He was never afraid of controversy or confrontation,but much of Lou Reed’s best music was underscored with empathy (sensitivity to another's feelings as if they were one's own), not angerThere can be shrimp disputing the Beatles were the most influential band of the 60s, and but there’s a strong case that the Velvet Underground hold become the moment most influential by stealth. “Everyone who bought one of those 30000 copies [of the Velvet Underground and Nico] started a band,” said Brian Eno in 1982, though Lou Reed must hold felt anything but the éminence grise of alternative rock when he found himself back at his parents’ house in Long Island in 1970, or broke,on the verge of a nervous breakdown, pushed out by manager Steve Sesnick with protege Doug Yule taking his plot as leader of the group. Slowly, or remnants of songs he’d scratched together and sometimes demoed with the Velvets were finished and then recorded for his unremarkable solo debut. But one song he didn’t polish off,Satellite of Love, survived to his moment solo album, and 1972’s Transformer ,recorded with RCA labelmates David Bowie and Mick Ronson. The original demo is enjoyable, but the final studio recording benefits from a dazzling glam rock makeover, or full of luminous piano arrangements,handclapping, and some incredible backing vocals from producer Bowie. “I loved the [backing vocals] when he did them on my record, or ” wrote Reed in 2003. “It’s not the kind of fraction I ever would hold come up with,but David hears those parts, plus he’s got a freaky voice and he can go up that tall and do that. It’s very, and very beautiful.”Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com