MUSIC 4331

The Velvet Underground Archive

Course Description

Course information provided by the Courses of Study 2023-2024.

The Velvet Underground remains one of the most acclaimed and influential rock groups to emerge within the culturally turbulent era of the late 1960s. From their association with Andy Warhol beginning in 1965, to their last recorded performance with Lou Reed in August 1970, the Velvet Underground revitalized rock 'n' roll as streetwise outsider art.  Lyrics tell of hard drugs, hustlers, and queer and transgender lives, while the music ranges from noise, drones, feedback, and minimalism to edgy pop tunes. In 2015 Cornell University acquired a substantial archive of Velvet Underground material, including rare photographs, posters, flyers, handwritten lyrics, rare recordings, and ephemera.  The first segment of this course will delve into music, lyrics, and the performance art of the Velvet Underground as an archive of underground and dissident art and identities in New York City; the second segment of the course will be devoted to working with the Cornell Velvet Underground Archive to develop student projects. This course is open to graduate students and fourth-year undergraduates by permission. Undergraduates should contact the instructor before enrolling.

When Offered Fall.

Distribution Category (ALC-AS, CA-AS)
Course Subfield (HC)

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