Memoirs of Louis XV & XVI

Book Description

Of all the published memoirs relative to the reign of Louis XV, the Memoirs of Madame du Hausset (Ladies' Maid to Madame de Pompadour) are the only perfectly sincere ones. Sometimes, Madame du Hausset mistakes, through ignorance, but never does she willfully mislead; nor is she ever betrayed by her vanity to invent. Madame du Hausset was often separated from the little and obscure chamber in the Palace of Versailles, where resided the supreme power, only by a slight door or curtain, which permitted her to hear all that was said there.

She had for a cher ami the greatest practical philosopher of that period, Dr. Quesnay, the founder of political economy. He was physician to Madame de Pompadour, and one of the sincerest and most single-hearted of men probably in Paris at the time. He explained to Madame du Hausset many things that, but for his assistance, she would have witnessed without understanding.

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Memoirs of the private life of Marie Antoinette, Queen of France and Navarre: To which are added, recollections, sketches and anecdotes, illustrative of ... reigns of Louis XIV, Louis XV, and Louis XVI
Campan
Manufacturer: H. Colburn
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00086R7R0

Book Description

"Thirty Three and a Third" is a new series of short books about critically acclaimed and much-loved albums of the last 40 years. The authors provide fresh, original perspectives - often through their access to and relationships with the key figures involved in the recording of these albums. By turns obsessive, passionate, creative, and informed, the books in this series demonstrate many different ways of writing about music. What binds the series together, and what brings it to life, is that all of the authors - musicians, broadcasters, scholars, and writers - are huge fans of the album they have chosen.

Customer Reviews:

Peel Back & See.......2007-04-04

Joe Harvard's entry in the 33 1/3 series is an immensely enjoyable read. I like the Velvet Underground's music, but wouldn't consider myself a huge fan. This book provides interesting insight into the band's origins and the sessions for the album. It's tough to understand how revolutionary the album was for its time, but Mr. Harvard does an excellent job of setting the 60's NYC scene in Andy Warhol's world.

Another great book of the series.......2006-09-26

Fascinating tome by Joe Harvard (of Fort Apache/Pixies fame) about the making behind not only the Velvet's, but also their first LP. Lovingly researched, Harvard attempts to find the fact buried beneath years of myth as we go from the early founding of the band through Warhol/Morrissey's management. Unlike other books in the 33 1/3 series, little is said about the production of the album itself, save for the question of whether or not the songs were recorded completely live or not. Harvard's prose shows the love he has for his subject, and makes learning about this seminal album a treat.

A Rock Book That Really Rocks.......2005-04-14

A few pages into The Velvet Underground and Nico you already sense that Joe Harvard clearly enjoys the heck out of his work. Conversational at times, more formal where fact-gathering is concerned, Harvard's tone moves seemlessly from hilarious indie-rock-vibe riffing to an almost poetic admiration when describing the songs themselves. The result amply justifies Continuum's choice of musician/fans - instead of career critics - to write the 33-1/3 series. At times reading this book was like watching a band on stage, and you can't ask much more than that from a book on rock.

This book is really well-researched, as I guess you'd expect from an arachaeologist-turned-musician-turned -writer; with the backround story assembled as it is from liner jackets, magazine articles, websites and interviews (plus key passages from the other major Velvets works) it makes a perfect introduction for potential VU fans, while the detective work Harvard does on this definitive work by a great band will answer some long-standing questions for VU veterans.

Curiously, since the author's style is often irreverent, he still conveys his considerable respect for the achievement that this album was. Some of the funnier parts of this book involve the writer's admitted Boston-centric stance, and the way he weaves in elements of his own background veers from artful to self-admittedly ham-fisted. When checking out the writer's background, I found it interesting that one of the articles he wrote for a local NJ music 'zine, Upstage, was an appreciation/obit for Hunter S. Thompson ... with a similar embrace of subjectivity and such a melding of personal background with the book's subject, I wonder if this is akin to the "New Journalism" of rock writing? Whether it is or not, this is definitely a book worth reading.

Recommended ONLY for the neophyte.......2004-09-10

If you have read the information included in the "Peel Slowly and See" box set, you have more information than is included in this book. Reading like someting I would have written in High School or in my early college days, this mini book is a major disappointment. A handful of quotes from VU fan mags and the above mentioned "Peel Slowly..." booklet, doesn't a good book make.
Avoid unless you have never read anything about the VU.

Excellent re-assessment of a classic LP.......2004-08-23

How to do true justice to an LP that was not a commercial success on release in March 1967 after a delay of almost a year from its recording, yet features regularly in most "all time" Important/Influential Rock LPs listings? Plus as Sid Griffin stated in his liner notes to a 1997 re-release in comparing this VU LP with the similarly ignored first Flying Burrito Bros. LP, it seems many of the copies that were since sold made the listener go out and form a band inspired by what they'd heard, given how many musicians cite the LP as an influence.

The author (a musician and producer in Boston, a favourite venue for the VU at the time in the USA) given his age was not around when the LP first came out and has instead "tracked back" based on seeing the pervasive influence it had on may later rock acts who he admired. In doing so, he has benefitted from being "guided" by Jonathan Richman (a longstanding and close VU fan plus influenced musician) in not being fooled by the many false statements and conflicting claims that exist by many of the participants.

What this book does beautifully is with great scrupulousness, nail the facts down and reassess what all the different participants contributed (or maybe didn't in some cases!) to the final end result. Compared with all the many prior books on the VU I have read (and there are indeed many for a group that during its existence had very limited commercial success or critical appreciation) this is easily the most honest and thorough on the subject I have read to date.

Key achievements under this approach are to provide appropriate credit to the un-mentioned "other" NY production team of Norman Dolph and John Licata who laid down the original tracks (and in so doing helped a very ill prepared group who had little recording experience but were challenging in their approach many exisiting concepts of how records should be made) which in turn helps explain exactly what Tom Wilson and his production team brought to the initial tapes and few replacement recordings needed to produce the final LP issued.

The other key contributors are also placed in context - while Warhol as is well known provided the distinctive cover artwork but never "produced the LP" (despite what the initial cover notes stated), he did with Paul Morrissey clearly provide the support and encouragement which gave the group the freedom they needed to get what they wanted recorded, though their rock group managerial skills may have been lacking in then promoting the group's best interests. Most importantly the other group members (Cale, Morrison, Tucker and Nico) musical contributions are re-evaluated largely at the cost of Reed's subsequent rewriting of history though his own personal contribution as lyricist remains large under this evaluation.

For my money the best all round and "new" critical evaluation essay to date in this series of excellent titles .

All Yesterdays' Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print: 1966-1971

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It is what it says it is!
yellow pages yellow babanas
It doesn't claim to be a biography
All Yesterdays PArty

All Yesterdays' Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print: 1966-1971

Manufacturer: Da Capo Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0306814773

Book Description

"Outstanding.... Ends with some first rate insights.... Included is the best VU discography, bootlegs and all, ever published." Magnet)

The Velvet Underground, among the most influential bands of all time, are credited with creating a streetwise, pre-punk sensibility that has become inseparable from the popular image of downtown New York. "Discovered" by Andy Warhol in 1966, the VU-with their original line-up of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Mo Tucker- would soon become the house band of the avantgarde, composing songs simultaneously furious in their abrasiveness and beautiful in their pathos, standing in striking contrast to the prevailing flower power of the era.

All Yesterdays' Parties gathers for the first time almost all of the published writings contemporary with the band's existence-from sources as mainstream as the New York Times to vanished voices of the counterculture like Oz, Fusion, and Crawdaddy! The book is a revealing snapshot of an era by trailblazing rock writers such as Lester Bangs, Robert Greenfield, and Paul Williams. With photographs, posters, and other visual evocations of the period throughout, All Yesterdays' Parties is an invaluable resource, a trove of lore for anyone interested in the VU, their roots, and legacy.

Customer Reviews:

It is what it says it is!.......2005-10-02

I felt compelled to write this review after reading some of the negative reviews about this compilation. There are better books on the Velvets available (e.g., Uptight!), yet this volume is indispensable to anyone seriously interested in the Velvets and how they were perceived by their contemporaries. They are now, and forever will be, well known as cutting-edge, avant-garde artists who helped shape a unique sound in the rock and roll arena. But when the Velvets first hit the scene, not everyone "got it." And that is what this book documents. This is an exhaustive reprint of almost all the known writings about the VU, in chronological order, from '65 - '71. Peppered throughout are photos of concert posters, press releases, etc., as well as a well-researched discography of all known songs from the period (though such lists are always subject to debate among fanatics), and a handy index. Heylin is a fantastic writer, particularly his stuff on Dylan and Reed/Velvets. He plays the role as the editor of this book -- not the author -- and in this role contributes an interesting and enjoyable introduction. If you are looking for the definitive biography of the band, check out Uptight! If you already know and love the Velvets, check out this volume and see what the press were saying about them at the time. It's amazing what time does to perceptions.

yellow pages yellow babanas.......2005-09-30

all yesterday's papers _ clinton heylin

what more can be said about the velvet underground, that has not been already been written? Well, since my own point of view, very little or nothing, unless lou, john or mo decide to publish their own memoirs on the matter, which seems quite improbable. So meanwhile, here comes clinton heylin & decides to recompile most of what was written about them during their heydays. Long before they became a myth, at a time when they really stood for what they were, a simple n.y. city rock & roll band. So take a trip in time, be able to read & try to feel how it was first time around, when the velvet underground were pushing boundaries that most of the today bands have their backs to.
By clinton heylin i strongly recommend -bootleg! the rise & fall of the secret industry & from the velvets to the void-oids (the book that inspired please kill me)

It doesn't claim to be a biography.......2005-09-19

Instead of giving a book a bad rating because you can't figure out what it is BY THE TITLE, why don't you just not post?

This isn't a biography, it is a bunch of clippings written about TVU when they were still around, making music.

Is it flawless? No. But fans will dig it.

That's all there is to it ... check it out, fans!

All Yesterdays PArty.......2005-08-02

this is not a biograpy on the band, the first couple of sections suck because they're nothing but babble about warhol. don't get this book!

The Velvet Underground (Icons of Pop Music)

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Top Marks.

The Velvet Underground (Icons of Pop Music)
Richard Witts
Manufacturer: Indiana University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0253218322

Book Description

Though The Velvet Underground existed for no more than three years with its original lineup, it is considered to be not just the "ultimate New York band" but one of the most influential rock groups ever. Among its devotees are David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, Patti Smith, Joy Division, and Nirvana, along with hot new groups such as the White Stripes and the Strokes.

Witts places the band and its genesis in the cultural context of Manhattan's beatnik bohemianism, its radical artistic environment, and the city's reaction to California's "Hippie" counterculture. Lou Reed's Brill Building background is also considered, while his Primitives (1964-65) and Velvet Underground (1965-70) songs are examined within the stylistic context of rock music. The band's sound world is likewise considered in this light. John Cale's experimental contribution is assessed, especially his work for LaMonte Young (The Theatre of Eternal Music), and what he carried from that experience into the Velvet's sound.

Andy Warhol, known to the group as Drella, became the band's manager and producer in 1965. He installed his "superstar" Nico in the line-up (which already included a female drummer). Witts examines the radical nature of the Velvet's Warhol-period performances, vis-à-vis issues of gender, sexuality, and the drug culture which was associated with the Warhol Factory scene, and contemplated in many of Reed's songs.

Witts studies the musical influences of The Velvet Underground on punk, post-punk, and subsequent rock movements, culminating in the group's 1993 reunion. He also indexes the variety of media constructions that the group endured through the years and how these affected the attempts of Cale, Nico, and Reed to establish solo careers.

Customer Reviews:

Top Marks........2006-11-19

It must be a near impossible brief to write something aimed at both music undergrads and the `general reader', which this book claims to do but I think Richard Witts pretty much manages to pull it off. `The Velvet Underground' is the first in a series of books on pop icons, (Bob Dylan, Joni Mitchell and others are to follow) which not only examines the musical, social and cultural influences on `The Velvets' but which proves to be at one and the same time a downright enjoyable read.

Although set against the background of Manhattan's down town drug culture, this is no seedy romp through the under belly of the 1960s New York music scene. This is a serious book in which just about every aspect of the band's genesis, demise and subsequent influence on punk, post punk and rock music is covered. Each Velvet in turn is subjected to detailed scrutiny in terms of background, his/her gravitation to New York City, musical interests and experiences, influences felt, and contribution to the band and its radical sound-world.

Cale's Experimentalism and his association with the avant-gardist La Monte Young and The Theatre of Eternal Youth, probably receives the most overtly academic analysis, but Reed, Morrison, Tucker, Nico, Warhol and Morrissey are also fully scrutinized in a clear, cogent and well argued challenge to much of the myth and hyperbole which has grown up around this `confluence of misfits' (Witts).

Serious it might be, but anecdotes a-plenty and some sharp comments stop it slipping into too-dry academic commentary. (There's a very funny Witts-ism following a Nico quote which I won't reveal. You can read it for yourself.) So, as long as the general reader who picks up this book has a somewhat serious interest in music or The Velvets, I doubt he will be disappointed. And if the undergrads ever get around to opening the cover, even they might come away having learned something pertinent :-)

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Outstanding photos, inside dirt
As perfect of a document as we are likely to have
Invaluable sourcebook
Intelligent & entertaining approach

Up-Tight: The Velvet Underground Story
Victor Bockris
Manufacturer: Cooper Square Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0815412851

Book Description

The Velvet Underground is arguably one of the most influential American rock bands ever. Based on interviews with former members Lou Reed, John Cale, and Sterling Morrison, as well as others from Andy Warhol's circle of artisitic collaborators, this book is the definitive oral and visual history of the band and its revolutionary, avant-garde music.

Customer Reviews:

Outstanding photos, inside dirt.......2007-10-10

This book has contributions from several of Warhol's factory insiders (Victor Bockris, Gerard Melanga) who were personally involved with the Velvet Underground's groundbreaking shows in NYC (in addition to their status as card-carrying members of Warhol's film-and-silkscreen juggernaut). Their recollections, letters, and photographs from their time with the band paint a vivid picture of a beautifully chaotic scene peopled by colorful, indulgent artists and hipsters in a shimmering New York. The city is a character in its own right; an actor of nearly perceptible intent.

The photos alone are worth the price of admission. They are beautiful and artful records in black and white of the band and the surrounding Factory maelstrom through the most vivid and productive period of their shared existence. Despite the insider access of the photographers, they do little to deflate the Velvet's dark mythology. Rather, they distill perfectly the self-created mythology of the band as they birthed it.

There are great stories here, too, that could only have been told by firsthand participants. They offer rich portraits of the band and supporting cast, with intimate details of the band throughout their existence. From Lou Reed's early influences, to Warhol's insertion of Nico as the band's icy continental seer of doom, to accounts of their wild psycho-sexual art-rock shows, to their uncomfortable role on the fringes of fame, to the deterioration of the relationship between Reed and Cale, this is an essential text for any serious fan of the Velvet Underground.

As perfect of a document as we are likely to have.......2006-09-21

Some 20 years after it's first publication, UP-TIGHT remains the definitive history of The Velvet Underground, and is also one of the essential glimpses into the social and creative world of Warhol's Factory.

Very well illustrated, with many black and white photos documenting the era, Bockris compiles and edits an oral history of the time, with valuable input from all of the key players.

Highly recommended for those with any interest in the Velvets, or Warhol, and an essential snapshot of America's 60s cultural landscape.

-David Alston

Invaluable sourcebook.......2004-07-26

UP-TIGHT is an invaluable sourcebook for VU fans and those simply curious about the band that inspired their mere 10,000 fans to start 10,000 bands of their own, as the cliche goes. I'm delighted to see that it is back in print.

Bockris wisely lets the participants speak for themselves, for the most part. Since virtually all (save Lou Reed) had retreated from public life (that is, gotten straight jobs) at the time the book was written, they provide a refreshing perspective as compared to what one usually sees in this type of book.

The standard of writing and research here is much higher that your typical 'rock book'. Not only does it give Velvet Underground the serious treatment they deserve, it is also a worthwhile resource for those interested in Andy Warhol.

Intelligent & entertaining approach.......1999-06-17

An intelligent and entertaining approach to one of the most influential (read: they didn't sell a lot of records in their heyday)rock bands ever. Great pix too. The Velvets epitomized a time when artists didn't feel narrowly compelled to practise any ONE discipline, but rather people were less afraid to combine ideas, cross genres and disciplines. The spirit of the time, to me, suggests Possibility. Yes, Warhol et al. could drift into pretention, but that's the price (and it's really not such a costly one) you pay for being daring. You may go too far sometimes, and by today's (stupid?) standards, perhaps some of the VU "happenings" might appear contrived. But I don't think so! Altogether, VU rules. Way ahead of their time, and before it too. And beside it.

Book Description

Eighth in the Schirmer Companion Series, the Velvet Underground Companion collects important articles, reviews, interviews, and essays on this influential, avante garde band. Extensive interviews with the bands members, including Lou ReedArticles, reviews, and memoirs by Paul Williams, Ellen Willis, David Friche, and John Cale, among others.Alban Zak is a garduate student at CUNY Albany studying the history of contemporary popular music.

Customer Reviews:

contains some important reviews and articles about VU........1998-04-08

contains some of the most important reviews and articles aboout the Velvet Underground since 60'S. A must-have for any die-hard fan.

The Velvet Years: Warhol's Factory 1965-67

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portraits of a scene

The Velvet Years: Warhol's Factory 1965-67
Lynne Tillman
Manufacturer: Thunder's Mouth Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Factory Made: Warhol and the Sixties

ASIN: 1560250984

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portraits of a scene.......2004-08-31

Unequal parts Zen master and svengali, virtuoso and fraud, Andy Warhol stormed the art world and America hasn't been the same since - for better or worse. The Factory was the hub of the Warhol constellation, serving as a meeting place for musicians, artists, and the freaks Warhol dubbed "superstars." Stephen Shore came of age at the Factory, and his photographs of Warhol, Edie Sedgwick, Gerard Malanga, and the Velvet Underground are crucial for die-hard Warhol buffs. For the rest of us, it's iffy. The photos range from journalistic snapshots to fine portraits. In good Warholian fashion, Lynne Tillman's interviews with friends and scenesters are heavily trivial with occasional inspiration. Warhol's effect on his intimates was profound, but neither his painting nor this book support their claims of his genius. The Velvet Years casts a lucid light on these times without dispelling Warhol's cloud of vagueness and mystery. The pictures of a young, innocent-looking Lou Reed are a hoot, though.

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The Velvet Underground
Michael Leigh
Manufacturer: Macfadden-Bartell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000GWWCM6

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Beyond the Velvet Underground
Dave Thompson
Manufacturer: Omnibus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0711916918

The Complete Guide to the Music of the Velvet Underground (The Complete Guide to the Music Of...)

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The Complete Guide to the Music of the Velvet Underground (The Complete Guide to the Music Of...)
Peter Hogan
Manufacturer: Omnibus Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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'69 on the Road: Velvet Underground Photographs

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'69 on the Road: Velvet Underground Photographs
Doug Yule
Manufacturer: Fierce Pup Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000WWV5DM

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