Dirty Blvd. : the life and music of Lou Reed

519 Pages·2016·9.94 MB·English

by  Aidan Levy

Copyright © 2016 by Aidan Levy
All rights reserved
Published by Chicago Review Press Incorporated
814 North Franklin Street
Chicago, Illinois 60610
ISBN 978-1-61373-109-3
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Levy, Aidan, 1986–
Dirty Blvd. : the life and music of Lou Reed / Aidan Levy.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Discography: page .
ISBN 978-1-61373-106-2
1. Reed, Lou. 2. Rock musicians—United States—Biography. I. Title.
ML420.R299L48 2015
782.42166092—dc23
[B]
2015018528
Interior design: Nord Compo
Printed in the United States of America
5 4 3 2 1
This digital document has been produced by Nord Compo.
To my parents,
Pattie and Harlan, and my sister, Allegra
When the soul of a man is born in this country there are nets flung at it to
hold it back from flight. You talk to me of nationality, language, religion. I
shall try to fly by those nets.
—James Joyce
This is the way that night passes by, this Is the overnight endless trip to the
famous unfathomable abyss.
—Delmore Schwartz
CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
Acknowledgments
Prologue
Part I - Doo-Wop Waste Land
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Part II - The Velvet Underground
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Part III - Transformer
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Part IV - Set the Twilight Reeling
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
Key Recordings
Notes
Prologue
Part I: Doo-Wop Waste Land
Part II: The Velvet Underground
Part III: Transformer
Part IV: Set the Twilight Reeling
Epilogue
Selected Bibliography
Index
Acknowledgments
Ellen Willis said it best: “Here’s a man I think is such a genius that once when I
was face to face with him in a hotel room I couldn’t say a word (what I wanted
to say was ‘Your music changed my life,’ which would have been most
uncool).” It was March 19, 2013, and there was Lou Reed himself, on the bimah
at the Downtown Seder, and I was starstruck. If I told him how he had changed
my life, I can only imagine what he would have said. Plans for this book were
already in the works, and if I had known it was my last chance to see him—my
rabbi—I might have told him how many times listening to The Blue Mask on
evening commutes home made me understand something about myself that I
thought I knew intellectually but couldn’t quite grasp emotionally. And how
many times it helped me get back on the train the next day. Then again, some
things are better left unsaid. Yet Lou was one of the great risk-takers. So here is
this book.
Lou Reed seemed to know exactly what to say; the way he turned a phrase
could be immensely gratifying or beyond devastating, could make a week or ruin
a year, and I wasn’t surprised to discover how many people remembered things
he had said—verbatim. This project was enriched immeasurably by the help of
the numerous interviewees who shared their remembrances, insights, and
intimate details. I am indebted to Shelley Albin, Aram Bajakian, Angel
Balestier, Rick Bell, Randy Brecker, Ray Colcord, Tony Conrad, Marty Fogel,
Nick Forster, Danny Frankel, Sean Fullan, Gail Garcia, Elliot Garfinkel, James
Gorney, Chuck Hammer, Phil Harris, Barbara Hodes, Allan Hyman, Steve Katz,