Lou Reed

by Anthony DeCurtis

  4. “Incinerated flesh repelling” and following: Lou Reed, “Laurie Sadly Listening,” the New York Times Magazine, November 11, 2001.

  5. “Obsessions, paranoia, willful acts of self-destruction surround us constantly”: Lou Reed, liner notes, The Raven (Sire/Reprise, 2002).

  6. “I saw it as a can’t-win situation” and following: Jon Pareles, “Lou Reed, The Telltale Rocker,” the New York Times, November 25, 2001.

  Chapter 24. This Is Today

  1. “He combines the very beautiful form, the great control, the focus, and a really, truly remarkable fajing” and following: Martha Burr, “A Walk on the Wild Side of Tai Chi,” kungfumagazine.com, May/June 2003.

  2. “I had made it for myself”: Bob Beninoff, “Lou Reed and I Talk Tai Chi and Knees,” digitalwkshop.com, 2007, http://www.digitalwkshop.com/bob4.htm.

  3. “He’s just wonderful and I love him”: Mick Brown, “Lou Reed: Iron Glove, Velvet Fist,” The Telegraph, October 27, 2013 (originally published May 26, 2007).

  4. “This record was the embodiment of love’s dark sisters: jealousy, rage, and loss”: Ben Sisario, “Revisiting a Bleak Album to Plumb Its Dark Riches,” the New York Times, December 13, 2006.

  5. “I couldn’t imagine that anyone would want to do it”: Ed Pilkington, “The Day the Wall Came Down,” The Guardian, June 5, 2007.

  6. “Rolling Stone? Who cares?”: Pilkington, “The Day the Wall Came Down.”

  7. “It was just another of my albums that didn’t sell”: Sisario, “Revisiting a Bleak Album to Plumb Its Dark Riches.”

  8. “I go out and I was like, ‘Turn your cell phones off, please, and no flash photography’”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  9. “I’d never listened to the Velvet Underground” and following: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  10. “We didn’t play live that often”: Author interview, Paul Chuffo.

  11. “was very complimentary about the band” and following: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  12. “venture into deep acoustic space, drawing on new music, free jazz, avant-rock, noise, and ambient”: Ulrich Krieger, “Lou Reed 1942–2013: Ulrich Krieger: Unclassifiable,” The Wire, November 2013, http://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/lou-reed-1942-2013_ulrich-krieger_unclassifiable.

  13. “I think initially Ulrich was like, ‘Why are you bringing some random dude into this?’” and following: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  14. “Krieger’s saxophone was heavily processed into rich, electronic, glacial sweeps” and following: Jeffrey Overwood, “Review: Lou Reed/October 3, 2008, Los Angeles (REDCAT/CalArts Theater), Billboard, October 8, 2008, http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/1043833/lou-reed-oct-3-2008-los-angeles-redcatcalarts-theater.

  Chapter 25. Metallica

  1. “I can clearly draw a line from Ray and Lou to what we’re doing now”: David Fricke and Brian Hiatt, “Inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Concert,” Rolling Stone, November 26, 2009.

  2. “We’re your backing band. We can go this way. We can go that way. Tell us what you would like” and following: David Fricke, “When Metallica Met Lou Reed,” Rolling Stone, September 30, 2011.

  3. “It says a lot about the Hall of Fame that in 2009 there’s a place for what we represent at this kind of party”: Fricke and Hiatt, “Inside the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Twenty-Fifth Anniversary Concert.”

  4. “If you watch the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame thing, ‘Sweet Jane,’ it’s off”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  5. “We knew from then that we were made for each other” and following: David Fricke, “Metallica and Lou Reed Join Forces on New Album,” Rolling Stone, June 15, 2011.

  6. “It was extremely difficult for the live band to interpret the material, and it was unworkable just to play back the recordings” and following: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  7. “Lars and I listened to the stuff… and it was like, ‘Wow, this is very different’”: Fricke, “Metallica and Lou Reed Join Forces on New Album.”

  8. “He was defensive, ready to roll his eyes” and following: Fricke, “When Metallica Met Lou Reed.”

  9. “It was crazy” and following: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  10. “I think Lou and Metallica met equally”: Author interview, Lenny Kaye.

  11. “You gotta mean it” and following: Fricke, “When Metallica Met Lou Reed.”

  12. “One time, I had to point something out to him”: Jon Wiederhorn, “Tough Questions for Lars Ulrich,” Spin, May/June 2012.

  13. “Things just kept falling into place”: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  14. “After that… anything Lou wanted, he had me. I’d play it”: Fricke, “When Metallica Met Lou Reed.”

  15. “The record got bad reviews before it was even recorded”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  16. “It was more spiteful than anyone was prepared for” and following: Wiederhorn, “Tough Questions for Lars Ulrich.”

  17. “I played the record for my kids yesterday in the car, and it sounded as relevant and more intense than ever”: Lars Ulrich, “Metallica’s Lars Ulrich on Lou Reed’s Rock and Roll Poetry,” The Guardian, October 30, 2013.

  18. “Maybe that would have served the material better”: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  19. “David Bowie made a big point of saying to me”: Laurie Anderson, Rock and Roll Hall of Fame acceptance speech for Lou Reed, April 18, 2015.

  Chapter 26. The Measure of a Man

  1. “I never learned German… I never studied physics, I never got married” and following: Laurie Anderson, “For Twenty-One Years We Tangled Our Minds and Hearts Together,” Rolling Stone, November 21, 2013.

  2. “It was intense hanging out with them every day”: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  3. “Some people marry themselves”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  4. “To a certain extent, I wasn’t surprised” and following: Author interview, Suzanne Vega.

  5. “the appeal of wanting to do something in the live arts in New York” and following: Author interview, Michael Dorf.

  6. “‘Jewish soul.’ Rabbi Weiman-Kelman also described how, during their first meeting, he and Reed had ‘quite a long, complicated discussion about the origins of circumcision’”: David Brinn, “Jerusalem Rabbi Recalls Lou Reed’s ‘Jewish Soul,’” the Jerusalem Post, October 29, 2013.

  7. “This was an act of love… I realized if I didn’t do this, a connection of a lot of things would be lost forever. So there was a great impetus to do this”: Nicolas Rapold, “Lou Reed’s 101-Year-Old Story,” the Wall Street Journal, January 11, 2011.

  8. “had one of the best Burgundy collections in the world” and following: Author interview, Michael Dorf.

  9. “All the Secret Service folks were about to draw their weapons”: Michael Dorf, “Lou Reed: The Wise Child,” the New York Jewish Week, October 28, 2013.

  10. “If you had as much fun as I did just now, you should give President Havel all the credit” and following: Roxanne Roberts and Libby Ingrid Copeland, “International Velvet,” the Washington Post, September 17, 1998.

  11. “Laurie was super engaging”: Author interview, Suzanne Vega.

  12. “so much and so fast that it was like having locusts in the house” and following: Suzanne Vega, draft version of “Suzanne Vega Remembers Her Friend Lou Reed,” the Times of London, November 2, 2013.

  13. “He would complain about other people’s diva behavior”: Author interview, Suzanne Vega.

  14. “We have an alchemist in our company tonight”: Rob Enslin, “Doin’ the Things That He Wants To: Lou Reed ’64 Honored for Achievements in Music, Writing, and Artistic Expression,” throughthejungle.com, 2014, http://www.throughthejungle.com/clients/art-sci/loureed.html.

  15. “Who would’ve believed this one?”: Author interview, Merrill Weiner.

  16. “I will always love the university for giving me the opportunity to study with him”: Enslin, “Do
in’ the Things That He Wants To.”

  17. “I look back on Lulu pretty favorably, except Lou was ill and I couldn’t really tell the Metallica guys that”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  18. “I didn’t understand why he canceled the Coachella tour, and he canceled a tour before that”: Author interview, Sarth Calhoun.

  19. “She took care of him, and she canceled everything”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  20. “It’s as serious as it gets. He was dying. You don’t get it for fun”: Tim Teeman, “Laurie Anderson on the Avant-Garde and Life with Lou Reed,” the Times of London, June 1, 2013.

  21. “I figured that covered the spectrum with Lou, as it did with me”: Paul Simon, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater, New York, December 17, 2013.

  22. “You send out two planes—one for the donor, one for the recipient—at the same time” and following: Teeman, “Laurie Anderson on the Avant-Garde and Life with Lou Reed.”

  23. “This operation takes the measure of a man, and Lou measured up in every way and more”: Dr. Charles Miller, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater.

  24. “I would like to thank the Cleveland Clinic and all of you around the world who have lifted me with prayer and wishes of love”: Lou Reed, loureed.com, June 2013.

  25. “Lou is in the best physical shape in years—strong and energetic”: “A Message from Laurie Anderson,” loureed.com, June 2013.

  26. “What people often don’t get about Lou is his love of life”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  27. “I had to help him up on the stage”: Author interview, Michael Dorf.

  28. “It’s really hard to get along with Lou”: “New Liver Complains of Difficulty Working with Lou Reed,” The Onion, June 3, 2013, http://www.theonion.com/article/new-liver-complains-of-difficulty-working-with-lou-32669.

  29. “I have trouble seeing in the dark” and following: Author interview, Suzanne Vega.

  30. “rock and roll is a young man’s game”: Vega, draft version of “Suzanne Vega Remembers Her Friend Lou Reed.”

  31. “Oh, those are interview sunglasses” and following: Author interview, Suzanne Vega.

  32. “When we first thought about who we wanted to give our Inspiration award to, there was only one name we spoke of: Lou Reed”: Stuart McGurk, “When GQ Honored Lou Reed,” British GQ, October 28, 2013, http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/lou-reed-gq-men-of-the-year-2013-tribute.

  33. “the bedrock beneath my feet and a beacon shining through the black night of crap”: “Iggy Pop Pays Tribute to Lou Reed,” British GQ, October 28, 2013, http://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/inspiration-lou-reed.

  34. “There’s only one great occupation that can change the world: that’s real rock and roll”: McGurk, “When GQ Honored Lou Reed.”

  35. “Beautiful book, Mick… and beautiful price” and following: Author interview, Mick Rock.

  Chapter 27. The Afterlife

  1. “We all agreed that we did everything we could”: Dr. Charles Miller, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater, New York, December 17, 2013.

  2. “I was with Lou the morning he died, and he knew exactly what was happening”: Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater.

  3. “Jenni and I were just lying on the floor with him”: Author interview, Hal Willner.

  4. “I have never seen an expression as full of wonder as Lou’s as he died” and following: Laurie Anderson, “For Twenty-One Years We Tangled Our Minds and Hearts Together,” Rolling Stone, November 21, 2013.

  5. “We were in the swimming pool and I was holding him in my arms”: Julian Schnabel, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater.

  6. “My father didn’t give me shit”: “Lou Reed’s Last Words: Watch His Final Interview,” rollingstone.com, November 8, 2013, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/videos/lou-reeds-last-words-watch-his-final-interview-20131108.

  7. “had a major influence on generations of rock musicians”: Ben Ratliff, “Outsider Whose Dark, Lyrical Vision Helped Shape Rock and Roll,” the New York Times, October 27, 2013.

  8. “Johnny Cash of New York rock: he was always the man in black”: Mick Jagger, “Remembering Lou,” Rolling Stone, November 21, 2013.

  9. “a still figure in the eye of a metallic hurricane”: Bono, “A Perfect Noise,” Rolling Stone, November 21, 2013.

  10. “work and that of the Velvets was a big reason I moved to New York”: “David Byrne Remembers the ‘Brave’ Lou Reed,” rollingstone.com, October 28, 2013, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-byrne-remembers-the-brave-lou-reed-20131028.

  11. “no words to express the sadness at the death of Lou Reed”: Morrissey statement on the death of Lou Reed via true-to-you.net, October 27, 2013, http://true-to-you.net/morrissey_news_131027_01.

  12. “Lou Reed”: Ryan Adams, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  13. “The world has lost a fine songwriter and poet”: John Cale, Facebook, October 27, 2013.

  14. “Unlike so many others with similar stories”: John Cale statement on the death of Lou Reed, October 27, 2013.

  15. “Lou and I had a special friendship”: Harry Siegel, “Moe Tucker’s Tribute to Velvet Underground Bandmate Lou Reed,” the Daily Beast, October 29, 2013.

  16. “a master”: David Bowie, Facebook.

  17. “nooooooooo nottttttttt LOU REED”: Miley Cyrus, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  18. “RIP Lou Reed. One of the greatest artists of our time”: Ricky Gervais, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  19. “We love you Lou. We love you Laurie”: Lena Dunham, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  20. “I still can’t believe Lou Reed passed away”: Cyndi Lauper, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  21. “R.I.P. Lou Reed… The music of my generation”: Samuel L. Jackson, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  22. “NY lost one of its originals with Lou Reed’s passing”: Susan Sarandon, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  23. “Deepest gratitude Lou Reed. Peace”: Mia Farrow, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  24. “I thought I was someone else, someone good”: Sarah Silverman, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  25. “so sad with the loss of Lou Reed”: Kesha, Twitter, October 27, 2013.

  26. “a gathering open to the public”: Lou Reed Facebook page, November 2013.

  27. “while ‘White Light’ played, some odd homeless dude with Down’s syndrome”: Attendee of Lou Reed celebration at Lincoln Center, November 14, 2013.

  28. “The event didn’t feature any large signs”: David Chiu, “Lou Reed’s Memorial Lets the Music Speak for Itself,” rollingstone.com, November 14, 2013, http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/lou-reeds-memorial-lets-the-music-speak-for-itself-20131114.

  29. “I think at first I was like, ‘Oh, well, that’s not really a shock’”: “Dean Wareham on Lou Reed,” salon.com, October 28, 2013, http://www.salon.com/2013/10/28/dean_wareham_on_lou_reed_velvet_underground_seemed_to_appear_fully_formed_beyond_influence/.

  30. “I was tired of mourning him”: Joseph Arthur, liner notes, Lou: The Songs of Lou Reed (Vanguard, 2014).

  31. “It was fucking huge. Lou would never have believed it”: Author interview, Eric Andersen.

  32. “to set in motion the forty-nine days of prayers of powa” and following: Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater.

  33. “I don’t think anyone was ready for her speeches”: Author interview, Richard Barone.

  34. “It later came to light that Reed’s estate”: Julia Marsh, “Lou Reed Left Behind $30 Million Fortune,” the New York Post, June 30, 2014.

  35. “I wasn’t really ready for this” and following: Laurie Anderson, Lou Reed memorial at the Apollo Theater.

  36. “At the moment, I have only the greatest happiness”: Anderson, “For Twenty-One Years We Tangled Our Minds and Hearts Together.”

  37. “‘Cremation’ could stand as your elegy”: Bill Flanagan, “Lou Reed,” Musician, February 1992.

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