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RIP Lou Reed


Just Jack

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Same here. That song is devastatingly beautiful and simple - perfect example.

 

I love Bruce's addition to it, too.

Sha-la-la-la, man. Here is another one of my favorites.

 

 

Funny- so I have always had a huge musical collection. And way back when I uploaded to itunes, many of my friends uploaded their collections or let me burn their cd books. So I had many peoples personal favorites added, and it exposed me to much. Well I have over 500GB music, and I continually shuffle. That is the ultimate in democracy-every song gets its fair listen. Well many times shuffle was going- and I ran in to see which song it was-frequently it was the Velvet Underground. And frequently it was Dylan- so shuffle made me realize how much I love the Underground and Bob Dylan

 

and some of my favorite lyrics from a very underrated album- New York

 

Well americans don't care for much of anything

Land and water the least

And animal life is low on the totem pole

With human life not worth more than infected yeast

 

Americans don't care too much for beauty

They'll **** in a river, dump battery acid in a stream

They'll watch dead rats wash up on the beach

And complain if they can't swim

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Bruce's part-

 

"well hey(man), that's just a lie, it's a lie she tells her friends. 'cause the real song, the real song where she won't even admit to herself

the beatin' in her heart. It's a song lots of people know. It's a painful song

a little sad truth but life full of sad songs

penny for a wish but wishin' won't make you a soldier. With a pretty kiss for a pretty face

can't have its way. Y'know tramps like us, we were born to pay.

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Can't really add anything to all the stuff writte about Lou Reed in the last few days...one of the most influential pop artists of the last 40 years or so, though not many really know that much about him.

 

When I moved away from Bufflao in 1988, I got a job at Tower Records in Mahatten. I wasn't on the job for more than an hour or two, when I had my first "celebrity customer" encoutner. It was Lou Reed. It wasn't a particularly pleasent encounter. I remember resisting the urge to ask him to sign an autograph, for my sister...he, Dylan and Leonard Cohen were (still are) her Mt Rushmore of music...he wasn't giving off a particularly plesent vibe that day...anyways, this other guy I worked with, a "real punk rocker" (brigt red mohawk, tons of tats before they were as mainstream, nose piercing etc etc etc) took a record up to him, and asked him to sign. Lou said something like "I'm shopping" and carried on, without signing. The guy I worked with (can't remember his name, but I think it was Doug) took a bit of offense to it. Later, when Lou came to the couner to check out, with his two friends, Lou reached over the counter to pick up the un-signed record, and was going to sign it..."Doug" said something like, "hey man, don't trouble yourself, your busy" very sarcastically. I just remember looking at Lou, and he kind of chuckled, as if to say "kids got balls..." He seemed kind of amused by the whole thing.

 

I did find this article, somebody posted on Facebook... a part of Lou's life that doesn't get talked about very often:

 

http://dangerousminds.net/comments/rachel_lou_reeds_transsexual_muse

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That was a great album. Wow. On to "White Light/White Heat."

 

A great album too...but be prepared...it isn't all as "pretty" as the Nico album. Cales' influence is strong on that one...you are also in for a real treat with the third album "Velvet Underground".

 

The first album is actually called "The Velvet Underground with Nico" (often referred to as "Any Warhol"... they didnt sell many records at all, but they influenced so many of the great artists to emerge from the 70's (Bowie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Blondie...REM a little later). I remember looking for their records in the late 70's, very early 80's (back before vinyl went away) and they were really hard to find...I remember paying about $30 for a used copy of the Nico album at the old Fantasy World store on Hertel. I had been looking for it for almost a year...the owner found one for me...$30 was lot to pay for a used album that was not close to "mint"...but it was worth it.

 

Of course, they re-issued all of them about a year later... I really think REM had something to do with this, in some roundabout way. I was never a big REM fan, but I remember Stipe would always mention them as his greatest influence

Edited by Buftex
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A great album too...but be prepared...it isn't all as "pretty" as the Nico album. Cales' influence is strong on that one...you are also in for a real treat with the third album "Velvet Underground".

 

The first album is actually called "The Velvet Underground with Nico" (often referred to as "Any Warhol"... they didnt sell many records at all, but they influenced so many of the great artists to emerge from the 70's (Bowie, Talking Heads, Patti Smith, Blondie...REM a little later). I remember looking for their records in the late 70's, very early 80's (back before vinyl went away) and they were really hard to find...I remember paying about $30 for a used copy of the Nico album at the old Fantasy World store on Hertel. I had been looking for it for almost a year...the owner found one for me...$30 was lot to pay for a used album that was not close to "mint"...but it was worth it.

 

Of course, they re-issued all of them about a year later... I really think REM had something to do with this, in some roundabout way. I was never a big REM fan, but I remember Stipe would always mention them as his greatest influence

Their third is the first one I listened to. I loved it. So far, "white light white heat" is good, but not as good. There's a spoken-word short story, "The Gift," that I'm really not into. Had a couple meetings, so I've been unable to get past that tune thus far.

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Their third is the first one I listened to. I loved it. So far, "white light white heat" is good, but not as good. There's a spoken-word short story, "The Gift," that I'm really not into. Had a couple meetings, so I've been unable to get past that tune thus far.

 

Yes, definitely not as accessable as "Velvet Underground" and "Velvet Underground with Nico"..."Loaded" is also a bit more of a mixed bag...but there are great moments on all of them. I think the thing about Reed is that he is very dark, but it has always been balanced with a dark tenderness that is hard to master in that forum. "Jesus" and "Pale Blue Eyes" are just gorgeous songs...

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Yes, definitely not as accessable as "Velvet Underground" and "Velvet Underground with Nico"..."Loaded" is also a bit more of a mixed bag...but there are great moments on all of them. I think the thing about Reed is that he is very dark, but it has always been balanced with a dark tenderness that is hard to master in that forum. "Jesus" and "Pale Blue Eyes" are just gorgeous songs...

Not anything even close to a bad tune on that entire album. I've never heard Jack White mention Velvet Underground as an influence on the White Stripes music (he could have ... I've just never heard it), but it's obvious. Very cool stuff.

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I love Lou Reed--the VU stuff and his solo records. Even his bad songs are interesting. I like listening to his albums as albums. Never gets old.

 

Over the weekend I listened to "Songs for Drella", an album I didn't really care for when it came out. It sounded incredible to me now...some of the best, most rewarding listens are those that don't sound so great the first time around.

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