29 – 31 October 2013 (Days 302 – 304) On The Couch With Lou Reed

After I got over the shock of Lou Reed’s death yesterday, I managed to see a doctor who prescribed three days off.  For the first two days I was to keep my leg in an extended position and to ice the calf for 20 minutes every two hours.  After that, on the Wednesday, I was ordered back for a review visit.  My doctor indicated I had iced the calf well and then ordered two days of keeping the calf warm; quite a difficult thing to do with our poor Spring weather.

In between all of this [in]activity, I caught up on some movies but also played some of my favourite Lou Reed albums.  This meant that some albums I’ve already spun this year got a repeat play, starting with the majestic The Blue Mask.  But there were other classics as well starting with:

(# 692) The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground (1969)

This was the VU’s third album and the first without John Cale, in other words, arguably the point where it could be said Reed’s solo career began.  Certainly just about everything here reflects Reed’s world view without any influence from Andy Warhol or distractions from Nico or Cale’s wild experimentation.    Instead, we have the first Reed album where his guitar work works in true sync with another, in this case of course, the late Sterling Morrison.  This is heard to best effect on the rockier What Goes On, Beginning To See The Light, the ominous Some Kinda Love and, in patches on The Murder Mystery.  The remaining tracks are all slower and feature some of the band’s most loved tracks including Pale Blue Eyes, Candy Says (the prequel of sorts for Walk On The Wild Side) and the Maureen Tucker sung After Hours.

(# 693) The Velvet Underground – Loaded (1970)

Lou’s last studio album with the band showed that he was ready to strike out on his own.  The original side 1 of this album was almost faultless -  Who Loves The Sun makes for a lovely understated opener particularly as it’s followed by Sweet Jane and Rock And Roll, tracks that were destined to feature in Lou’s solo live shows for practically the remainder of his life.  Cool It Down tries to douse the fire of these two tracks but is too catchy to really succeed although New Age rounds out the side rather nicely. Side 2 isn’t as good but Head Held High and Train Round The Bend are convincing rockers and Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ is a fine end to Reed’s involvement in the band.  Even then Reed couldn’t find space to include Tucker’s vocal demo on I’m Sticking with You and the absolutely sublime Ocean which can be found on the “Fully Loaded” two disc version.

(# 694) Lou Reed  - Transformer (1972)

It is now reasonably clear that only David Bowie’s Ziggy Stardust is a better glam rock album than this.  Given that this record was produced by Bowie and his guitarist Mick Ronson, this is not all that surprising.  Opening cut Vicious is a perfect opener, although a bit too close to the Bowie template, but Reed was able to assert sufficient authority to ensure that songs as uniquely his as Perfect Day, Satellite Of Love and Walk On The Wild Side were included.

(# 695) Lou Reed – Berlin (1973)

A dark, brooding and tragic rock opera, this was the ambitious follow up to Transformer.  Certainly, no one seemed to expect the heavy orchestration and the use of horns and this might have contributed to the poor reviews it received on released.  Today it’s regarded as a classic, and for the first few numbers – Berlin, Lady Day, Men Of Good Fortune and the first version of Caroline Says – that claim could be made.  I’ve always felt that the subject matter weighs the album down over most of the remainder of the album but the absolutely superb closer Sad Song is such that it validates much of this.

(# 696) Lou Reed – Rock ‘N’ Roll Animal (1974)

One of the greatest live albums ever released, courtesy of the twin guitar attack of Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter, Reed’s deft selection or tracks and the original albums brief (40 minute running time). On this, Reed delivers a jolt to his fans, turning the VU numbers (Sweet Jane – with its elaborate guitar introduction, Rock And Roll and White Light/White Heat) into hard rock anthems whilst maintaining the relative solemnity of Heroin and Lady Day.  Another album of tracks from the same set was released as Lou Reed Live and another two tracks are on the remastered version; can we now have the complete original show released as some form of tribute or Collector’s Edition?

(# 697) Lou Reed – Street Hassle (1978)

I’ve always retained a fondness for this album due to pleasant shock it gave me when I first heard this.  Gimme Some Good Times was an effective opener and Dirt was typical Lou but it was the three part, near 11 minute epic title track that really grabbed me.  A largely string driven work is given an electrical charge when the completely uncredited Bruce Springsteen introduces the third part via a Born To Run quoting monologue that fits it to order.  The second half of the album is pretty good too, with I Wanna Be Black and VU era throwback Real Good Time Together among others.

(#698) Lou Reed – New York (1989)

This is a great rock album on which Lou gives a virtual state of the union address using his home city as a metaphor.  It also introduced the basic spacious twin guitar sound that he would employ on most of the albums he was to subsequently release.   If the album has a weakness it is that the topicality of the album has aged it a trifle but tracks such as Romeo Had Juliette, Dirty Blvd., Busload Of Faith, Strawman and Dime Store Mystery still retain their bite 25 years later.

I could have played more albums if I had time, especially the brutal Live In Italy with the band that made The Blue Mask, 2000’s hideously under rated Ecstasy and maybe even Magic And Loss.  But the moping must now stop.  After all I need to return to work.