In his new biography of lou reed, anthony decurtis doesnt try to dig too deep into the velvet underground frontmans psyche. A life, but for such a pivotal musical career, there shouldnt be a dull moment in the book. But as anthony decurtis makes clear in his new book, behind the image and the rumors, lou was one thing. Lewis allan reed march 2, 1942 october 27, 20 was an american musician, singer. In 2003, reed released a book of photographs, emotions in action. Tellingly, the figure in reeds life to whom decurtis is most openly hostile is rock critic lester bangs, who epitomized the ardent, unruly and sometimes loutish engagement with reeds music and persona a book like lou reed. Biographer sought to write the kind of book lou reed.
Lou reed gets the gritty 70sera new york treatment in a life. Oct 26, 2017 anthony decurtiss lou reed a life, the first significant biography of the rock star, does a remarkably good job of working out where lou reed ends and his creation, lou reed, begins. When most people think of lou reed, they picture the black. Lou reed, mick jagger, lulu and david bowie at a party hosted by bowie at the cafe royal. One of andersons predominantly musical as opposed to spokenword albums, life on a string was recorded at the lobby studios in new york city under the musical direction of skuli sverrisson, and produced by anderson and hal willner. Portrait of american rock and roll musician lou reed on stage with a guitar, 1970s. My brilliant and troubled friend lou reed music the. More tab would have been a benefit, but lou reed remains a poet of our age before and after vu. A life, and given the cordial relationship between reed and decurtis, its hard not to imagine what reed would have thought of the book. Now renowned music writer anthony decurtis shares insights from his new book, lou reed. In january 2006, he released a second book of photographs, lou reeds. Lou reed lyrics find all lyrics for songs such as im so free, perfect day, shes my best friend at. Eternally restless and endlessly hungry for new experiences, reed reinvented his persona, his sound, even his sexuality time and again.
This list includes some of his notable live albums too. She recently completed a book of her artwork on dead rock stars which. Guest musicians on the album include van dyke parks, mocean worker, mitchell froom and lou reed. Notes from the velvet underground by howard sounes 378 pp. The fascinating story behind a catastrophic interview with the legend lou reed. Suzanne vega when most people think of lou reed, they picture the black, rotting heart of rock and roll, full of dissonance, decadence and decay. Lou goes to syracuse, falls under the spell of a completely ruined delmore schwartz, writes heroin, gets busted for. Lou reed at panathinaikos stadium in athens, 1996 reuters the life of lou reed. Photo by hulton archivegetty images lou reed turned against everyone who tried to help including david.
Anthony decurtiss lou reed a life, the first significant biography of the rock star, does a remarkably good job of working out where lou reed ends and his creation, lou reed, begins. Oct 26, 2018 biographer sought to write the kind of book lou reed deserved it wasnt like i had to go looking for the drugs and the sex, anthony decurtis, author of lou reed. Street hassle is the eighth solo studio album by american musician lou reed, released in february 1978 by arista records. As addled, selfpromoting, and occasionally tiresome as bangss obsession with reed was, it did. Share lou reed quotations about writing, songs and family. How i discovered a dozen new lou reed songs stumbling on a cassette tape from 1975 marked the beginning of an archival journey. Oct 26, 2011 the fascinating story behind a catastrophic interview with the legend lou reed. Little sister by lou reed little sister by nico lonesome cowboy bill. Jan 22, 2020 perfect day lou reed capo i intro e am e am verse am d just a perfect day, g c drink sangria in the park, f dm and then later, when it gets dark, e we go home. Notes from the velvet underground, recently published in the u. A life is teeming with the sordid details of said debaucheries. Oct 12, 2015 news \ author of lou reed biography says he was a monster according to the book, the velvet underground frontman abused women and used racial slurs.
In january 2006, he released a second book of photographs, lou reed s new york. David bowie gave lou reed a new lease of life when he helped to create the classic transformer album and was repaid with jealousy and loathing, according to howard sounes, author of notes from. Its what his most recent biographer anthony decurtis strives to address in lou reed. This lou reed guy was a louche slut, a junkie creep and a meanspirited, goddamn son of a bitch. Oct 20, 2017 anthony decurtis discusses his biography of the velvet underground legend with stephen sackur on bbc world news. A man of contradictions and extremes, he was fiercely independent yet afraid of being alone, artistically fearless yet deeply paranoid, eager for commercial. Oct 01, 2017 my brilliant and troubled friend lou reed. Anthony decurtis does a brilliant job of synthesizing the disparate parts of lou reeds life into an insightful, moving narrative. And, thankfully, decurtis book dishes plenty of dirt. Neither of these books is quite a match for lou, but hopefully the aboves made at least a plausible case for why a biography of lou reed might be difficult to carry out successfully not. Lou reed by anthony decurtis little, brown and company. This brings us to the eternal vexation that iswas lou reed.
Lou is famous for quoting that i do lou reed better than any one else and that is the problem the one good thing about this book is that it lead me to conclude that there must be a good lou reed biography out there and this is one crossed off of the search list. After patiently listening to the legendary rock star show off his guitar collection, gold sadly noted, it was so mindbogglingly uninteresting. A hastily assembled life of lou reed fails to get to grips with his explosive. Lou reed at lincoln center a gathering open to the public no speeches. Shooting out life affirming riffs amid lyrics that made you want to jump off a bridge. I was waiting outside the 96th street y in new york city to see lou reed read from his book of lyrics between thought and expression. A multipleexposure polaroid photograph of lou reed circa 1970 in the rock n rollers heyday. The turbulent life of the velvet undergrounds lou reed. This comprised an a4sized book called emotions and a smaller one called actions laid into its hard cover. How i discovered a dozen new lou reed songs the washington post.
Lou reed new that feeling, that life, and he put it into lyrics with poetic brilliance. After patiently listening to the legendary rock star show off his guitar. A life by anthony decurtis is published by jonathan murray. Music, 63 minutes and 31 densely cacophonous seconds of guitar feedback. Many damning anecdotes, she added, seem to come from people reed knew in the hazy. Street hassle combines live concert tapes with overdubs and studio recordings. Jun 22, 2018 the biography lou actually liked waiting for the man. Anthony decurtis discusses his biography of the velvet underground legend with stephen sackur on bbc world news.
The short inscription lou reed wrote in the liner notes to his 1992 album magic and loss is the backdrop to one of the most inspired albums of his career. It is the first commercially released pop album to employ binaural recording technology. Lou reed s new york is the most affecting of these, showcasing reed s view of the city from which he siphoned his power. A new book describes his physical and emotional excesses. Lou reed has 36 books on goodreads with 2763 ratings. The photographs consist mostly of textural landscapesthe new jersey.
Lou reed has been blowing traditional guitar styles to bits since his velvet. But while his iconic status may be fixed, the man himself was anything but. Carefully researched and thoughtfully written, lou reed is the best reed biography to date. Lou reed turned against everyone who tried to help. If the goal of a biography is to bring its subject back to life, lou reed, decurtiss sympathetic but never fawning book, succeeds. An eloquent account of a harrowing life transformed by love in the end. The book perfectly connects his life with the type of music he made and why, which. I remember a rumor in either 2003 or 2004 that lou reed was going to move into a. Asteroid 270553 loureed, discovered by maik meyer at palomar observatory in 2002, was named in his honor. A life is perfect for the velvets fan and the lover of reeds solo work and of course, for the person who appreciates both. Nov 01, 2019 with lou reeds wavering tenor and jangling guitar ringing in my ears, i stared down at the cassette tape in my hand. Notes from the velvet underground, by howard sounes diversion books, 400 pp. In july 1975, lou reed released metal machine music, his fifth solo album after leaving the velvet underground, and one of rock historys most drastic acts of commercial suicide.
I knew lou reed from when i worked in a famous guitar store as a teenager. The term ostrich guitar was coined by the velvet undergrounds lou reed after the prevelvet underground song the ostrich by lou reed and the primitives, on which he first recorded using this tuning, the first known commercial composition to make use of a trivial guitar tuning. A life confirms just how perverse reed could be, and i am not talking about drug use or sexuality. Lou reed was a cultural phenomenon, whose charisma inspired revolution in social and political life. As the new biography of iconoclastic rocker lou reed 194220. May 01, 2018 a new book of lou reed s poetry examines a fascinating period in the late icons life, when he was caught between rock and literature. That lifetime is explored here, and its a masterpiece. The man started off as part of the andy warhol endorsed velvet underground in the late sixties, then moved on to a very diverse solo career including the sublime bowieproduced transformer and less successful albums of guitar larsens. A life can sometimes give you the feeling that the author cant wait for the absurd to quit courting the vulgar, but decurtis a longtime mvp of the rolling stone writers stable knows he cant completely gloss over the seamy, abrasive, riveting spectacle reed made of himself in those early. The velvet undergrounds overall sensibility was markedly different from anything else happening in rock at the time. It is a recurring theme in anthony decurtiss new book, lou reed. You can take lou reed out of new york, but theres no taking new york out of lou. In turning his attention to amplified acoustic guitar, lou reed has taken one further step in his lifelong quest for the purest yet baddest sound ever heard.
The record reed made me realize that, for all of my selfstylings as a rebel in love with noise that stripped away the unnecessary, i didnt know the first thing about. Reeds distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and experimental guitar playing. As reed himself once put it, between thought and expression lies a lifetime. Only when reed met the avantgarde artist laurie anderson in the early 90s did his life take a turn for the better. Author of lou reed biography says he was a monster spin. The life and music of lou reed by jeremy reed 2014. My brilliant and troubled friend lou reed music the guardian.
An intimate portrait of life with lou reed, but she was one of the first people i managed to get in touch with. Feb 15, 2018 lou reed anthony decurtis opening line of lou reed s biography, simply titled lou reed. This album is dedicated to doc and especially to rita. See the album rock n roll animal and his version of lady day. A dream a fool like me a gift a good time was had by all a sheltered life a thousand departed friends a wild being from birth a witness to life. Mercurial, vicious, brilliant uncovering the real lou reed. Reed, who died today at 71, made no secret of his disdain for many of the people who wrote about him, but longtime village voice staffer and dean of american rock critics robert christgau is the only one to have his sexual preferences questioned from the stage on one of reeds live albums.
Oct 29, 20 at his most sympathetically mature, the man rides a likably pliable, standardissue 80s guitar riff, and talks that good lou reed shit, but this time, almost shockingly, in the service of. Part of the deal of writing the book was to demythify lou. Lou reed is a suprizingly great guitarist and vocalist, his backup guitarists on this tour really almost create a supergroup. A life was published by the rolling stone critic anthony decurtis. The essential biography of one of musics most influential icons. Anthony decurtis does somewhat better than that with the 500page tome lou reed. In 1977, artist andy warhol, left, speaks with musician lou reed. An intimate portrait of life with lou reed kronstad, bettye on. Tellingly, the figure in reed s life to whom decurtis is most openly hostile is rock critic lester bangs, who epitomized the ardent, unruly and sometimes loutish engagement with reed s music and persona a book like lou reed. Reed had a propensity to switch conceptual gears midproject while.
Sally cant dance single version walk on the wild side the best of lou reed, 1977 nowhere at all walk on the wild side the best of lou reed, 1977 downtown dirt between thought and expression the lou reed anthology, 1992 leave me alone between thought and expression the lou reed anthology, 1992. A life is an absorbing read, full of new insights delivered masterfully by decurtis. Here are five things we learned, annotated by the author in a recent interview with pitchfork. Lou personally chose the songs and their presentation, with just simple chords and lyrics for most, but also guitar tab for others.
The official naming citation was published by the minor planet center on june 2, 2015 m. As lead singer and songwriter for the velvet underground and a renowned solo artist. A life, expertly sets the stage for the almost 500 pages to come. Lou reed s most popular book is in dreams begin responsibilities and other stories. Published in 1994, the first version of this biography by jeremy reed no relation was. Coney island baby is the sixth solo studio album by lou reed, released december 1975 in the usa, and in january 1976 in the uk, by rca records. Late in life, reed became enthralled by edgar allan poe, releasing an album called the raven in 2003.
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