The Velvet Underground are the most important band in rock music – that kind that matters at least, not the trite garbage littering the shelves of Best Buy, or whatever other retailer is daft enough to stock physical discs of that nature any longer. The musical background that each player brought to this group – whether academic or self taught – served to inform everyone from R.E.M. to U2 and even bands that were good. The way in which the guitar was plied in the group by Lou Reed is usually one of the first things mentioned after the trumped up charges of members being junkies. And while Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker is usually referred to as the androgynous drummer, she was more than that. And kinda cute in a tomboy kinda way.

Moe joined the Velvets after the group’s first drummer, Angus Maclise, departed due to his refusal to perform in front of a crowd that was necessitated to pay cash money in order to witness their spectacle – he would latter recant this statement and attempt reentry into the group to no avail. Moe was someone’s little sister that Sterling Morrison, the group’s guitarist, had befriended and for whatever reason, recalled her playing drums. The much recounted setup that Moe used was all toms and no cymbals as she stood behind her set. But in addition to her simple percussive addition to the group, she also sang “I’m Stickin’ With You,” which might be one of the sweetest songs ever recorded.

Anyway, the Velvets dissolved a few years after Lou Reed left to pursue his lackluster solo career, leaving Moe without a group. She soon moved to Arizona, where she briefly played with one of the Bishop brothers from the Sun City Girls before moving to Georgia. There Moe raised a gaggle of kids and worked for Wal Mart. And at some point during the ‘80s, members of Half Japanese befriended the drummer beginning the second chapter of her career.

Moe performed with various players from the Japanese, recruited Sterling Morrison and a few other notables for touring and recording purposes. Since that time, she’s been able to live off of her music. But she probably should have been able to do that in the first place. Music fans are weird.

Before all of this, though, Moe went all in on a self released album called Playin’ Possum. The disc, recorded over the better part of six months features only one original composition from Moe, but the other inclusions here are pretty befitting her, her persona and her style.

The fidelity of Playin’ Possum is actually a bit better than one might expect from the time and place that it was recorded. It’s by no means a master piece, but Moe’s musical approach is so easily translated to every instrument – she plays bass, guitar, drums and even saxophone on a song. There’re some out and out rock stuffs, a Bo Diddley cover and a reworking of “Heroin.” The entire endeavor might not be worth multiple listens, but it’s a useful artifact in working towards a complete understanding of the Velvets.