Checking to see if there's any Lou Reed fans about...
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Lou Reed?
- Thread starter Verne Andru
- Start date
Oh yeah. Thing about Reed is that when he was awful, he was so very, very, awful, but he was brilliant most of the time. I've read a couple of biographies and he was certainly a challenging wank.
We did I'm Waiting For My Man and a few others at CYO & Boys Club dances in some of our first bands. Back then, Lou Reed= NYC to us.
Lou Reed's first bass player used a Multivox Marvel, so I'll give him a vote of confidence for that alone.
He did a song on the animated feature Rock & Rule - I'm curious if anyone is familiar with it.
He always had 
- hot bands, and great bass players. My favorite bands of his were the Rock 'n' Roll Animal live band and then the Blue Mask band with Robert Quine. The New York-era band with Rob Wasserman was pretty great too.
- hot bands, and great bass players. My favorite bands of his were the Rock 'n' Roll Animal live band and then the Blue Mask band with Robert Quine. The New York-era band with Rob Wasserman was pretty great too.
He wrote some timeless classics--primarily in the '60s and '70s, but there are flashes of brilliance later on. I had the opportunity, in the late '80s, to play a few shows with former Velvets drummer Mo Tucker. (Just a right place/right time thing.) Several of the songs we did were written by Lou--Pale Blue Eyes, Afterhours, and What Goes On, among others--and it was a very satisfying experience. One of the shows was at CBGB's, and it was rumored that Lou would show up. Alas, he did not.
New York is a stone-cold classic from the 80s.
Lulu, on the other hand.... I really tried, but nope. One of the absolute worst things I have ever had the misfortune to hear.
It’s fascinating how polarizing he seems to be. Personally I do not “get it” when it comes to Lou, but his fans think he is absolutely tremendous.
Yeah, he was said to be an often unpleasant character - lotsa funny stories around the time of RnR Animal, I think some in Steve Jones' autobio - but a great writer.
Also, I love Fernando Saunders bassin', as well as all the others he had (Flowers, Prakash John, Wasserman - saw the latter with Bob Weir).
Blue Mask is prob'ly my fave, not least for Quine.
Also, I love Fernando Saunders bassin', as well as all the others he had (Flowers, Prakash John, Wasserman - saw the latter with Bob Weir).
Blue Mask is prob'ly my fave, not least for Quine.
Lou was my first concert in 1996. His catalog would be my desert island choice.
I saw him twice with Fernando who was one of the musicians who stuck around with Lou for a long time.
He proves you don’t have to be a great singer or great guitar player to have a prolific career.
I saw him twice with Fernando who was one of the musicians who stuck around with Lou for a long time.
He proves you don’t have to be a great singer or great guitar player to have a prolific career.
I was trying to count how many times I have jammed on "Sweet Jane" and even "Rock and Roll" just in the last cuppla years.
I ran outta fingers and toes ...
Also, "I'm Waitin' for My Man", because US$20 ...
I ran outta fingers and toes ...
Also, "I'm Waitin' for My Man", because US$20 ...
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Huge fan. Velvets are in my top ten. I’m less into his later stuff, but, Transformer is a masterpiece, imo.
I’m a pretty big fan. He was completely unique as a performer and songwriter. I totally get why some folks don’t care for what he did, though.
His singing is definitely an acquired taste but I would suggest that he was a better guitarist than most people realize. His sparring with Quine was absolutely great.
BTW, if ya's like RnR Animal, the Lou Reed Extended Versions cd is actually taken from concerts that same week.
He's up there with Bob Dylan in thet regard. You don't have to be a great singer or guitar player as long as you have something great to say. Amazing poet.
My favorite album of his is probably Magic and Loss.
Glad to say I saw him live in '86 with the Smithereens. He introduced Walk on the Wild Side be saying "This song is not a scooter commercial". At the time the TV ads for Honda Elites were using it.
I thought he was interesting, but his music was not the type of music I usually listened to when he first appeared. I will say that back in the days when his music was new, and we were hanging out in the basement smoking weed and such, there was something about it that seemed urbane and hip and edgy NYC style to a midwestern lad such that I was. I probably would not have taken the effort to see him live, but he has a place in the music of those times that I do appreciate more now than I did at the time.
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He had some good songs, but for the most part found him and VU/Nico unlistenable. Tried.
