The Velvet Forum

Recently, I read an interview in a book (could have been "Please Kill Me", a history/interviews on the Punk genre) and the person being interviewed (unfortunately, I don't recall who it was, but 'twas not Reed himself) claimed that Lou Reed never actually used heroin. The interviewee, in fact, said that Reed wrote "Heroin" when he was about sixteen, after drinking a few beers. I know, what difference does it make, really... I am, however, curious and wonder if others have read about that possibility, too?

In "What's Welsh for Zen" john cale relates an account of Lou Reed shoting up in a bathroom. I don't have the book right at hand so I can't give you the page numbers. I'm sure someone else can get into more detail about other documentations of Lou's drug use.

In the book 'Factory Made', Cale is quoted saying the Lou shot him up the first time.

" I was squeamish about the needles. Lou took care of that by shooting me up for the first time. It was an intimate experience, not least because my first reaction was to vomit"

I just checked out the website for the book, it's pretty good: http://www.factorymade.com


Has a video archive of interviews including John Cale and lots of the other factory denizens.

sorry, http://www.factorymade.org

Jerome wrote:In the book 'Factory Made', Cale is quoted saying the Lou shot him up the first time.

" I was squeamish about the needles. Lou took care of that by shooting me up for the first time. It was an intimate experience, not least because my first reaction was to vomit"

Yup, and that quote was recycled for What's Welsh for Zen, which is where I read it and which is, I think, what Radiofreesimulacrum is referring to.

Hey, thanks! I'll check out the webpage - sounds highly intriguing.

I think people are gettng confused - Lou was shooting up SPEED

I'd like to know what Reed is on in the split picture on the back of the third album. He looks wiped out.

Yeah, I was going to say that too Bleach.

Heroin isn't the only drug you shoot up; it's much more effiecent to mainline speed. But one could infer that he's done heroin here and there just because of how hard he was in drugs.