Wheels Off 'Spectacle' With Lou Reed

T

TaylorTRoom

1,000+ Posts
Did anybody else see this? Elvis Costello is usually able to chat people up pretty well, but he was really struggling with Lou Reed. Reed seemed to be cooperative, but I wonder if there were pre-agreed upon topics not to bring up. There was no discussion of Warhol, Nico, and very little about the Velvet Underground. The high point was when Reed paused to show the correct way to do the riff from "Sweet Jane".

With 20 minutes to go, they called Reed's buddy Julian Schnabel in from the audience, out of desperation, I think. It really got weird as he quoted all of the lyrics to one of Reed's songs. I really don't think this show went the way Costello thought it would.

I have high hopes for the upcoming James Taylor "Spectacle".
 
The Velvets may be my favorite band and the whole aura/cool of Lou Reed/VU was pretty impressionable on me, but he has turned into a grumpy old man who has lost any sense of humor. Hmm, i don't know, maybe he was always that way, but it just seems less cool when you are an old fart.
 
This was the only Spectacle I've seen, but Lou Reed lived down to my worst expectations. I'm not onboard the "everybody famous is an arrogant *******" train, but there's something about Reed. Just a very repellant personality from everything I've heard and seen. Part of my bias is that I think his artistic merit is way, way overblown - totally aside from his personal quirks.
 
Elvis Costello is great on that show. You really get to see how much he knows about music.

Lou Reed is what he is. Great great songwriter, marginal marginal singer and kind of a unsual but not exciting guy.

I think that is OK. Kind of like Van Morrison. Not all performers are extroverts
 
So I was interested enough to buy a "Velvet Underground" CD. My thoughts:

Lou Reed is a great songwriter. However, the VU badly needed better producing. They were all over the place with crazy bells and train whistles. These were terrific songs, but they tricked them up too much. The Cowboy Junkies "Sweet Jane" is so much better, basically because they strip it down.

2. Wow. They sang a lot of songs about dope. Like 2/3 of their songs were about using or buying dope.

3. Was Lou Reed banging Nico? I hope so, because I can't think of another reason to have her sing "Femme Fatale". This version was much, much better...

"Femme Fatale"

4. I can see why they inspired so many musicians (old saying- "Not many teens bought Velvet Underground albums, but every one that did started a band"). Great, basic early rock and blues influences, and songs about the stuff kids care about but aren't supposed to vocalize.
 
taylor, kudos to you for going out and giving it a listen. I would recommend the first album, The Velvet Underground & Nico. That album was released in March 1967 and must have just blew people's mind, musically and the lyrical content. (probably confused them actually) You got remember what was being played and produced at that time. Supremes, Monkees, Mamas and the Papas, etc.

I would say the only music at that time that was that adventourous was Pink Floyd's, The Piper at the Gates of Dawn which was also released in 1967 and is an amazing CD. Late 60's Pink Floyd was pretty "out there". Nothing like their mid 70's bloated pretentious crap.

and yes, Lou Reed was banging Nico, but she only appears on the first studio album.
 
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