Lou Reed

Today is Lou Reed's birthday. I've always been a big fan of his music over the years. I got the first Velvet Underground back in late 1967 and got their second album when it was released in 1968. I've been getting Lou Reed albums ever since.

Each year around this time there is a special show of local bands covering Lou Reed songs down at Nietzche's on Allen Street and we would often attend. We knew a lot of the musicians playing and we always had a good time. This year would have been the 8th Annual Lou Reed Transformers Tribute Show but Nietzche's is still closed because of the pandemic. Hopefully we'll go again next year.

I saw Lou Reed perform three times early in his career. The first time was with the Velvet Underground in 1968 at The Trauma club in Philadelphia. I was disappointed when Nico was not on the stage. I saw him later in 1973 at a small club in Philly when I was home on leave. He played solo on the stage. Then again in later 1973 I saw him with a really great band in Norfolk Virginia opening up for Alice Cooper. I wrote more about that show here. 

I was always fascinated that he married Laurie Anderson. It was sad when he passed away from cancer in 2013 at the age of 71.

In my collection I have nine Velvet Undergound albums including four multidisc live sets and a couple of compilations. I have 24 Lou Reed albums that include 2 multidisc box sets.