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Today in Rock History – May 17

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1967, Pete Townshend records an interview for the BBC overseas radio program Dateline London then The Who pre-tape a Top Of The Pops insert miming to “Pictures Of Lily.” From there they travel to Stevenage to play the Locarno Ballroom. Backstage, John lashed out at a “well-known pop singer” by punching his picture on the wall. He breaks his finger.

1969, Chicago release their double debut album, Chicago Transit Authority. The real C.T.A. sued.

1969, It was reported that for the first time ever album sales had overtaken single sales in the UK. 49,184,000 albums were produced during 1968 compared with 49,161,000 singles.

1969, Joni Mitchell was featured on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine, on sale for 35 Cents,

1971, Dawn was at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Knock Three Times’, the group’s first of two No.1’s. Singer Tony Orlando had retired from singing when he was persuaded to front Dawn for studio recordings.

1974, ABC broadcasts the Elton John special Say Goodbye to Norma Jean and Other Things, during which the singer plays “Candle in the Wind” and “Rocket Man.”.

1974, The Grateful Dead performed at the P.N.E. Coliseum in Vancouver, Canada.

1975, Earth Wind and Fire started a three-week run at No.1 on the album chart with the soundtrack to ‘That’s The Way Of The World.’

1975, Mick Jagger needs 20 stitches in his hand after putting it through the window of a restaurant in Montauk, N.Y.

1975, Elton John was awarded a Platinum Record for sales of a million copies of the LP ‘Captain Fantastic and The Brown Dirt Cowboy’, the first album ever to be certified Platinum on the day of its release.

1975, Led Zeppelin played the first of five sold-out nights at Earls Court Arena, London, England.

1978, Lou Reed begins a week-long stand at New York’s Bottom Line club. The concerts are taped for his live album Take No Prisoners.

1979, The Police appeared at Santa Monica Civic Auditorium, Santa Monica, California.

Born on this day: Taj Mahal (1946); Bill Bruford, King Crimson, Yes (1948); George Johnson, the Brothers Johnson (1953); Paul Dianno,  Iron Maiden (1959); and Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails (1965)

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Today in Rock History – March 24

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beatles_help_movie_image1965, The Beatles continued filming Help! at Twickenham Studios, England. They shot the interior temple scenes, including the one where they “dive through a hollow sacrificial altar and into water”. That scene was then cut to the swimming pool scene filmed in the Bahamas on February 23.

1966, Simon and Garfunkel made their UK singles chart debut with “Homeward Bound.” It was released in the US in January. Simon is said to have written the song at Farnworth railway station, Widnes, England, while stranded overnight waiting for a train. A plaque is displayed in the station to commemorate this, although memorabilia hunters have stolen it many times.

1967, Pink Floyd played the first of two nights at the Ricky Tick Club in Hounslow, England.

1970, Genesis performed at Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, London.

1971, The Allman Brothers Band appeared at Foster Auditorium, Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

1972, King Crimson played at Memorial Auditorium, Buffalo, New York.

1973, Pink Floyd played the last date of their North American tour at the Park Center in Charlotte, North Carolina.

1973, Alice Cooper went to number one on the UK album charts with Billion Dollar Babies.

1973, During a Lou Reed show in Buffalo, New York, a fan jumped on stage and bit Lou on the bottom. The man was thrown out of the theater and Reed completed the show.

1973, The O’Jays went to number one on the US singles chart with “Love Train.”

1973, “Dueling Banjos” by Eric Weissberg and Steve Mandell begins its second week as number one on the USA album charts.

1973, The Grateful Dead played at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.

1974, Yes appeared at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

david-bowie-rod-stewart1975, David Bowie sees Rod Stewart and The Faces at Madison Square Garden with Ava Cherry and Warren Peace, going backstage for the after show party.

1975, LaBelle had a chart topping hit with “Lady Marmalade.” The group was originally called Patti LaBelle and the Blue Belles.

1975, Genesis appeared at Palasport Parco Rufino, Turin, Italy.

courtesy: LedZeppelin.com

1975, Led Zeppelin performed at the Forum in Inglewood, California. The set list: Rock and Roll, Sick Again, Over the Hills and Far Away, In My Time of Dying, The Song Remains the Same, Rain Song, Kashmir, No Quarter, Trampled Underfoot, Moby Dick, Dazed and Confused (incl. Woodstock), Stairway to Heaven, Whole Lotta Love (incl. The Crunge), Black Dog, Heartbreaker.

1976, The Who played at Memorial Coliseum, Portland, Oregon.

1977, Jethro Tull headlined at Maple Leaf Gardens, Toronto.

1978, Aerosmith played at Veterans Memorial Auditorium, Columbus, Ohio.

1980, Van Halen performed at Spokane Coliseum, Spokane, Washington.

1981, The Grateful Dead performed at the Rainbow Theater in London.

1982, ZZ Top appeared at the San Diego Sports Arena, San Diego, California.

1984, The former lead singer of the Commodores Lionel Richie started a six week run at number one on the UK singles chart with “Hello.” It was also a chart topping hit in the US.

1984, Blue Oyster Cult played at Municipal Auditorium, Nashville, Tennessee.

1985, “Easy Lover” by Philip Bailey and Phil Collins was at number one on the UK singles chart. Bailey was a former vocalist with Earth Wind & Fire. Phil Collins produced, drummed and sang on the track.

1992, A Chicago court settled the Milli Vanilli class action suit by approving cash rebates of up to $3 (£1.76) to anyone proving they bought the group’s music before November 27 1990, the date the lip synching scandal broke. Milli Vanilli won the 1989 best new artist Grammy after hits like “Blame it on the Rain” and “Girl, You Know It’s True,” selling 30 million singles and 14 million albums. But in late 1990, the performers were stripped of the award after it was revealed that neither actually sang on the Milli Vanilli album.

1997, Singer with Philly soul group Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes, Harold Melvin died aged 57. Had the 1972 US number three and 1974 UK number nine single “If You Don’t Know Me By Know.”

2001, A stretch of road on Highway 19 in Macon, Georgia, was named Duane Allman Boulevard, near where the Allman Brothers guitarist died aged 24 in a motorcycle crash on October 29, 1971.

2009, Motown drummer Uriel Jones, died aged 74 after suffering complications from a heart attack. Jones played on many Motown classics including “I Heard It Through the Grapevine,” by Marvin Gaye, “Cloud Nine” by the Temptations, “I Second That Emotion” by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles and “For Once In My Life” by Stevie Wonder.

2013, Pictures of The Beatles’ 1965 Shea Stadium concert, taken by an amateur photographer who bluffed his way backstage, sold for £30,000 ($45,000) at auction. Marc Weinstein used a fake press pass to get next to the stage for the legendary New York show.

Born on March 24: Holger Czukay, Can (1938); Don Covay, American R&B, rock and roll, soul singer-songwriter (1938); Klaus Dinger, German guitarist, songwriter, Neu!, La Düsseldorf, Kraftwerk (1946); Lee Oskar, War (1948); Nick Lowe (1949); Dougie Thompson, Supertramp (1951); Nena, singer (1960);  Sharon Corr, vocals, violin, The Corrs (1970); Chad Blutler, drums, Switchfoot (1974);

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Today in Rock History – March 20

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1969, John Lennon married Yoko Ono at the British Consulate Office in Gibraltar. They spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam campaigning for an international “Bed-In” for peace. They planned another “Bed-in” in the United States, but were denied entry. The couple then went to Montréal, and during a “Bed-in” at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel recorded ‘Give Peace a Chance’. Lennon also detailed this period in The Beatles’ ‘The Ballad of John and Yoko’, recorded by Lennon and McCartney on April 14, 1969.

1970, David and Angela Bowie were married at Beckenham Registry Office, London. They were divorced in 1980.

1970, The Grateful Dead performed at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York.

1971,  The Rolling Stones placed full page advertisements at their own expensein all the UK’s music papers disclaiming any connection with the release of the Decca album Stone Age saying “in our opinion the content is below the standard we try to keep.”

1971, Janis Joplin started a two week run at number one on the singles chart with the Kris Kristofferson’s “Me And Bobby McGee.”  The song is the second posthumous number one song of the rock era, reaching the top of the charts almost six months after Joplin’s death on October 4th, 1970.

1973, Slade were at No.1 on the UK singles chart with “Cum On Feel The Noize,” the group’s fourth UK number one.

1976, Status Quo started a three-week run at No.1 on the UK chart with their third No.1 album Blue For You. The bands record label set up a deal with Levi Jeans, advertising in over 6,000 clothes shops to help promote the album.

Lou Reed

1976, Alice Cooper married 19 year old Sheryl Goddard.

1977, Lou Reed was banned from appearing The London Palladium in England because of his punk image.

1977, T Rex played their final ever gig when they appeared at The Locarno in Portsmouth, England.

1980, 28 year- old Joseph Riviera held up the Asylum Records office in New York and demanded to see either Jackson Browne or The Eagles. Riviera wanted to talk to them to see if they would finance his trucking operation. He gave himself up when told that neither act was in the office at the time.

1982, Joan Jett And The Blackhearts started a seven week run at No.1 on the US singles chart with “I Love Rock ‘n’ Roll,” a No.4 hit in the UK. The song had been a B-side from 60’s band The Arrows.

1991, Eric Clapton’s four year old son, Conor, fell to his death from the 53rd story of a New York City apartment after a housekeeper who was cleaning the room left a window open. The boy was in the custody of his mother, Italian actress, Lori Del Santo and the pair were visiting a friend’s apartment. Clapton was staying in a nearby hotel after taking his son to the circus the previous evening. The tragedy inspired his song “Tears in Heaven.”

Born on March 20: Lee “Scratch” Perry, reggae producer (1936); Jerry Reed (1937); Jimmy Vaughn (1949); Carl Palmer, ELP (1951); Fonso Martin, Steel Pulse (1956); and Chester Bennington, vocals, Linkin Park (1976)

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Song Of The Day – “Company In My Back” (Live Version from Kicking Television) by Wilco

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wilcokickingLive albums. They are the most maligned recordings by critics, yet the fans just love them. You don’t believe me? Ask Peter Frampton, The Allman Brothers, Led Zeppelin, Yes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, The Rolling Stones, David Bowie, Neil Young, Neil Diamond, Little Feat, The Who, Lou Reed, Cheap Trick and Kiss to name a few, who have made classic live albums and have benefitted from huge sales. Heck, live albums are so ingrained in our pop culture, that you can probably name each of the live albums I’m referring to above, just by the list of artists.

In the pantheon of music recordings, live albums live kind of a lowly life. For some they are seen as stop-gap product put out by artists who feel the need to keep their brand in the heads of their fans while they take the time to rejuvenate their creative juices between projects. Artists and record companies alike issue them in order to fulfill contracts. Many love live albums because they act as a souvenir and a powerful reminder of a great night out at a concert they’ve been to, or a concert they would have loved to have seen. Then there are those who love them because they provide an opportunity for us to hear a band stretch out and jam the way they never do in the studio, with warts and all. And when an artist releases a live album, they get to create their own reality, by mixing applause and audience participation wherever they want, in order to heighten the “live” experience.

Perhaps, my favorite of all live albums is “Kicking Television” by Wilco, which is why I have singled it out for today’s Song Of The Day. The album was recorded over four days at the Vic Theater in Chicago (the band’s home turf) in May of 2005, and captures the group touring behind “A Ghost Is Born”, one of their best albums. It was also the first tour and record to feature the great guitarist Nels Cline and crucial multi-instrumentalist Pat Sansone in the lineup. The addition of these two members had solidified the Wilco lineup, which remains the same to this day. The shows were also filmed for a proposed DVD, but it never came to fruition. While the record focused mainly on material from “Ghost” and “Yankee Hotel Foxtrot,” it does offer a pretty good representation of what the band was about at the time. It also features some of the walls of feedback the band uses to great effect during performances. The double disc collection features 23 tracks, while the vinyl release adds an additional eight bonus tracks over the four record set.

Another one of the greatest live albums of all time is Talking Heads’ “Stop Making Sense” which captured the expanded version of the group on tour behind the album “Speaking In Tongues.” The show was captured on film from the Pantages Theater in Hollywood by Jonathan Demme in what most critics believe to be the very best concert film of all time. Having seen the tour when it came to the Forest Hills Tennis Stadium in New York, I can attest to how great this version of the Heads was at the time.

Critics also generally agree that James Brown’s “Live At The Apollo” was one of the greatest live recordings of all time. The album was recorded at the Apollo Theater in Harlem in October of 1962, and was released by King Records the following year. Brown funded the recording himself when King records balked at the idea that a live record could make money for the company. While no live album could fully capture the power of the Godfather Of Soul in full action, this album does manage to capture a fair share of the excitement Brown was able to create on stage.

Some of my favorite live albums over the years include Lou Reed’s “Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal” from 1974 which also had a sequel from the same Academy Of Music show in the album “Lou Reed Live” the following year. David Bowie’s “David Live” is one the critics particularly hated. The 1974 double album captured from the Tower Theater in Philadelphia while on tour behind “Diamond Dogs,” was reissued on CD several years ago with the correct running order of the show restored, making it much better listening experience. Then there’s Grateful Dead’s “Europe ’72” from the band’s first European tour where they introduced many new songs into their repertoire that are now considered classics. Last year, Grateful Dead productions released all of the concerts from the tour into a mammoth 73 CD set.

There are literally thousands of live albums littering the musical landscape, but I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention the following favorites of mine including Neil Young’s “Rust Never Sleeps”/”Live Rust” albums recorded on tour in 1978, Kraftwerk’s “Minimum/Maximum” recorded in 2004 (it was also one of the best concerts I’ve ever seen for its visuals), Sam Cooke’s “Live At The Harlem Square Club 1963,” Simon & Garfunkel’s “Live In Central Park” (mainly because I was there), Roy Orbison’s “A Black And White Night” (featuring Orbison backed by an all-star band that included Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, Bruce Springsteen, Bonnie Raitt, kd lang, Jackson Browne and many others), Gram Parsons and the Fallen Angels “Live 1973” which was recorded at Ultrasonic Studios in Long Island for broadcast on WLIR FM, John Coltrane’s “Live At The Village Vanguard” from 1963, Miles Davis’ “Complete Cellar Door Recordings” from 1970, Bob Marley’s “Live” from 1976, Nirvana’s “MTV Unplugged” and Frank Zappa’s “Zappa In New York.”

OK, so I’ve covered my favorites and purposely excluded some of the classics. What are your favorite live albums and why?

Today in Rock History – August 23

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1966, The Beatles were at No.1 on the singles chart with the double a sided ‘Yellow Submarine – Eleanor Rigby’. The group’s eleventh No.1.

1966, On their final tour of America, The Beatles performed at Shea Stadium in New York City, New York. Unlike the previous year’s performance, which had sold out, there were 11,000 empty seats in the 55,600 seat stadium. The Beatles earn more than the previous year, receiving $189,000 for their performance.

1967, During a North American tour Herman’s Hermits supported by The Who appeared at Atwood Stadium, Flint in Michigan.

1967, Enjoying a wild birthday party Keith Moon drummer with The Who drove his Lincoln car into a Holiday Inn swimming pool. As the party had become out of control, the police were called to put an end to the festivities. Moon, ever keen to avoid the boys in blue snuck outside and got into a Lincoln Continental Limousine and attempted to make a getaway. Unfortunately, in his inebriated state he released the handbrake, and began rolling towards the pool. Moon simply sat back and waited, as the car crashed through the fence around the pool and into the water.

1967, Joni Mitchell played her first ever UK show when she opened for The Piccadilly Line at The Marquee Club in London.

1968, During a North American tour The Jimi Hendrix Experience appeared at Singer Bowl, Flushing Meadow Park, New York. Also on the bill Soft Machine and Big Brother and the Holding Company.

1968, Pink Floyd played the first two nights on the last stop of their US tour at The Bank, in Torrence, California., in the Los Angeles area.

1969, The Rolling Stones started a four week run at No.1 on the singles chart with ‘Honky Tonk Women’ the group’s fifth No.1.

1969, Ibex, featuring vocalist Freddie Bulsara (later Freddie Mercury), played a gig at the Octagon Theatre, Bolton, Lancashire, UK.

1969, The Grateful Dead played at Pelletier Farm, in St. Helens, Oregon, after local officials denied the promoters the opportunity to stage a three day festival at the Columbia County Fairgrounds.

1970, Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground performed together for the last time at the New York Club ‘Max’s Kansas City’. Reed worked as a typist for his father for the next two years, at $40 per week.

1971, During a North American tour Led Zeppelin appeared at the Tarrant County Convention Center, Fort Worth Texas.

1972, The Who appear at Kungliga Tennishallen, in Stockholm, Sweden.

1974, Aerosmith played at the Parthenon Theatre,  in Hammond, Indiana, an old movie house with a capacity of over 2500, dating back to the 1920’s.

1975, Joy Division singer Ian Curtis married Deborah Woodruff, whom he met while still at school, when he was 19 and she was 18. They remained married until his death when he hanged himself in the kitchen of his house in Macclesfield, England at the age of 23.

1975, One of These Nights by the Eagles entered its last week atop the US album charts.  Elton John’s Captain Fantastic would knock it from the number one spot.

1975, The following groups performed at the Reading Festival – Alan Stivell, Babe Ruth, Heavy Metal Kids, Kursaal Flyers, Snafu, Supertramp, The Ozark Mountain Daredevils, Thin Lizzy, Yes, Zzebra.

1977, Rush performed at Exhibition Stadium, Toronto.

1980, David Bowie was at number one on the singles chart with ‘Ashes To Ashes’ his second chart topper. The song comes from the Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) album, the song continued the story of Major Tom from Bowie’s “Space Oddity.” The video for “Ashes to Ashes” was one of the most iconic of the 1980s and costing £250,000 ($400,000). At the time it was one of the most expensive music videos ever made.

1980, Saturday night’s lineup at the Reading Festival was Broken Home, Grand Prix, Iron Maiden, Pat Travers Band, Quartz, Samson, UFO, and White Spirit.

1980, The Heatwave Festival in Toronto, Canada took place with Talking Heads, Elvis Costello, The B-52’s, The Pretenders, Rockpile and The Rumour. Tickets cost $30 (£18.75), with only 50,000 people attending the festival lost over $1 million.

1991, Iggy Pop, Sonic Youth, Pop Will Eat Itself, Dinosaur Jr, Chapterhouse, Nirvana, Silverfish, Babes in Toyland, James, The Fall, De La Soul, Blur, Teenage Fanclub, Flowered Up, The Fat Lady Sings, Kingmaker, Mercury Rev, Sisters of Mercy and Neds Atomic Dustbin all appeared at the three day Reading Festival in England.

2008, Madonna kicked off her 86-date Sticky & Sweet Tour at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff Wales. It became the highest grossing tour by a solo artist, breaking the previous record Madonna achieved with her 2006 Confessions Tour. Madonna’s first venture with Live Nation, was estimated to have grossed $280 (£175) million.

Born on this August 23: Keith Moon (1947); Rick Springfield (1949); Mark Avsec, keyboardist, songwriter, Donnie Iris & the Cruisers, Wild Cherry (1954); and Julian Casablancas, guitar, vocals, The Strokes (1978)

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Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Andy’s Chest” by Lou Reed

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“Swoop, swoop, oh baby rock, rock…” Only early ‘70s radio would play a song with blatant references to giving head and not have a problem with the lyrical content. Such was the atmosphere that welcomed Lou Reed’s second solo record after leaving the Velvet Underground and his biggest hit “Walk On The Wild Side.” If Lou standing on the back cover with a huge boner in his pants wasn’t enough, fans were treated to his usual lyrical fare – transvestites, drug use, Andy Warhol, frequent hookups and, or course, homosexuality. The album was produced by David Bowie and Mick Ronson who had been profoundly influenced by The Velvet Underground and had regularly covered several of their songs in their live sets. In fact, this song was originally a Velvet Underground outtake from 1969 sessions that went unreleased until the mid-1980s Velvet Underground compilation albums “VU” and “Another View.” Sundazed Records will be issuing a box set of all of the Velvet Underground vinyl albums this fall that is supposed to include the great lost 1969 Velvets album. “Transformer” came out in 1972, the same year as Bowie’s “Ziggy Stardust” album, and in my estimation it has stood the test of time much better. With that said, it was Bowie’s golden production touch (and background vocals on this track) that revived Reed’s career, giving him his biggest album and hit. Bowie would go on to resuscitate the careers of Mott The Hoople and Iggy Pop from here, while Reed continues to release records on his own.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “I Can’t Stand It” by Chris Whitley

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Chris Whitley’s short, restless career encompassed folk, noise rock, jazz, country, mainstream rock and the blues. He was discovered by producer Daniel Lanois who helped him score a major label record deal with Columbia Records in 1988. His first album, “Living With The Law” was a mainstream rock affair with good songs that gave him radio exposure, but it wasn’t until his second album and third albums, “Din Of Ecstasy” and “Terra Incognita” that Whitley came into his own with great songs ensconced in noise. After being dropped by Columbia he began releasing records independently including his covers album “Perfect Day” where he was backed by Jazz musicians Chris Wood (of Medeski, Martin & Wood) and Billy Martin. He also released some terrific acoustic records that are well worth seeking out. Not only was Whitley a great songwriter, he also had a knack for choosing interesting covers by artists like Bob Dylan, Kraftwerk, Gary Numan, Prince, The Clash, Nat King Cole, The Doors and many others. Here we have “I Can’t Stand It” one of his more inspired choices by The Velvet Underground from his album “War Crime Blues.” Whitley died of lung cancer in 2005. He leaves behind his daughter, Trixie who has recorded several records under the name Black Dub with Daniel Lanois.

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

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loureedsallyAfter the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there were a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” which was his comment on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also featured horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most harrowingly frank recordings (and that’s saying something), and also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. I guess he showed them! RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live.

Song of the Day – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

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45-adapter-logo2loureedsally

Song of the Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

After the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best-selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there are a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” that comments on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also features horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most frank and harrowing recordings (and that’s saying something), it is also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned-yet-superb-and -classic Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live. (Yet another great Lou Reed album!)

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

by

45-adapter-logo2loureedsally

Song Of The Day by Eric Berman – “Kill Your Sons” by Lou Reed

After the huge success of the Transformer album and its top-twenty single “Walk On The Wild Side,” Lou Reed delivered his most beautifully disturbing album as a follow up. The concept album, Berlin was considered at the time to be a depressing mess, and it was not exactly what fans expected or wanted from their newly minted glam rock star. Over time, Berlin’s stature has deservedly risen and is now not only considered a classic, but one of Reed’s greatest albums.

In order to calm the nerves of his record company and his fans, Reed followed Berlin with the live Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal that included readings of Velvet Underground classics with the blazing twin guitar attack of Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner who went on to back Alice Cooper.  The album, which was recorded in New York City at the Academy Of Music in December of 1973, sold very well and still does to this day.

Reed’s next studio album, Sally Can’t Dance was his best selling and highest charting (#10) record to date. The album was a hastily recorded reaction to all of the expectations fans and record company alike put on Reed, and while his involvement on the record was relegated to a minimum of tossed off vocals and some minor acoustic guitar parts, it did restore his standing in the decadent world of glam rock.

Sally Can’t Dance was not one of Reed’s most consistent collections of songs either, however there are a few standouts including the glammy “N.Y. Stars,” that comments on the many imitators that cropped up in the wake of the success he had with “Walk On The Wild Side,” the sadly beautiful and intimate album closer “Ennui” and “Billy,” a song about a school friend who chose a straighter path than Reed did. The latter track also reunited Reed with his ex-Velvet Underground band-mate Doug Yule on bass.

The album also features horn charts, which was a first for Reed, and soulful female backing vocals on the funky “Ride Sally Ride,” “Sally Can’t Dance” and the somewhat misguided “Animal Language.”  But the album’s one true classic was also Reed’s most personal song “Kill Your Sons,” which found him reflecting on his childhood stint in a psychiatric hospital where he underwent shock therapy. It is perhaps one of Reed’s most frank and harrowing recordings (and that’s saying something), it is also one of his very best.

The top-ten success of Sally Can’t Dance found RCA Records pressuring him for a quick follow up, so Reed acquiesced and delivered the much-maligned-yet-superb-and -classic Metal Machine Music, which consisted of an hour of nothing but noise and feedback. RCA hastily rebounded by assembling the unused Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal tapes into the 1975 album Lou Reed Live. (Yet another great Lou Reed album!)