The Velvet Forum

peppergomez wrote: Not to take anythiggn away from Reeds incredible songwriting talent, but he got very very very lucky to have been rescued from irrelevance and obscurity the way he did with VU. It allowed him to be relevant as a solo artist in a way he could have never achieved on his own because I very much doubt he would have ever emerged From Dylan's shadow and distinguieshed himself as something more than an imitator.

Kill Mick wrote:

peppergomez wrote: Not to take anythiggn away from Reeds incredible songwriting talent, but he got very very very lucky to have been rescued from irrelevance and obscurity the way he did with VU. It allowed him to be relevant as a solo artist in a way he could have never achieved on his own because I very much doubt he would have ever emerged From Dylan's shadow and distinguieshed himself as something more than an imitator.

I'm not sure I'd agree that Lou was "rescued from irrelevance and obscurity" by anybody, he was the driving force behind putting the VU together in the first place. Sure he needed John, Sterl and Moe to create what he did, but they needed him just as much if not more. What would John have been without Lou? As you say Pepper, it was one of those amazing moments when the planets aligned and 4 people created something far greater than the sum of its parts, as all the greatest bands do.

And thanks again to the people who posted this, which I nearly overlooked as without listening to it I thought it was just somebody performing Heroin as a tribute to Lou! If you haven't already downloaded do it NOW, it's awesome. I wouldn't call it "sub-par folk", certain singer/songwriters today would sell their granny to come up with something half as emotionally laden and powerful as this (are you listening, Ed Sheeran?!). To think this was recorded nearly 50 years ago is just incredible...

radiofreesimulacrum wrote:You have to look at the full context of the demo.
It was recorded as part of a group of songs at
Pickwick and Reed may have sang the song as "sub par Dylan"
because he was presenting it for possible inclusion on a
Budget knock-off folk album.

peppergomez wrote:Yes. Thanks a lot. Very interesting period piece. Shows that if he hadn't hooked up with Cale and Morrison, Reed would have probably just been another Dylan wannabe, at least in his musical presentation (his lyrics would still be incredible). at best he might have released one or two singer songwriter folk albums in the sixties before vanishing, and being just a cult figure. I still consider it a minor miracle that all they creative forces (Reed, Cale, Morrsion, then Warhol) aligned as they did. really turned it from sub-par folk presentation (as on that recording) to the not amazing rock and roll ever made.

Not to take anythiggn away from Reeds incredible songwriting talent, but he got very very very lucky to have been rescued from irrelevance and obscurity the way he did with VU. It allowed him to be relevant as a solo artist in a way he could have never achieved on his own because I very much doubt he would have ever emerged From Dylan's shadow and distinguieshed himself as something more than an imitator.