Rock -N- Roll Animal
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Track:Rock & Roll
The first time I heard Lou Reed it was "Rock and Roll Animal". At the time, I thought he was the best. He was better than Bowie, T.Rex, Iggy....all his contemporaries. The album had the best musicianship of the three by far...at the time. (I can see now Bowie had some great musicians working for him as well) In those days NO ONE liked Lou in my neighborhood. From what I read later, and seeing him in the flesh at Max's years later, no in HIS neighborhood liked him either.
I later learned that Lou hated this record. He thought it was too commercial. But, really, who gives a fuck what Lou has to say. I bought other albums by him...read all the Creem magazine...Lester Bangs ...shit. Lou was mythological. He was also a dick with ears.
But here's the deal. Lou has never known shit from shinola. THIS WAS his best. Lou needs good musicians to make his simple music work. When he uses good musicians his songs sound great. There's nothing wrong with that. A lot of Dylans music sounds better when others re-interpretted it. So, he stands in good steading in that regard.
Comments (6)
My father went to high school with him on Long Island and he only recently found out that the guy became famous. My dad clearly remembers Lou as being "a dirtbag loser" but then again my dad was a popular star pitcher for the baseball team.
True artists are all mixed up and confused on the insides it seems, and usually hard to get along with, it's their "charming irregularities" that we're attracted to I do believe, and Lou is no different in this respect than most.
I really liked his New York record, the way it was recorded, and the players. When you see him with Laurie now, he looks like a regular New York guy..mean on the outside, with regular Joe the Plumber underneath.
joe the plumber is a fucking plant. i hate that motherfucker
I think Lou would say the same thing..such is the beauty of the gruff exterior.
Good post.
I always loved the version on Loaded and couldn't understand why he put it on his solo album. I guess because it was a live version...but, meh. No. I still don't really understand. Seems like he might not either.
From what I've heard of Lou Reed (I've never met him, but have ties), he's a difficult dude to like. He'll pull your ass from the gutter one day, and shit on you the next--you know, that sort of thing. I think you've got a pretty healthy attitude about it. If you dig it, dig on...those artists can be fickle.