R.I.P, Lou Reed

[cavorting with nudists]

Just wondering what did he say about Dylan, i would love to read this interview. I didn't know Neil Young was considered a washout in the 70's.

I don't remember what he said about Dylan, just something like "He hasn't done anything good in forever," blah blah. (He also said that he, Lou, was a better guitar player than Jimi Hendrix.) I have no idea where this interview can be found unless it's in the Rolling Stone archive somewhere. But I can tell you that yes, in the mid-70s there was a large body of opinion that Neil was a washed-up bumbler who'd sold out when he joined CS&N and then pissed away (probably drugged away) whatever talent he'd had in the Everybody Knows/Gold Rush days. If you can go back and find the relatively few positive reviews that greeted On the Beach and Tonight's the Night, you'll see how apologetic their tone was, like "I know all you hipsters have written this guy off, but believe me, this guy has something going on here."

[nec13]

It'll be a week tomorrow and I'm still kind of wallowing in it, not listening to much of anything but Lou and the VU, compulsively reading tributes on the web. Well, if this isn't the time to concentrate on thinking out what an artist means to you, what is? Plus it's a distraction from depressing thoughts about the end of the Best Show.

Anyway, I just read something that jogged my memory of a great moment from a Rolling Stone interview.  This was in the mid-seventies, I think between Rock and Roll Heart and Street Hassle. Lou was being his usual cranky self, putting down Bob Dylan and Van Morrison ("Van Morrison got it right once, on 'Madame George.'") when he suddenly interrupted himself to show a little vulnerability: "You know who I like? Don't laugh at me. Neil Young." (For you younger readers: Yes, there was a time when Neil Young was widely considered a hippie washout and it wasn't particularly "cool" to like him.) He started talking about the incredible guitar sound Neil got on Zuma and actually pulled out the album to play it for the interviewer. He was especially impressed by the solos on "Danger Bird" and said something like "Listen to that. Neil! He got it. He must have wanted it."

Something like that, anyway. I may be mangling these quotes, which are from memory. It was just a moment. I loved that "Don't laugh at me."

Just wondering what did he say about Dylan, i would love to read this interview. I didn't know Neil Young was considered a washout in the 70's.

http://www.examiner.com/article/how-bob-dylan-and-lou-reed-became-friends

When you consider how much Reed borrowed from Dylan, both musically and aesthetically, it's hard to believe that he disliked him as much as he did. I'm not surprised that he was a fan of Neil Young, however. If Lou had a musical kindred spirit, it was Neil Young. For better or worse, both guys have followed their muse wherever it took them, public opinion be damned. So in that sense, I think they're fellow travelers.

[Joe Rogaine]

It'll be a week tomorrow and I'm still kind of wallowing in it, not listening to much of anything but Lou and the VU, compulsively reading tributes on the web. Well, if this isn't the time to concentrate on thinking out what an artist means to you, what is? Plus it's a distraction from depressing thoughts about the end of the Best Show.

Anyway, I just read something that jogged my memory of a great moment from a Rolling Stone interview.  This was in the mid-seventies, I think between Rock and Roll Heart and Street Hassle. Lou was being his usual cranky self, putting down Bob Dylan and Van Morrison ("Van Morrison got it right once, on 'Madame George.'") when he suddenly interrupted himself to show a little vulnerability: "You know who I like? Don't laugh at me. Neil Young." (For you younger readers: Yes, there was a time when Neil Young was widely considered a hippie washout and it wasn't particularly "cool" to like him.) He started talking about the incredible guitar sound Neil got on Zuma and actually pulled out the album to play it for the interviewer. He was especially impressed by the solos on "Danger Bird" and said something like "Listen to that. Neil! He got it. He must have wanted it."

Something like that, anyway. I may be mangling these quotes, which are from memory. It was just a moment. I loved that "Don't laugh at me."

Just wondering what did he say about Dylan, i would love to read this interview. I didn't know Neil Young was considered a washout in the 70's.

http://www.examiner.com/article/how-bob-dylan-and-lou-reed-became-friends

When you consider how much Reed borrowed from Dylan, both musically and aesthetically, it's hard to believe that he disliked him as much as he did. I'm not surprised that he was a fan of Neil Young, however. If Lou had a musical kindred spirit, it was Neil Young. For better or worse, both guys have followed their muse wherever it took them, public opinion be damned. So in that sense, I think they're fellow travelers.

I wish some of those videos worked on that link. There is a picture out there of Dylan, Reed, Randy Newman, and Tom Petty hanging out, i bet its from Farm Aid.

[cavorting with nudists]

When you consider how much Reed borrowed from Dylan, both musically and aesthetically, it's hard to believe that he disliked him as much as he did. I'm not surprised that he was a fan of Neil Young, however. If Lou had a musical kindred spirit, it was Neil Young. For better or worse, both guys have followed their muse wherever it took them, public opinion be damned. So in that sense, I think they're fellow travelers.

I agree with this, but: 1.) Lou's putdowns of Dylan would have had to come from a wish to distance himself from someone he was so obviously indebted to--see "Anxiety of Influence" if not "Oedipus Complex;" and 2.) I think Lou's and Neil's kinship would have become more evident later on, as both sustained long careers of success/crash and burn/coming back from public disdain/doing whatever the fuck they wanted.

[fonpr]

I remember Jonathan Richman saying (close paraphrase) "It's okay if you put me down me, Lou. You only bad-mouth people you like."

[Crusherkc]

I remember Jonathan Richman saying (close paraphrase) "It's okay if you put me down me, Lou. You only bad-mouth people you like."

I was just listening to WTF and Maron, talking with John Cale,  said something like "I worry about people like him [Jonathan], and they were both like 'he's one of those people who's impervious to negative vibes'. He rises above- it's in his nature.

[nec13]

I remember Jonathan Richman saying (close paraphrase) "It's okay if you put me down me, Lou. You only bad-mouth people you like."

I was just listening to WTF and Maron, talking with John Cale,  said something like "I worry about people like him [Jonathan], and they were both like 'he's one of those people who's impervious to negative vibes'. He rises above- it's in his nature.

I think that's why I like Jonathan Richman and his music. The positivity and childlike sense of whimsy and wonderment isn't feigned, it's genuine.

[Steve of Bloomington]

I dunno, I've heard a number of stories of Richman being kind of an a-hole in real life.

I do like a lot of his music but I kind of hopped off the train in the mid 90s.

[Steve of Bloomington]

There was a fun article in the local paper last week about an IU professor who has run a History of Rock class since the 80s approaching Lou at a show Lou and other Farm Aid folks (including local rock guy and organizer John Mellencamp) did as a bit of a surprise/rehearsal show at a small local bar (the Bluebird for the 2 or 3 Bloomington area FOTs who hang out here). He persuaded Lou to come talk to his class, and at one point Lou said 'this is the weirdest thing I've ever done'.

Also I guess a student who was a big Lou Reed fan chose to cut class that day and was inconsolable when she found out she'd missed Lou's visit. A cautionary tale to students.

[fonpr]

I dunno, I've heard a number of stories of Richman being kind of an a-hole in real life.

I do like a lot of his music but I kind of hopped off the train in the mid 90s.

He shoved me in the chest when we met. In his defensive, I *was* too forward with him.

[nec13]

I dunno, I've heard a number of stories of Richman being kind of an a-hole in real life.

I do like a lot of his music but I kind of hopped off the train in the mid 90s.

Really?

I guess I take back what I said then.

[Big Plastic Head]

I dunno, I've heard a number of stories of Richman being kind of an a-hole in real life.

I do like a lot of his music but I kind of hopped off the train in the mid 90s.

I met him back in 1989 and he couldn't have been nicer. He also replied to a letter I wrote him after that meeting. Still have it somewhere....

[Joe Rogaine]

You would have figured Banksy would have did a Lou Reed thing while he was in NY.

[fonpr]

http://www.prx.org/pieces/105748-lou-s-legacy-a-lou-reed-appreciation

[Smelodies]

Just wondering what did he say about Dylan, i would love to read this interview. I didn't know Neil Young was considered a washout in the 70's.

I don't remember what he said about Dylan, just something like "He hasn't done anything good in forever," blah blah. (He also said that he, Lou, was a better guitar player than Jimi Hendrix.)

That is such an absurd thing to say, I can't believe it was meant seriously.  Can you find the exact quote?  I tried searching for it, but only came up with the interview clips from the Hendrix movie (in which he gushes over Hendrix).