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rocker1
Dirty Blvd. is one of those interesting songs that sounds great when the guitars are isolated without vocals, and also when the vocals are isolated without the guitars! And yes, it also sounds great when they're all in there together, too.
And Mick pinched Heroin to write Stray Cat, or so he said later!
Lou did have right it in this respect, though: "Nothing beats two guitars, bass, and drums."
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kowalski
A couple of years ago most of Lou Reed's solo albums was reissued in vinyl replica CD boxes. Cheap and good way to start with Lou Reed discography.
[www.amazon.com]
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GumbootCloggeroo
Lou Reed
Wagner and Hunter - I remember this clearly - all these guys that came after Wagner and Hunter in '73, all these guys in that band Aerosmith, and a band called Boston, they'd have those dueling guitar things, you know... leads, harmonizing - they got that all from Wagner and Hunter. These guys use to come and follow us all over the place - New York, Boston, wherever we were playing with Lou Reed. Next thing I know, I listen to their albums, and it sounds like Wagner and Hunter. And good for them, but people should acknowledge that Wagner and Hunter were the originators. They're the guys who made that sound. If you hear that live album, Rock N Roll Animal, play the intro to "Sweet Jane." I'm telling you, that will give you and idea of what the two Detroit guys - well, Hunter came from Decatur, Illinois - and Whitey and I from Toronto, with our R&B roots, hammering away on a Lou Reed song. It's unedited. The beauty of that is none of the mistakes are fixed. Nothing is fixed on that album. It's a true live album. It was the third day I was in that band. I rehearsed one day, played in Toronto - of all places - the opening night, the next night was in New York and they recorded this album. When we were with Alice Cooper, people all over the world would always play that album, more than Welcome to My Nightmare, so that usually used to irritate Alice. That album got such rave reviews that even Lou Reed hates it, because a lot of people started panning him because of his singing, and I thought that was kind of unfair. Lou Reed has his own style - great lyricist - and people shouldn't judge him on his ability to sing. Nobody said he had to be Al Green or Frank Sinatra. He's Lou Reed. He can sing in that monotone voice, and if he didn't, it would sound silly. Anyway, Lou doesn't acknowledge that album, but that is a famous album, and everywhere in Europe, they'd play it.
Rock N Roll Animal
People still e-mail me about that album. The president of the Jack Bruce fan club finally got a hold of me a couple years ago. He'd been looking for me because was such a fan of Jack Bruce, but he was also a fan of Chris Squire and, oddly enough, me. He was telling me how influential that album was to a lot of people in Australia. Get it, play it full blast, and think of yourself at the Academy of Music in New York. Steve Katz, the guitar player for Blood, Sweat, and Tears, produced that album... the most unusual guy to produce that album, but nevertheless, the best guy, because he left it alone. That's probably my favorite album of all the albums I've done. I've done stuff that's maybe technically better, but every time that album is played, it sounds just like the way we recorded it. There's Lou reed coming in a bar early, two bars late... but that's how he is. You would be surprised at how many people talk about "Sweet Jane" alone. People just go mental when they find out that I played on it or they've been looking for me.
Outtakes of that album actually ended up on an album called Lou Reed Live. That's a prime example of RCA Records ripping off the bloody musicians. They have two albums, they pay us for one, but they can get away with it, because it was outtakes of the previous album. You couldn't give each musician a couple grand in the early '70s? That's the stuff that really irks me about the business. Once in a while I may think of it in a conversation like this, but really, the overriding factor is the music.
-Prakash John (bass player on Rock And Roll Animal)
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Duane in Houston
Enough of the set-list and record debate. I want to know who's in this band now and how they sound. I also want to know how Lou sounds and performs on this tour. To me he his performances have degenerated to quite a pathetic affair over the last 20 - 30 years sort of like Dylan. I was excited when he did his "Berlin" tour last year with Steve Hunter on guitar but even that was a shadow of the Rock n Roll Animal tour of '73 judging from the boots. I'll be looking for posts on youtube. I predict he'll mix up the set-list a little but not very much. He's pretty hard headed. I'm amazed he's touring at all. Oh well, bills must be paid I guess.
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Wry Cooter
Absolutely start with any of the four original Velvet Underground records plus "VU" and "Live '69". Lou's solo career's highs are just as good but there are some head scratchers. For me any solo LP through New York is good to great (save "Metal Machine Music" and probably "Sally Can't Dance" and "Rock and Roll Heart" which have some good cuts). Everyone seems to love "Rock an Roll Animal" but I really dig the versions of his "Berlin" songs from those shows. And I think it is very cool he is doing "Street Hassle", "Think it Over" and "Sad Song" -- three of my very favorite Lou tracks!
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Palace Revolution 2000
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Wry Cooter
Absolutely start with any of the four original Velvet Underground records plus "VU" and "Live '69". Lou's solo career's highs are just as good but there are some head scratchers. For me any solo LP through New York is good to great (save "Metal Machine Music" and probably "Sally Can't Dance" and "Rock and Roll Heart" which have some good cuts). Everyone seems to love "Rock an Roll Animal" but I really dig the versions of his "Berlin" songs from those shows. And I think it is very cool he is doing "Street Hassle", "Think it Over" and "Sad Song" -- three of my very favorite Lou tracks!
Cooter - those 3 cuts are some of Lou's best stuff. "Sad Song"... those verses. God, they are something beautiful.
What do you guys think of Bruce Springsteen's cameo on "Street Hassle"?
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JohnnyBGoode
I want to get into Lou's music. Should I just start with the first album and go from there?
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champ72
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JohnnyBGoode
I want to get into Lou's music. Should I just start with the first album and go from there?
Great question! The Velvet Underground was the band that got me into music. Before that I didn't really care for music at all. I think I was 16 and at a school camp here in Australia. A friend of mine had a tape player and kept playing this one song over and over. At first I hated it, and then weeks later I HAD to hear it again.
It was "I Can't Stand It" from the lost Velvets album called VU. Here it is:
So that was the 1st album really that I ever got. So I collected all the VU albums and then got into Lou Reed..so I would recommend the same order in which I collected them, which was essentially this. Almost chronological but not quite:
Velvet Underground - VU
Velvet Underground - Velvet Underground (3rd album)
Velvet Underground 1969 Live - the version of What Goes On on this is simply unbelievable. I wore the grooves off the record for that one song. I played it so much my whole family knows every note.
Velvet Underground & Nico
Velvet Underground - White Light White Heat
Velvet Underground - Loaded
Velvet Underground - Another View
LR - Transformer
LR - 1st Album
LR - Berlin
LR - Sally Can't Dance
LR - New York
LR - Rock 'n Roll Animal
LR - Metal Machine Music
LR & John Cale - Magic & Loss
LR - Coney Island Baby
LR - Magic & Loss
LR - Lou Reed Live
Lou Reed - Live in Italy
It gets a bit blurry after that. I don't have all Lou's albums. Still missing some late 70's and early - mid 80s albums. Halfway through collecting Lou's albums someone got me Sticky Fingers, and another obsession was born!!
Good Luck. Definitely start with that VU album like I did. It's incredible!
Cheers
Andy