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RE: (TV) lou vs. cale: what becomes a legend most?



I must take exception, Willie - 'Growing Up In Public' is one of my
favorite LR albums. Opening lyric: "A son who is cursed with a harridan
mother and a weak simpering father at best is forced to play out the
timeless classical motifs of filial love and incest." Four bars, one
sentence. From here he carries a strong, personal literary theme to the
end of how families imprint your mentality as we join teenage Cabaret Lou
entering adulthood. On 'My Old Man' the father beats his mother - had the
weak simpering father had enough or is it a different character? On
'Standing On Ceremony' he pulls out the White Light type rhythm for the
coda - a funny song I guess in that it resembles the SNL 'loud utensils'
sketch. 'Keep Away' places you in the middle of bitter relationship
turmoil ("Here's some books and a puzzle by Escher. Here's Shakespeare's
'Measure For Measure'") and lest we forget 'The Power Of Positive
Drinking'. Enmeshed in the NY singles scene circa 1980, finally the
narrator settles down into the comfort of his own family as gorgeously
rendered in the lyrics of 'Think It Over' (which should have been played
in a different key, but oh well). Unlike virtually every album after the
Blue Mask, every song on GUIP doesn't sound the same. Unless you just
completely hate pianos and keyboards on a rock record I can't see what
there is not to like about it, if you're a Lou Reed fan that is. These are
great songs played with character and style but still with straight-ahead,
live rock and roll energy. The track sequence utilizes dramatic tempo
changes to the fullest. You can find this album cheap in many used record
bins and it's just been reissued on CD. Essential Lou.

GL

> -----Original Message-----
> From: tv-owner@obbard.com [mailto:tv-owner@obbard.com]On Behalf Of
> wal00@hampshire.edu
> Sent: Sunday, June 02, 2002 6:22 PM
> To: tv@obbard.com
> Subject: (TV) lou vs. cale: what becomes a legend most?
>
>
> a friend and i are in the process of compiling songs for a
> worst of Lou Reed
> anthology (for 90 min tapes, of course), and boy are the prospects
> overwhelming! is it only funny to us that the same person who
> released 'growing
> up in public', 'mistrial', 'sally can't dance', 'street hassle', 'new
> sensations', etc. remains so highly regarded? i mean, there's
> some good stuff,
> but most of it's just crap. 'growing up in public' might just
> be the most
> hilarious record i've ever heard. and the covers to some of
> those albums? don't
> even get me started... Lou's been in a remarkable slump for a
> long, long time.
> when was the last _good_ Lou record? John Cale has had a much
> more admirable
> career than Lou, certainly ('paris 1919', 'academy in peril', 'helen of
> troy', 'vintage violence'). 'guts' is a damn funny album, tho.
> especially if
> you think about it in the same context as the terrific
> minimalist stuff w/ Tony
> Conrad. to me, Cale demonstrates a more thorough understanding
> of his own
> music, and a clearer vision, than Lou. Lou just seems to be
> floundering around
> in the studio with a bunch of hot-shot session musicians that
> he doesn't know
> what to do with. however, in terms of post-Velvets solo output,
> Nico's albums
> beat the pants off those two geezers any day.
>
> the Zombies are amazing. the 4-disc box is delectable thru and
> thru. and you've
> gotta admit, the Fabs are a bit overrated.
>
> willie
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