Lou Reed: “I thought The Beatles were garbage”

Another instalment of this cracking series of animated lost interviews... Take a look at the rest if you've never seen this before:

http://blankonblank.org/interviews/lou-reed-guns-ammo-the-velvet-underground/

A newly unearthed interview with Lou Reed reveals The Velvet Underground leader’s thoughts on The Beatles, and they were not kind.

“I never liked the Beatles,” Reed said. “I thought they were garbage. If you say, ‘Who did you like?’ I liked nobody.”

 

More curmudgeonly than any of us around here !

I still like some of his stuff...VU included.

The old, now dead bas*ard !!

 

LOL...so said Lou Reed.

I care for his stuff even less than I did before now.

 

Oh god... I shouldn't have used the Beatles quote to post this here.
What have I done?!?!

 

This is the same Lou who said he thought Duran Duran's version of Perfect Day was the best cover of any of his songs?

 

Just part of Lou's persona. Bad boy.

 

So he didn't like any singers, yet was 'inspired' to become one? I'm not buying it - I think he was being obtuse simply for the sake of his image.

 

God forbid anyone say anything bad about The Beatles.

 

“I never liked the Beatles,” Reed said. “I thought they were garbage. If you say, ‘Who did you like?’ I liked nobody.”

Said the man who couldn't carry a tune in a wheelbarrow.

 

Is this the same Lou Reed who called Kanye a "genius"?

 

Is this news? I thought he'd always trash-talked about the Fabs.

 

I don't get offended because a musician I like doesn't like another musician I like.

 

Yeah, maybe not, knowing what this place is like. But you did.

 

yeah, a mistake, imo -- just red meat for the Hoffmanite/"Sir Paul"/pseudo-purist wannabes, I'm afraid.

 

Interesting that Lou Reed says that he wanted to make music that you would listen to beyond your youth: I sort of lost interest in him when I got older. Who else but a teenager (or a junkie) could listen to a song called Heroin and take it seriously?

 

So what?

 

I still listen to "Heroin" and I still think it's brilliant reportage in song. As are most of Reed's songs. So happy to see this thread in the forums. Keep it classy folks.

 

Lou's the best.

 

Or....you could've focused on the "doesn't like NOBODY"....

Seems The Beatles get just a tad more attention than Nobody.

Wonder why that is ?

 

Lou Reed would have been slightly too old for the Beatles, who would have struck someone like him as kid stuff and secondhand goods at that. Heck, my mother had the same opinion: "Why listen to covers of Motown and Chuck Berry when you have Motown and Chuck Berry records?"

Bob Dylan said as much about his folkie friends, that he had to hide his admiration for the group for fear of being appearing uncool.

 

Well we're all teenagers at heart, that's the nature of rock and roll. I can dig Cale's viola playing on it. Just disputing Reed's assertion that it's adult music.

 

Can't even say it was a rookie mistake... I've been here long enough to know the hell this sort of thing can unleash...

 

He saw their music as being more adult as far as topics go. They were the dark knights riding through flower power and stomping on it. Hard.

 

Wasn't Lou Reed more popular than Jesus or something like this quote? We must burn his albums!

 

I'm sure I remember there being another quote where he talked about admiring them. Idk, am I imagining things?