By Josh Williams
“It always bothers me to see people writing ‘RIP’ when a person dies. It just feels so insincere and like a cop-out. To me, ‘RIP’ is the microwave dinner of posthumous honours” — Lou Reed
Lou Reed the founder and the leader of the Velvet Underground, one of David Bowies best friends and collaborators, and the influence for the sound of a generation, passed away yesterday (Sunday) at the age of 71. It is reported that he suffered liver failure following a transplant earlier this year. Andrew Wylie, Reed’s agent has said that Reed had been in frail health for months. He was living in the Southampton area of New York with his wife, fellow musician Laurie Anderson who he married in 2008.
The indie rock you hear being played day in day out on radio stations around the world can be directly traced back to the Velvet Underground’s sound coming out of 1960’s New York. It is undeniable that Reed had a profound affect on mainstream American music. Although maybe it was not appreciated at the time, his place among the musical legends is now fully acknowledged.
Brian Eno, who himself is widely accepted as a genius of music once said “The first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in its first five years, I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band.”
In the late 60’s Reed met Welsh born musician John Cale, who at the time was working as a classically trained Viola session musician, along with guitarist Sterling Morrison and drummer Maureen Tucker, The Velvet Underground were formed. Their avant garde sound and minimalist appearance soon caught the eye of Andy Warhol, whose Factory movement was in its prime in NYC and it was through Warhol that they met Nico the singer and part time model - one of Warhol’s many muses.
Their debut album 1967’s The Velvet Underground & Nico is a seminal landmark in the same category as Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde, and The Beatles Sgt Pepper’s. The distinct references to sadomasochism, prostitution and drugs coupled with the harsh jarring guitars revolutionized the musical landscape. The 3 albums that followed (1968’s White Light/White Heat, 1969’s The Velvet Underground and 1970’s Loaded) continued in this vein and although all 4 were widely ignored at the time they have now been embraced by subsequent generations of music fans.
Upon quitting the Velvet’s in 1970, Reed moved back to England and began to record as a solo artist. His second solo album 1972’s Transformer transformed Reed from underground cult icon to mainstream rock superstar. Produced by David Bowie and spawning the hits Walk on the Wild Side and Satellite of Love, Transformer is another seminal album in music’s rich history.
Reed’s jagged persona and extremely excessive drug use, including heroin in the 1970’s, is the stuff of legend and although he mellowed in his later years he drove his body to the edge. In 1987 he told Rolling Stone magazine “I’ve always thought that if you thought of all of it as a book then you have the Great American Novel, every record as a chapter, they’re all in chronological order. You take the whole thing, stack it and listen to it in order, there’s my Great American Novel.”
My advice to everyone is to do just that, take the records, and listen to one of the great minds of our time make his mark on musical history.
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