Lou Reed, both as a solo artist and as a member of the Velvet Underground, had an extraordinary influence on the history of rock and roll from the 1960s through the 1990s. Brian Eno once observed that hardly anyone bought the Velvet Underground's albums when they were first released, but the ones who did all formed their own bands.

Born and raised on Long Island, Reed attended Syracuse University, where he met and befriended the poet Delmore Schwartz. After leaving Syracuse, Reed landed a position writing pop songs for Pickwick Records, where he met John Cale, a classically trained cellist who had played with the Dream Syndicate, LaMonte Young's avant-garde ensemble. In 1965, Cale and Reed formed a band, rounding out the lineup with Sterling Morrison, whom Reed had known from college, and Angus MacLise on drums, later replaced by Maureen "Mo" Tucker. After going...