Happy New Year, everyone! May we at JOKONKY BLOG suggest you start your year with a newly minted LOU REED SAMPLER?
For a guy who was known for being bristly, LOU REED sure wrote a lot of sweet love songs—which are the main focus of today’s offering.
It starts off with the soundtrack staple Perfect Day, Think It Over, & Satellite Of Love. Lady Day and I Love You Suzanne made the grade as well. It ends with a little more muscle: Ride Into The Sun, I Can’t Stand It, and White Light/White Heat.
Walk On The Wild Side is included—which some readers may have heard enough--but it’s a song I never get tired of. When Walk On The Wild Side or Golden Earring’s Radar Love came on 70’s AOR radio, when I was driving late at night, those songs always took me somewhere other than where I was going. They made me feel adult and altered--long before I was an adult, and before I started getting altered.
This LOU REED SAMPLER isn’t a greatest hits, or a deep cut comp—just the Lou Reed songs I like best.
Regular visitors will recall that I tend to like albums that the artists themselves didn’t care for, as evidenced by the two Jon-Ky Disowned & Derided comps we imaginatively titled Vol. 1 & Vol. 2:
https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/disowned-derided-and-deleted.html
https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/disowned-derided-volume-2.html
So even though Lou’s MISTRIAL isn’t well-remembered (the AllMusic review says: “Reed didn't have an album's worth of top-shelf songs on tap”) both the title track & Video Violence made the cut, while bigger selling albums only landed one track.
I gave the sampler our patented long-drive test, and it passed with flying colors.
Your results may vary.
What are your three favorite Lou Reed songs/performances?
"Rock and Roll" (because so real), "Vicious," "Andy's Chest," "White Light/White Heat." "Sister Ray" deserves its own category, no? "Baton Rouge" because BRLA..."Intro/Sweet Jane" off of "Rock and Roll Animal."
ReplyDeletebad mathing, I know. But 7, like 3, is a lucky number, no?
sorry, this is eric^^^
DeleteStreet Hassle, The Bells and Live, Take No Prisoners. As you say, what you grew up with can strike the deepest chord. Things like City Lights, and All Through The Night.
ReplyDeleteThree of my favorites are "New Sensations" (title track), "Cool It Down" and Lou's version of "September Song" (from Hal Willner's Kurt Weill tribute "Lost In The Stars").
ReplyDeleteIn the spirit of bad mathing, I'll add "Gun". A friend named it as one of his favorite Lou songs. The lineup with Robert Quine, Fernando Saunders and Fred Maher was so good. I love their Live In Italy album.
"Waitin' for the Man," "Turn to Me," and "Busload of Faith" stand out, but for me Lou Reed is all about a phrase here and there - a moment that sends a song sailing or totally sinks it. In "The Great Defender," the narrator dedicates a song to Blair. Now, I don't know who Blair is or why he gets a shout out, but Reed's pronunciation of "Blay-are" makes me smile every time. And what more can you ask of a curmudgeon like that?
ReplyDeleteYou nailed it! Lou had a limited vocal range but was a master of phrasing. And as you put it, he was the narrator of his songs. He was the first songwriter to make me realize that not all lyrics are autobiographical. It seems so obvious to me as an adult, but when I was a kid I was more literal minded. I guess I assumed that every song was a projection of the lyricist's personality. Lou sometimes wrote about himself, but he was often more like a novelist.
DeleteOh! Sweet Nuthin', Pale Blue Eyes, The Ocean
ReplyDeletePick 3??? Too tough to choose. "Vicious" "Berlin" "Street Hassle" .... I would buy Lou's LPs for about 88cents back in the day as they were in the "cut-out" bins at the store. Picked up The New York Dolls also!
ReplyDeleteSo... your comp. is something I've been wanting to do for a while as I still have all the vinyl.
but...did I miss the link to this offering???
Thanks (as always) for your great work!
MH77
The link hasn't been posted yet -- I'm assuming that Stinky wanted to start a discussion first, but I'm curious to find out what other songs he chose aside from the ones he mentioned.
DeleteNot sure if it was cheating to use his VU recordings; if we're talking solo only then probably Walk on the Wild Side, Satellite of Love, and Vicious though I love his solo versions of VU songs like Sweet Jane, Heroin & Rock n' Roll just as much
ReplyDeletePerfect Day, Street Hassle, Satellite of Love, nice one Stinky, great way to start 2025 with!
ReplyDeleteVicious, I Love You, Wild Child, Lady Day, Wagon Wheel, The Bed, Sad Song, Charley's Girl, Gimme Some Good Times, Average Guy...
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay on the link!
ReplyDeleteLOU REED SAMPLER:
https://pixeldrain.com/u/GmtGB2LB
THANKS FOR ALL THE GREAT COMMENTS, AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!
ReplyDeleteCan you repost https://jonderblog.blogspot.com/2022/05/disowned-derided-volume-2.html? Smaug has blocked it.
ReplyDeleteHappy to oblige: https://mega.nz/file/edxhlBhT#_CoY2Uh7FKpaN56-XGIF7fptROc0z92_IbCEJ5gYXts
DeleteOh, my . . . Thanks for the mix, but I wouldn't know where to stop!
ReplyDeleteFor present purposes, I can maybe settle for "I'll Be Your Mirror," "Sweet Jane," and "Train Round The Bend" -- throwing in "I'm Sticking With You" if only to show that I'm just as bad at mathing as anybody else.
I think the (sub)title for this project -- "Take A Walk On The Mild Side" -- is pretty good in its own right. But it also reminds me of something published in Back Door Man sometime around 1978.
BDM was a pre- or proto-punk zine put out by an assortment of soon-to-be luminaries from the South Bay part of Los Angeles County. One of its features was a section ostensibly devoted to record reviews but actually serving as a repository of (sometimes hilarious, sometimes just plain offensive) one-liners whose only purpose was to ridicule whatever it was that happened to be this or that "mainstream" artist's latest offering. So, for example, the "review" of a particular Santana album ran, in its entirety, as follows: "Out of my way, Pedro." And then, when it was time to comment on the most recent Lou Reed record, BDM said basically this: "Oh, wow, Lou -- it's, like, such a hassle crossing the street!"
Love it CRAB DEVIL! Always good to see you around these parts!
ReplyDeleteMight I add 3? Sex With Your Parents, My Friend George, Fly Into The Sun
ReplyDelete