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Lou Reed

Singer, songwriter and guitarist Lou Reed was born on March 2, 1942, in Brooklyn, New York. In 1965, he co-founded the Velvet Underground, a rock band managed by Andy Warhol. Reed went solo in the 1970s, scoring a hit with the song "Walk on the Wild Side" and releasing more than 16 albums, including Coney Island Baby and Berlin. He died on October 27, 2013, at age 71.

Early Life

Lou Reed was born Lewis Allan Reed at Beth El Hospital in Brooklyn, New York, on March 2, 1942. He spent most of his childhood in Long Island, where he grew up in a Jewish family. Reed took an early interest in music and played guitar in several bands during his high school years. During this period, he underwent electroshock therapy intended to cure him of his bisexuality.

The Velvet Underground

Reed and Cale recruited Reed's college acquaintances, guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker, to join a band they called the Velvet Underground. The group soon caught the attention of artist Andy Warhol, who incorporated them into his regular parties and introduced them to the New York art scene.

Warhol claimed some ownership of the band, compelling them to take on European model Nico as a singer on their debut album. Despite their resistance, the first Velvet Underground album, called The Velvet Underground & Nico, is considered one of the most influential in rock history. Some of Reed's songs, including "Heroin," addressed his growing drug use.

The volatile combination of personalities within the band could not coexist peacefully for long. By the time the band recorded their next album, White Light/White Heat, both Nico and Warhol were no longer participants. Cale and Reed clashed, driving Cale from the band. The Velvet Underground released two more albums with more pop-oriented tracks by Reed, including "Sweet Jane." In 1970, Reed left the band, retiring to his parents' home on Long Island.

Solo Career

Lou Reed briefly worked at his father's tax accounting firm before signing a solo recording contract with RCA Records. His first album, Lou Reed, contained re-recorded versions of unreleased Velvet Underground songs, and was not a commercial or critical success.

In 1972, Reed released Transformer. Co-produced by David Bowie, the album contained the hit single "Walk on the Wild Side," which paid tribute to the hustlers and transvestites Reed had met through Andy Warhol, and the song "Perfect Day." The record is widely considered to be the pinnacle of Reed's solo career.

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Radio & Podcasts

When Jazz Pops, Part 2

Read "When Jazz Pops, Part 2" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


Ornette Coleman playing for Lou Reed? Or the Sun Ra Arkestra together with Steven Bernstein's Sexmob Orchestra backing U2 courtesy of Hal Willner? And Kenny Wheeler collaborating with both David Sylvian and Joni Mitchell? This and many more fascinating collaborations between jazz masters and pop and rock musicians in this playlist.Happy listening!Playlist Ben Allison “Mondo Jazz Theme (feat. Ted Nash & Pyeng Threadgill)" 0:00 U2 feat. The Sun Ra Arkestra and Sexmob Orchestra “When Love Comes ...

394
Live Review

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio at Blender Theater

Read "Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio at Blender Theater" reviewed by Mike Perciaccante


Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio Blender Theater at The Gramercy New York, New York April 23, 2009

Lou Reed's 1975 release Metal Machine Music (RCA) was a complete departure from “Sally Can't Dance," “Sweet Jane," “Heroin," “Satellite Of Love" and “Walk On The Wild Side." The album was a double LP consisting of over an hour of white noise, distorted organ and guitar feedback--an auditory assault. It would be an understatement to describe ...

421
Album Review

Lou Reed/Laurie Anderson/John Zorn: The Stone: Issue Three

Read "The Stone: Issue Three" reviewed by George Kanzler


By the time the sax overblowing, guitar distortion and electric violin screeching overwhelmed the introductory solo guitar of “Stone One," the first of the three tracks that comprise this CD, my four dogs had all given their critical verdict, charging for the door with barks and howls. I persevered through the final 14 minutes of the track, then through the two mercifully shorter ones. Oh yes, there are some interesting, even arresting, sonic textures and overtly cinematic (soundwise) moments here, ...

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TV / Film

Doc: Velvet Underground, 2006

Doc: Velvet Underground, 2006

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

One of the most influential rock albums of the 1960s was The Velvet Underground & Nico. Recorded in 1966 and released in March 1967—three months before the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper—the album broke new ground and set the tone for multiple rock movements of the late 1960s and early '70s. Unlike the Beatles, who came out of the Liverpool poetry and music hall traditions, the Velvets surfaced as part of the New York pop art and trans-national avant-garde music scenes. The ...

Obituary

Lou Reed (1942-2013)

Lou Reed (1942-2013)

Source: JazzWax by Marc Myers

Lou Reed, whose brutish pop-minimalist songs and flat vocals reflected his painful search for identity and helped influence art-rock, glam, punk, metal, New Wave and grunge, died unexpectedly yesterday (Oct. 27). He had undergone a liver transplant in June. He was 71. The news came as a particular shock to me, as I was preparing to interview Reed at home on Wednesday afternoon for a career-spanning Q&A. A voracious reader, Lou had agreed to the sit-down after reading my interviews ...

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Performance / Tour

Lou Reed: From Vu to Lulu 2012 European Tour

Lou Reed: From Vu to Lulu 2012 European Tour

Source: JamBase

LOU REED ANNOUNCES SUMMER EUROPEAN DATES Hot off the incredible reception of his collaborative album Lulu with Metallica, Lou Reed will embark on a “FROM VU TO LULU" European tour during Summer 2012. The tour will start in Luxembourg on Wednesday June 6 and will take in several festivals, including Switzerland's Caribana Festival, France's Montereau Festival, Berlin's Citadel Music Festival and Slovakia's renowned Pohoda Festival. Lou will also perform several concerts in France, Holland, Belgium, Denmark, and Germany. The tour ...

57

Advocacy

Occupy Musicians: Lou Reed, Talib, Tom Morello, Biafra

Occupy Musicians: Lou Reed, Talib, Tom Morello, Biafra

Source: JamBase

MUSICIANS PLEDGE SUPPORT FOR ALL OCCUPY MOVEMENTS A number of prominent musicians have pledged their support for the Occupy Movement by launching the Occupy Musicians website. The website aims to to facilitate performances at Occupy spaces and events, network musicians to Occupy locations and Occupy fund raisers, host embedded media to Occupy-related songs and music videos, and more. Head over to the Occupy Musicians website to get a look at the full list of supporters, and check out their official ...

57

Performance / Tour

Gorillaz to be Joined by Lou Reed and Mos Def at 10/8 MSG Concert

Gorillaz to be Joined by Lou Reed and Mos Def at 10/8 MSG Concert

Source: JamBase

DE LA SOUL, LITTLE DRAGON, BOBBY WOMACK & MORE ALSO JOIN GORILLAZ THROUGHOUT THE TOUR Gorillaz have confirmed that Lou Reed and Mos Def will join them for one night only performances at the October 8 stop of the “Escape To Plastic Beach" tour at New York's Madison Square Garden. On October 7, the day before Gorillaz' Madison Square Garden debut, the band will make its first ever visit to the Late Show with David Letterman. The two additional special ...

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Festival

Lou Reed's Free Jazz Gets Hostile Reception in Montreal

Lou Reed's Free Jazz Gets Hostile Reception in Montreal

Source: Michael Ricci

There must have been something in the water this past weekend--first LCD Soundsytem were subjected to a spate of bottle throwing in London, and now comes a report that Lou Reed received a less than kind welcome at a show for the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Reed subjected the crowd to some of his free jazz work, which he performed in collaboration with Laurie Anderson and John Zorn on Friday night. “If you don't think it's music, then get the ...

172

Performance / Tour

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio Tour Europe in April

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio Tour Europe in April

Source: Noble PR

Lou Reed's Metal Machine Trio, consisting of Lou Reed, saxophonist Ulrich Krieger and electronics wizard Sarth Calhoun, tour Europe in April. The threesome play Cambridge Junction (April 17), Oxford O2 Academy (April 18) and London Royal Festival Hall (April 19), La Cigale, Paris (April 21), Ancienne Belgique, Brussels (April 22), Koncerthuset, Copenhagen (April 24), Sentrum Scene, Oslo (April 26)Ole Bull Scene, Bergen (April 27), Teatre Principal de Palma, Mallorca (April 30).

The 1975 album Metal Machine Music, which inspired the ...

111

Performance / Tour

Lou Reed's "Machine" More Strings, Less Metal

Lou Reed's "Machine" More Strings, Less Metal

Source: Michael Ricci

A real-time, chamber-music performance of an inhumanly generated composition: that was Lou Reeds Metal Machine Music as played by the Fireworks Ensemble at Miller Theater on Friday night. Mr. Reed recorded his 1975 album Metal Machine Music (RCA) by leaning guitars against amplifiers, cranking them up until the feedback screamed, playing melodies amid the sonic melee and layering and manipulating the results, including changing the tape speed of some parts. Then he chose four segments for 16-minute LP sides. It ...

130

Performance / Tour

Lou Reed Performed with His Metal Machine Trio, at the Blender Theater at Gramercy

Lou Reed Performed with His  Metal Machine Trio, at the Blender Theater at Gramercy

Source: Michael Ricci

All Those Sounds From the Stage: Processed, and Not Always Pretty

It was good to have this Lou Reed back: not an American Master nor a Legend of Rock, but a barking, brooding, beneficial irritant. On Thursday night at the Blender Theater at Gramercy, onstage between Sarth Calhoun and Ulrich Krieger, two much younger musicians, he was making noise improvised, loud, heavily processed, and some of it ugly enough to make people leave.

Not many, though. There were extra-musical reasons ...

126

Radio

Rock Pioneer Lou Reed Host Satellite Radio

Rock Pioneer Lou Reed Host Satellite Radio

Source: All About Jazz

SIRIUS welcomes the legendary singer-songwriter to its line-up of iconic recording artists and hosts

SIRIUS Satellite Radio announced that Rock & Roll Hall of Famer Lou Reed will host his own weekly show exclusively on SIRIUS. “Lou Reed's New York Shuffle" will premiere on SIRIUS Disorder channel 70 Saturday, May 17th at 6 pm ET.

SIRIUS listeners can expect to hear the most eclectic mix of music found anywhere on Lou Reed's New York Shuffle -- running the gamut from ...

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