folk music. It became his passion. “I can play guitar and piano, but not very well,” he admits. “I realized pretty early on my main strength was going to be as a writer.” That’s an understatement, looking at his body of work–fifteen books, countless magazine articles, reviews, commentaries and lectures over a career spanning more than 40 years. Throw out the name of a musician or band from the 60s, 70s and beyond, and Richie’s encyclopedic mind will recall chapter and verse–The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Janis Joplin, Elvis Presley, Jimi Hendrix, The Byrds–are just some of the artists he’s written and lectured about. You can find it all at richieunterberger.com. His latest book, Do What You Fear Most: The History of the Velvet Underground, is an 800-page epic that covers every detail of the group’s members, including leader Lou Reed, the origins of their songs, the labels, the sound engineers, their association with Andy Warhol, and more. Even if you were never a fan, you might become one by immersing yourself in Richie’s book. “Because I’ve been a fan [of the Velvet Underground] since 1979, I already accumulated a lot of the basic research. I wasn’t starting from scratch. I was reading as much as I could about them. So, I dug through microfilm and collections of vintage magazines. I did a lot of things simultaneously. It’s not hard to find the four principal studio albums and the two live albums that came out, but there’s a lot of unreleased material that really illuminates the group.” Also released this spring is an e-book version of Won’t Get Fooled Again: The Who from Lifehouse to Quadrophenia. Picking up after the success of the rock opera “Tommy”, this is the story of band leader Pete Townshend’s quest to create another rock opera, “Lifehouse”, and the complications that prevented it from ever being created, and then the success of “Quadrophenia,” which benefited from a much simpler concept. I was absolutely privileged to speak with Richie, who I consider one of the greatest rock historians of our time, in this edition of Type. Tune. Tint. Watch or listen now! WATCH THE VIDEO VERSION
