Search And Destroy: Lou Reed

The Chelsea Girls all loved Butch.

In Brooklyn:

Late Brooklyn-born musician Lou Reed's memory is being honored with a celebration of his passion for Tai Chi. Ren Guang Yi, Reed's teacher for 12 years, and other teachers from different disciplines will lead a morning meditation in Central Library's Grand Lobby followed by demonstrations and classes that represent many forms of Tai Chi.

No experience is necessary to participate, in keeping with Reed's belief that everyone can benefit from the Chinese martial art.

In the week leading up to the event, patrons can also view Reed's library of Tai Chi books, video clips and some of his weapons.

Saturday, August 3 / 8:30 am
Central Library, Grand Lobby & Plaza

https://www.bklynlibrary.org/calendar/celebrate-inaugural-central-library-lobby-20190803

w/r/t Tai Chi, from Laurie's eulogy:

As meditators, we had prepared for this – how to move the energy up from the belly and into the heart and out through the head. I have never seen an expression as full of wonder as Lou’s as he died. His hands were doing the water-flowing 21-form of tai chi. His eyes were wide open. I was holding in my arms the person I loved the most in the world, and talking to him as he died. His heart stopped. He wasn’t afraid. I had gotten to walk with him to the end of the world. Life – so beautiful, painful and dazzling – does not get better than that. And death? I believe that the purpose of death is the release of love.

Kind of interesting and weird to find out Shelley’s last name and read her description of young Lou.

Only two people lasted until the end of the Velvets’ legendary Summit High School gig, but one went on to co-found Mission of Burma and the other to play bass in The Bongos.

Never listened to this Velvets-backed version of “I’ll Keep It With Mine,” which mostly sounds like “I’m Waiting for the Man.”

This doesn’t seem to have too many views, maybe it’s available somewhere else:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo_7Zqx2_Ek

Reed’s own way of handling such situations was typically more blunt and frontal. At a birthday dinner for the novelist A. M. Homes at the Greenwich Village restaurant Il Cantinori, Reed noticed Anderson, seated across the table from him, enjoying a conversation with writer Lee Smith. Reed leaned across the table, glared at Smith, and challenged Anderson. “Who the fuck is this guy?” he asked. A devoted fan of Reed’s, Smith defused Reed’s anger by asking him about Delmore Schwartz.

Anderson who(?)

Oh Laurie

Anderson Lawrie.

Just barged through the DeCurtis book based on your various recommendations. Very well done, especially with respect to his wives and significant others.

This may be challoups, but I relistened to The Blue Mask as I am wont to do ever decade or so and at this point all I care about is “Heavenly Arms.”

Every

"Our House," "Heavenly Arms," the title track," "Underneath the Bottle," "Gun," "Waves of Fear" -- great.

Wow, yes, "Gun", what a monster of a track.

It's fascinating how Reed's "The Gun" is the quiet, unsettling track while Cale's is the rocker.

I listened to the album y’day... I have to skip “Gun,” I could handle it as a teen/younger guy, but not anymore.

Didn't like The Blue Mask at all at the time, would be surprised if it sounds any better to me today.

Just getting to WL/WH in the Bockris book. I knew the famous Cher quote about the VU--it turned up in Lilian Roxon's write-up on the band--but I don't think I knew about how violently they were rejected on the west coast in 1966.

Here’s an impromptu Blue Mask fact-check:

I remember where I was that day, I was Upstate in a bar
The team from the University was playing football on TV

blue mask is perfect

It isn't, and that's partly why I love it (same deal for New Sensations, which I love even more).

I got the big box of rca/Arista recently, have played Take no prisoners, metal machine music and new sensations.

Hmm, where next?

Coney Island Baby, Set the Twilight Reeling, Ecstasy

I think it has only the first of those

luck you, that's the best one

It isn't, and that's partly why I love it (same deal for New Sensations, which I love even more).

― TikTok to the (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, July 12, 2019 5:32 AM (two hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

new sensations is wonderful but blue mask has this otherworldly floating mood throughout even when it's furious and that is the main reason i think it is perfect even though i can't hum "the heroine" for you right now or whatever

Blue Mask is head and shoulders above everything else IMO

(of solo Lou, not all rock albums ever — but it’s up there too!)

Don't sleep on Legendary Hearts -- "Betrayed," "Martial Law," "Don't Talk To Me About Work," "Bottoming Out," "Rooftop Garden"...so much greatness there.

Mixing Quine down blunts their impact as performances but not songs.

Prefer Legendary Hearts tbh

Yeah Legendary Hearts is great, I remember when someone told me I needed to check it out and I was like "that record with the stupid motorcycle helmet on the cover?"

Classic

going through that whole RCA box, the only album I really actively dislike is Growing Up In Public — I even came around quite a bit on Mistrial.
Sally Can't Dance is probably my least fave 70s album of Lou's but it still has some fun stuff.

Ah, Lou Reed's motorcycle period...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fkXxFCu7kPI

going through that whole RCA box, the only album I really actively dislike is Growing Up In Public —

I kinda love Growing Up In Public, it's indefensible but entertaining.

something about the band / arrangements on that record just makes me feel gross. "think it over" is pretty OK.

I was actually surprised at how much I liked Growing Up In Public. Sally Can't Dance had more decent moments than I was expecting, too. But Mistrial was a rough go. When I got the box a few years ago, that was my first time hearing Mistrial since 1986, and it somehow managed to sound much worse than I remembered it.

(And what will forever be a mystery to me is, as much as Lou revered Ornette Coleman's work, why did he always/only get the lamest saxophonists on earth to play in his bands?)

I love Sally Can't Dance! "Animal Language"! "Kill Your Sons"! "Billy"!

Of the 70s joints I've never really warmed to Rock'n'Roll Heart, I mean it's ok, I just don't love it

R&RH is way duller than SCD

I pretty much like all his 70s albums tbh.

Me too. It’s the 80s when he lost me.

yup

I like the first half of the 80s well enough. I haven't listened to much thereafter.

For instance I've never heard Mistrial.

Alfred will never convince me of the virtues of Fernando Saunders's aimless bass farts

That sounds like a great credit: "Fernando Saunders on aimless bass".

Yeah, the overdetermination of offenses including the Saunders abf, the tipping point where the Sprechgesang became more Sprechge than sang, and the endless guitar and microphone tech talk obsession that nevertheless seem to result in a generic clanky dry Strat sound or whatever.

haha yeah for someone who was reportedly super-obsessive about guitar sounds, from the late 70s on Lou's preferences are um strange to say the least.

Including live records, I think Saunders has played on more of Lou's albums than any other musician.

Seventies Lou:

Coney Island Baby
Transformer
Rock 'n' Roll Animal

Eighties Lou:

The Blue Mask
Legendary Hearts
New Sensations

Include New York (I won't but I won't quibble), Set the Twilight Reeling and Ecstasy and you've got one helluva run. To me it's an indisputable fact that Reed wrote more good songs and played and sang them better after 1982. I'm sorry if the so-called transgression of the seventies excites you. To me, the transgression was necessary for him to see the weird in the normal, like David Lynch learned.

Key line: "Things are never good, things go from bad to weird"