![]() ![]() ![]() She said to The Washington Post that, for her, the importance of this album is that, quote, "any kid starting a band, anyone can now hear him searching around." I like the way that puts an inspirational spin on some of rock's most beautifully pessimistic music.īRIGER: Rock critic Ken Tucker reviewed "Words & Music, May 1965," a new collection of unreleased music by Lou Reed. WORDS TO THE SONG WORLD FOR TWO ARCHIVEThis collection is the first of what is being called the Lou Reed archive series, overseen by, among others, Reed's widow, the multimedia artist Laurie Anderson. Its devastatingly casual description of an underworld of pain is startling. TUCKER: That is fundamental Lou Reed, the song "Heroin" in its earliest known recorded version. When I'm closing in on death and my head begins to grow, you can't help me, not you girls or you guys with all your talk. 'Cause when the blood begins to flow, when it squirts up the dropper's neck and the smack goes and hits my blood. Then you know things aren't quite the same when I'm rushing from my run and I feel like Jesus' son. I'm going to try for the kingdom if I can 'cause you know it makes me feel that I'm a man when I put the spike into my vein. REED: (Singing) I know just where I'm going. ![]() (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HEROIN (MAY 1965 DEMO)") He knew, or at least hoped, he was protecting gold. The government postmark served as what was then known as the poor man's copyright. He introduces each of the songs by saying, words and music, Lou Reed, and mailed a copy of the resulting tapes to himself. TUCKER: When he made these demos, Reed was living with his parents on Long Island. ![]() But never once - woo - does he ever blow his cool because he always follows his wondrous golden rule. Well, I got this friend, and I'll tell you, man, he's real hip, (inaudible) - baby, that is his bit. REED: (Singing) Never get emotionally involved with a man or woman or beast or a child, with cobblestone streets or subway turnstiles cars, and by World War III, the people of that. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "BUTTERCUP SONG (MAY 1965 DEMO)") He was working through his key influences - the garrulous rush of beat writers like Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg, the high-and-low lyricism of Delmore Schwartz and doo wop on the woozy "Buttercup Song," he mingles William Blake with Bob Dylan. TUCKER: In 1965, Reed was clearly concentrating on lyrics more than melodies. Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND: (Singing) I'm waiting for my man, $26 in my hand. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN") It's a far cry musically from what the song would sound like less than two years later on the fully formed debut album of The Velvet Underground. TUCKER: On that demo in 1965, Reed sounds like a folk singer suffering an existential crisis. REED: (Singing) I'm waiting for the man, $26 dollars in my hand. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "I'M WAITING FOR THE MAN (MAY 1965 DEMO)") He was, in other words, both an idealistic artist and a cynical pro. Reed had played in rock bands since he was a teenager, and now he had a job in New York churning out cheesy tunes for the pop song factory Pickwick Records. In 1965, Reed was 23 years old and freshly graduated from Syracuse University where he'd come under the sway of his poet professor Delmore Schwartz. His future Velvet Underground bandmate John Cale sings harmony on the chorus. KEN TUCKER, BYLINE: That's Lou Reed plucking at an acoustic guitar and singing in an earnest croak. (Playing guitar, singing) Sometimes, feel so happy. LOU REED: "Pale Blue Eyes." Words and music, Lou Reed. (SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "PALE BLUE EYES (MAY 1965 DEMO)") The album includes what are the earliest known versions of what would become some of The Velvet Underground's best-known songs like "I'm Waiting For The Man," "Heroin" and "Pale Blue Eyes." Rock critic Ken Tucker has a review. Titled "Words & Music, May 1965," it features 15 demos Reed recorded as a fledgling singer-songwriter who, just two years later, would lead the Velvet Underground into rock 'n' roll history. In part to commemorate that, some crucial, previously unreleased music by Reed has just been issued. Lou Reed, who died in 2013, would have been 80 this year. ![]()
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