What I am Listening to: Lou Reed

I have meant to write about Lou Reed’s first solo album. It has a bad reputation and I like it quite a bit It would almost have to, squeezed between the Velvet Underground’s “Loaded” (perhaps also unloved but it is a Velvets album and has 2 of Lou’s most famous songs, so it can’t be that underrated) and “Transformer” is fantastic, I get it and all the plaudits are deserved. “Lou Reed” was released about seven months before Transformer. Critics complain about the production. Most of the songs are Lou / Velvets songs that have since been found in better versions elsewhere. Even the band is kind of weird- Steve Howe, Rick Wakeman, Clem Cattini (Joe Meek’s session drummer) and Caleb Quaye (who plays guitar all over Elton John’s early work). But I really like the album. Lou is now a “passed artist” and as such we as fans, hunger for any and all of his recorded work. There have been two major Lou Releases in as many years. Words and Music May 1965- early versions of songs Lou would develop for the Velvet Underground - and I’m So Free- the 1971 RCA demos which became the first two albums. I have to admit that I have not deeply delved into these records so this post is about another “unearthing” (though widely bootlegged apparently)- 2016s “Alice Tully Hall (1/27/73- second show) - a 2020 Record Store Day release. And I think it’s great. Lou is an artist maybe more than most, defined by his live albums. Rock N Roll Animal is obviously in every conversation. Live in Italy is often considered a masterpiece. Take No Prisoners is something completely different but remarkable for its own reasons. And I’m just scratching the surface. What makes the performance great is the energy of Reed at the time. For a bootleg style performance, it’s very clean - heavy on the treble. There are surprises- a bluesy Sister Ray closes out the set and might be preferable to the original. Heroin anticipates Rock N Roll Animal with jangley energy. But my favorite moments are the songs that are well worn through years of listening. I have long tired of “I Can’t Stand It” but here it’s a full of energy with the guitars jamming and Lou ad-libbing. You can say the same for “Satellite of Love” or “Sweet Jane”. The punchline of this album is three weeks from the concert, “Walk on the Wild Side” would go into the charts. Also of interest- for someone who worked with a Whos Who of sidemen in his career (Cale, Ronson, Wagner, Hunter, Wasserman, Quine and so on), he's backed here by the Tots- a short lived relationship with some Younkers teenagers with little musical experience.