lou reed archive on ebay

A poignant moment here. Ebay has just begun to auction some of Lou Reed's music gear.
Although unsurprisingly it's not the prized and important instruments like his guitars and their amps/effects, they're being squirreled away by Sister Ray Enterprises for their archive collection. The Ebay gear is the hardware collected over 30 years for the tours and other live work. And also because Reed just liked having all this gear.
The Ebay auction is on going and the items up for bid at the moment have 5 days left to go. There's 2 classic Kurzweil keyboards and their flight cases, and lots of effects units and pre-amps. The sure sign of road gear. But all in A1 condition.
Put your bid in (or just have a look) at the Lou Reed Archive on Ebay it's all at very reasonable prices and not oversubscribed with fortune hunters at the moment although you can see some of this being bought and sold for profit. Because it always is. Lets hope a few folk out there manage to get a piece of Lou Reeds world for the right reasons.
Some of these pieces won't be shipped to the UK, (probably too expensive) but they say your welcome to show up and collect. Now that would be something.

Here's a live version of Sweet Jane. (taken from the end credits of filmed concert)

the darkest days 2013

In 2013 it seemed barely a month went by before we said goodbye to yet another of rocks leading performers. The year saw no less than 11 artists who had been making music from the 1960's on and helped shape the way rock was changing through that revolutionary decade and beyond. Mayer and Hanneman were musically active a decade later but they were no less important influences on their genre. They were all inspirational musicians and artists.
Collectively they have created countless hours of recorded music and performances that connected deeply to their audiences.
It's a sad loss indeed to lose all these artists in just 12 months. They are not replaceable, they were a result of the times they lived in and that reflected in the music they created. We will not see their like again.
These were the darkest days...

Kevin Ayers - (Soft Machine) see post

Alvin Lee - (Ten Years After) see post

Richie Havens - (Woodstock) see post

Jeff Hanneman - (Slayer) see post

Ray Manzerak - (The Doors) see post

Alan Myers - (Devo) see post

Mick Farren - (The Deviants) see post

George Duke - (Frank Zappa) see post

Allen Lanier - (Blue Oyster Cult) see post

Ronald Shannon Jackson - (Decoding Society) see post

Lou Reed (Velvet Underground) - see post

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rare velvet underground

Universal Music are releasing The Velvet Underground White Light/White Heat 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition boxset on December 10th.
They (UM) asked life long enthusiast and a pretty decent authority on the Velvet Underground, Richard Metzger to pick a track to preview on their soundcloud page.
Metzger did a good job too and chose the little heard recording of "I’m Not a Young Man Anymore". A track which has previously appeared on bootlegs but was never actually studio recorded or released on album. An odd thing in itself as the song compares extremely well with other 1967 White Light White Heat recordings.
Reed himself never said anything about the track or was never asked, and it was only until after his recent death Rolling Stone was asking Thurston Moore (Sonic Youth) for a memory of Lou.

"I was at South by Southwest in 2008, playing at a Lou Reed appreciation concert. I’d just heard “I’m Not a Young Man Anymore,” which had just surfaced on a Velvet Underground bootleg. It was this powerful song I’d never heard before. Before we went on, I was talking to Lou and told him about it and he said, “How the hell do you know about that song?” I said, “It just surfaced on a bootleg on the Internet.” I said I thought it would be a good song to play since I just turned 50. And when I said that, he looked at me, half smiled and embraced me. It was wonderful and completely unexpected."

With it's insistent riff and classic Reed vocal it embraces all the chaos and experimentation that was Velvet Underground in 1967.

VIA DANGEROUS MINDS

lou reed interview for parrot zik headphones

It was about 2 weeks ago that Lou Reed passed away. This short interview with Farida Khelfa during a Parrot Zik photo shoot is the last one he is to give and shows a side of the Lou Reed few journalists or media ever saw. He was notoriously difficult and suspicious of many during interviews but with Farida who is obviously a friendly face to Lou he easily relaxes and thoughtfully answers her questions.
This was the Lou Reed that close friends talked about and few outside of his close circle ever saw.
Now recovering from a serious operation, and his eyes yellow from the results of the illness, he rallied his words and gave a touching and gentle interview which in turn becomes a poignant summary of life.
Just one month later he was gone.

"The sound of the wind.. the sound of love".

lou reed RIP

Word has spread rapidly around the media world of the passing of one of rocks most enigmatic figures and originators of the early underground.
Lou Reeds beginnings with Velvet Underground was unusual in as much as he and they were associated in a bohemian world of Andy Warhol and art as it was in music, and it crossed boundaries of the arts for that reason. If mainstream success eluded the band it only added to the mystique of these 'modern artists'.

"The Velvet Underground were a commercial failure in the late 1960s, but the group has gained a considerable cult following in the years since its demise and has gone on to become one of the most widely cited and influential bands of the era". Wikipedia

His solo career from 1972 was wild, erratic, controversial and daring. On stage he could be a visually languid figure giving the appearance of complete boredom. You could see him as the first New York punk, and many more were to follow that style in later years.
In the early 70's concerts if there were signs of a little animated dance from him it was going to be a great gig, conversely standing statue like would usually mean his interest had waned giving to a tension in the atmosphere. This all added to the fun of seeing the guy perform live. Which Lou was going to turn up was always the question.
The retrospects, box sets, reissues, documentary's will follow. His story will unfold in greater detail.
Here is "Rock and Roll" with one of his really good bands live in 1984 at the Roskilde Festival, Denmark.
So long Lou.

lou reed and metallica

After much controversy (mainly between fans of either) we get to see Lou and Metallica on UK tv last night for the first time.
And what a showing it was. The debate, no, arguing still continues in all camps but it was more than obvious all involved were having a riot. Including the audience.
After weeks of 'Later' producing very average content at last this had something with balls.
Raw, rough and powerful. Closer in vibe to early punk than mainstream rock which would have been the easy option, this pairing ate the show and looked like they were ready for more.
So argument over, suck it up anyone who thinks otherwise, this was the Velvet Underground classic 'White Light White Heat' nearly 50 years later and breathing new air.

lou reed and metallica

Lou Reed and Metallica together?!.. for Metallica followers it could be a mix made in metal hell, or for Lou Reed fans maybe another moment of diverse madness for which he's well known.
Others may see this as daring challenge for both names. Fact is Lou doesn't fear the critics and Metallica wouldn't care about them anyway.
Make you're own mind up with these 30 sec clips from the new album "LuLu". Second track is full length.

Lulu (30-second Samples) by Lou Reed & Metallica