Various VU cuttings from MIT college paper, 1966-72

[arjan]

Any chance of scanning it and uploading it somewhere?

I'd be happy to host it...

[Doctor Bob]

"Lou Reed: Lead Guitar; Sterling Morrison: Rhythm guitar and Bass"

Poor Sterl!

[arjan]

"Lou Reed: Lead Guitar; Sterling Morrison: Rhythm guitar and Bass"

Poor Sterl!

Well, it's not what Sterling would've liked to read but it's true of course. For the two Cale-era albums, Sterling plays almost no leads. A few part guitars (6) and a solo in Sister Ray (1) and that's about it. The rest is rhythm guitar (6) and bass (5).

[Doctor Bob]

Arjan that's really interesting

Could you expand on that so I know which ones you're talking about?

[arjan]

Arjan that's really interesting

Could you expand on that so I know which ones you're talking about?

Alright, Sterling's (and Lou's) contributions (to the best of my knowledge)

SM:
Sterling: bass
Lou: lead

IWFTM:
Sterling: part guitar
Lou: rhythm guitar

FF:
Sterling: chiming part/rhythm guitar
Lou: other part/rhythm guitar

VIF:
Sterling: bass
Lou: guitar

RRR:
Sterling: rhythm/part guitar
Lou: lead guitar

ATP:
Sterling: bass
Lou: lead guitar

H:
Sterling and Lou: part/rhythm

TSGA:
Sterling: rhythm
Lou: lead

IBYM:
Sterling: "background" part guitar
Lou: "foreground" part guitar

TBADS:
Sterling: (high-register, barely audible, noodling) bass guitar
Lou: rhythm guitar

ES:
Sterling: rhythm
Lou: lead

WL/WH:
Sterling: (barely audible, noodling) part guitar
Lou: fuzz rhythm

TG:
Sterling: rhythm
Lou: lead

LGO:
Sterling: bass
Lou: guitar

HSCN:
Sterling: part
Lou: rhythm

IHHCMN:
Sterling: rhythm
Lou: lead

SR:
Sterling: first solo, rhythm/part
Lou: other solos, rhythm/part


As a guitar player, I know the importance of part/riff guitar, but that's not lead guitar as generally understood by the record buying public -- especially when played as understatedly as Sterling did. In fact, I believe Lou gave Sterling space for soloing on IWFTM when he said "work it now" -- and Sterling responds by stoically repeating his part over and over until Lou starts singing again (a bar too soon, BTW -- IIRC the break lasts 11 bars where 12 would be more ...logical).


So, that's just the one lead guitar part for Sterling in two albums' worth of songs.

[Doctor Bob]

Thanks Arjan

I see what you're getting at now. Its all about definitions, obviously-I would personally certainly class parts like WFTM as lead guitar on the basis that Lou is playing rhythm and Sterl is playing a repetitive lead lick.

But apart from semantics, here is what I thought about some specific songs:

There She Goes Again: Surely that's Sterl playing the solo, not Lou!? It doesn't smack of Lou's style at all!

Here She Comes Now: I would definitely regard this as Sterl on lead because he takes a short guitar solo at the end of the song

I assumed that The Gift was Sterl on lead as he tended to play the lead part live didn't he, for instance in the Paris concert? (Not that that means much since Lou played lead on Some Kinda Love in Paris as well!)

And lastly, are you sure Run Run Run was Lou on lead? I was never sure about that one.

[Cameo Role]

I figured Lou played the 'simple' parts so he could sing as well. Or, if it was just on guitar sometimes, it'd be Sterl playing. Even if Lou's is higher in the mix, it's still rhythm, ya dig?

[arjan]

There She Goes Again: Surely that's Sterl playing the solo, not Lou!? It doesn't smack of Lou's style at all!

I know what you mean, I wasn't too sure here myself. Then again, Lou can play many styles. He plays the solo on SM and the lead on LGO too and those aren't parts you associate with him normally. But you may well be right here.

Here She Comes Now: I would definitely regard this as Sterl on lead because he takes a short guitar solo at the end of the song

You're right, of course.

I assumed that The Gift was Sterl on lead as he tended to play the lead part live didn't he, for instance in the Paris concert? (Not that that means much since Lou played lead on Some Kinda Love in Paris as well!)

Did he? I seem to remember that he played the rhythm part on MCMXCIII but as I'm doing this from memory, I can't be sure. The screeching lead on the album version must be Lou. Sterling rarely (if ever) lets his guitar screech.

And lastly, are you sure Run Run Run was Lou on lead? I was never sure about that one.

Surely Sterling wouldn't botch his solo entrance by producing a load of unintended feedback!* That could only be Lou. And the "electric surf mandolin" part later on, isn't that the famous ostrich guitar?

(* Maybe the feedback was intended, but the scale/execution of it can't possibly have been intended that way)


Definitions, yeah. I think Sterling plays a fan-tas-tic part guitar on Beginning to See the Light (have you seen him play it on the Live Redux VHS? Amazing! Equally cool is his break/outro in I'll Be Your Mirror live '93), but it isn't lead guitar. To me, there is no lead guitar on that song (but if there would be a classification like 1st and 2nd guitar as in classical music, Sterling would be playing "first guitar"!).

[Doctor Bob]

Arjan:

So If we establish that Here She Comes Now and There She Goes Again are both Sterling leads then (pretty sure about both of these) and WFTM is Sterl on lead (depending on your definition of lead but in my book definitely); then it emerges that lead/rhythm duties were pretty equal even in Cale era. Especially when you take into account live/non-studio album songs from the Cale era such as Hey Mr Rain, Guess I'm Fallin in Love (gymnasium) and Booker T which all had Sterl on lead right? Then I would still consider Sterl to be the main lead guitarist, although its just a ridiculous label in some ways when you think of how well Lou and Sterl's guitar playing complimented each other. I like the way its billed on the original Max's inlay: 'Lou Reed, Rhythm and Lead Guitar. Sterling Morrison, Lead and Rhythm Guitar'.

Totally agree with you about Sterl's play on the Redux album, its divine. And I know what you mean about the way Sterl is playing Beginning to See the Light on the redux VHS-its pretty much the way he played it on the Max's album, playing the chord shapes and carrying the melody at the same time, pretty cool, and great to see on the video, I only wish I could zoom even closer up on the fingering. I can see that when he plays the first chord of the progression he plays the open 'A' shape (detuned to sound like G) with his first finger, using the pinky to hook the fifth fret on the top string to play the little melody run. I get a bit lost as to exactly what he does from then on, he seems to do a neat little 2 chord move while Lou is playing the G shape but I can't quite make it out, not helped by the fact that the camera is mostly on Lou during the song (which is fair enough since not that many people are sitting at home thinking 'enough of Lou, can we get real close up on Sterl's left hand technique?')

And likewise for I'll Be Your Mirror, yes I agree its a great country fingerstyle outro but I agree on this occasion that wonderful as it is, it can't be called lead guitar.

[arjan]

such as Hey Mr Rain, Guess I'm Fallin in Love (gymnasium) and Booker T which all had Sterl on lead right?

I see what you mean re. WFTM. GiFiL -- of course, it's a great Sterling lead. Booker T. I dont know, I thought Lou and Sterling both played lead on that. But Hey Mr Rain features only one guitar -- Lou's. Sterling plays bass on that.

Love the way you describe and analyse Sterling's playing on the VHS, I never took the time to really figure out what he's playing other than that it looks and sounds fantastic