Lou Reed Mar 2, 1947 - Oct 27, 2013

Just read this news...comes so unexpected ...it´s a bit of a shock, i was born also on march 2nd and this man has always reached some inner side of me ever since those days one summer back in 79 we would smoke ourselves till dawn with his Berlin LP on.That record has stuck with me ever since , and well of course what not to say of those hours with the girlfriend in the car hands walking in the wild sides....and his Rock´n Roll Animal live....still can lift you up when you need it

 

Unexpected? No. He had a liver transplant in May and was an ex-junkie.

Sad? Of course, he was a genius, one of rock’s few genuine originals, an uncompromising, always stimulating artist. He leaves behind an incomparable body of work and some amazing memories.

 

Yes, I was going to post in my anecday of the dote thread.

I knew Lou had the liver transplant, and I knew about his subsequent condition. I also knew about some private things.

As far as what Bobby and Lou may have had in common - Firstly, not everyone who performed that night at the 30th Anniversary Concert was invited by/known to Dylan.

They are both Jewish men. Lou Reed’s parents were "Conservative" Jews (to the unknowing, that isn’t a political stance, but a moderated form of observance in comparison to "Orthodox" Judaism.) Lou was very "into" Dylan in the early 1960s. He was playing music and would use the "harmonica rack," which he subsequently abandoned because he thought it would identify him too closely to a Dylan image.

Lou studied at Syracuse University. I don’t know if he attended any Dylan concerts during those years. I do know, very well, that Lou Reed was enamoured of certain writers and poets, none more than one of his teachers at Syracuse - Delmore Schwartz.

Lou had already been through electro-shock treatment, and he was probably still at teenager when he started to use. Darkly, if this gives him and Bobby some connection, well so be it. Certainly, Lou Reed was far more entrenched and entangled with a long-term addiction.

I do know that, while Lou mostly lived on the Lower East Side (area of Manhattan) and Bobby was living in the West Village (Greenwich Village), as well as spending time in/near Woodstock, New York and had become a performer of worldwide reputation who was touring, there was, at least, one person I know who still lives in an apartment building where Bobby would visit. Lou also visited, because Andy Warhol came around, Nico lived there for some time, Bob Neuwirth came around, Zal Yanovsky, and others. My friend told me how the doors (to many of the apartments) would be open. There was a, literal, sort of inspirational osmosis. It wasn’t all pleasant, for sure.

Jumping ahead - Lou and Bobby are "documented" talking (well someone was talking) (didn’t I post some video?) backstage at the "Farm Aid" concert.

The night of the 30th Anniversary Concert, after Lou had switched his song choice to Foot of Pride, he got very concerned that he wouldn’t have visual documentation of the performance. A friend of mine had a live feed going to his place and a VCR setup to record the show. Lou, still jittery about the fact this might not get properly documented, sent mutual friend (well a somewhat beloved figure on the fringe of Bobby’s vest), to make sure the recording equipment was infallable.

For something else in common - I actual got to hear Lou in performance only once. A few years back, as part of a concert tribute to the "Freedom Riders."

A wondrous song that Bobby also covered one night in New York - Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come.

Oh, they both were known to have a drink at the White Horse Tavern.

 

Lou Reed’s death is a good reminder that life is for living, loving and riding motorcycles :). Seems to me that the last thing Lou would want is to ’Rest In Peace’, so I hope you’re rocking out and I hope I remember to do the same.

Doo do doo, doo do doo, doo do doo