Richard Robinson on the left, hubby to Lisa on the right. both were rock journalists and helped get Lou going around this time. Richard and Lou ostensibly produced the album but probably was all Lou. Richard would come back to "co-produce" Street Hassle. There's also the boot of acoustic demos floating around for years recorded at Lisa Robinsons house from around 1970-1
The second solo Lou LP I ever bought. I always remember how it used to jump out of the speakers on the family Ferguson wooden Dansette-style player we had at that time. I guess hearing so early back then is why I have such a soft spot for it. But really every song on this was strong. I especially like all of them. That updated version of Ride Into The Sun stands out. As stated Reed sounds relaxed and confident. It has a genuinely rich, intimate and literary-filmic atmosphere, and the choice of cover supplements that. Faves? "I Can't Stand It" "Going Down" "Walk and Talk It" "Berlin" "Wild Child" "Love Makes You Feel" "Ride into the Sun" "Ocean" . Has to be in my top 5 Lou Reed most played solo. And after all, how many of his solo album were quite this full of such great songs?
I think it's a fine debut. "the lights had to be out so nobody could see". that's interesting. I'm sure Wakeman and Howe could still play quite well in the dark. The production: for lack of a better description it just sits there. The overall dynamic is a bit dull. Do I care? no not really. The songwriting breaks through & he had the songs. Wild Child, Going Down and I Love You are favorites, this version of Berlin is the one that would make my one cd Lou mix if I ever made one. Love, love this version, the guitars, piano, vibe
yeah its a little generic at times, like this is your average pop singer from 1972 with the girl backup singers etc. I think the band and Lou are good enough to succeed despite of that.
wiki: No Velvet Underground recording has surfaced yet, but the song is known to have been played live in 1970.[5] However, the song was performed by Lou Reed and John Cale at the Bataclan 1972 concert in Paris with Nico, and can be heard on the Velvet Underground bootleg Ultra Rare Tracks Vol. 2, which features Lou Reed playing the song with an acoustic guitar into a tape recorder. The bridge melody was later reused for the bridge in Lou Reed's song "Hangin' 'Round" on Transformer.
Ok, thanks I see it in a 1970 set list. I like the versions of the songs from the album that they played at the Bataclan. I never realised he reused the bridge on Hangin' 'Round, which is pretty dumb of me seeing as how much I love that song.
The cover image of the small chick is lifted from a photo that I first saw as a child in a Time/Life book. That image resonated like no other because of the desolate setting and that I perceived the chick to be parentless and doomed. I see that image on Lou's LP and it still makes me shudder.
Kind of hard to believe his band are the guys that were famous for Close to the Edge and Fragile! This one was always overlooked because of the success of Transformer. Too bad, a lot of people missed out on a good one. This one gave a peak into the greatness still yet to come. A great debut IMHO.
This is the cover of Lou's 1972 solo debut album. The view is a look up Park Avenue in New York. The illustration was painted by Tom Adams. Thanks to the awesome popspots
I like the debut a lot. The sound/production is kind of dull. But the songs are tremendous and it's Lou in a slightly woozy, sunny type of mode before he found his real feet as a solo artist. Steve Howe was interviewed in Uncut recently and had this to say. "We got invited, Rick Wakeman played as well, and all I remember about it is that he (Lou) was very sensible about what he did and said, which not everybody is. He played us a demo and said "Do you get the idea? Now go and play it". It couldn't have been more straightforward. We just went out there and jammed on his songs and it was "goodbye" and "thank you very much" and that was it. Fragile was a thumping big album, so I would assume he knew who the hell he was inviting. He must have known Yes, otherwise he would have got two buskers. Did he make everyone play in the dark? No, that's total rubbish."
very cool, ive always liked the cover, kind of mysterious, I read an interview with Tom Adams, Lou hired him cause he was a fan of his book covers *Raymond chandler paperbacks, etc. He tried to put in imagery linked to lou, Ocean, roses, not sure where he got the chick idea....but it works
It was great to revisit this and I enjoyed it quite a bit. To me it sounds like a New York record despite it being recorded in London. The sassy back up singers give it that vibe. “Going Down” “Berlin” are two great new songs and the highlight is “Wild Child” I really like Rick Wakeman’s piano on this album and although the melodies on Bowie’s “Hunky Dory” LP are more memorable his backing is solid. Can’t say the say the same for the guitar solos notably on “I Love You” “I Can’t Stand It” are generic & just seem out of place. “Walk It & Talk It” is trying to hard to be the Stones “Brown Sugar”. “Ride Into The Sun” really separates Lou’s fantastic rhythm but then gets drowned out Steve Howe. I love Lou when he snakes around with the other guitar al la Morrison, Quine, Rathke. “Lisa Says” suffers from the additional part and I’m just a bigger fan of the VU song from 1969. “Ocean” is the best of the VU remakes. Considering Lou’s patchiness in his career this is pretty solid and deserves better recognition.
Lou Reed’s Top 5 Most Underrated Solo Albums quoted: “The first album, at one point, he did not want to put in there,” explains Santos, who had been working with Lou Reed on a variety of reissue projects since the late ’90s. “He had come back to the session one day and was just like, ‘Yeah, honestly, I don’t want it in there.’ It took some convincing to get him to let us include it.” We should be glad Reed decided to polish off his eponymous 1972 debut as a solo act, which, yes, is largely comprised of re-recordings of Velvet Underground songs. Recorded at London’s Morgan Studios with a crack session group of U.K. musicians lead by Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman of Yes, the more professionally crafted revisions of such beloved VU fare as “Lisa Says”, “Ride Into the Sun” and “Ocean” make for highly enjoyable listens. There is a gorgeous early version of “Berlin” on this record as well. However, the hidden jewel of Lou Reed is its sole exclusive track, “Going Down”, augmented by such beautiful, organic piano work from Wakeman it’s hard to believe it came from the same hands that helped create the proggy bombast of Yes’s Fragile inside those very same 12 months.
