This show was captured for the King Biscuit Flower Hour shortly after Reed moved to Warner Brothers Records after long stints with both RCA and Arista Records. Warner was banking on rumors that Reed was getting ready to re-form the Velvet Underground, and wanted to be his label when he did. (The Velvet reunion would not happen until several years later).
Reed was fronting one of his best backup bands, which included Eddie Martinez on guitar (Robert Palmer) and Fernando Saunders (ex-Jan Hammer Group), on bass. Reed offers sterling performances of both his classic hits ("Sweet Jane,"…entire summary
Lou Reed - guitar, keyboards
Fernando Saunders - bass
J.T. Lewis - drums
Eddie Martinez - guitar
Rick Bell - sax
Woody Smallwood - keyboards, trumpet
This show was captured for the King Biscuit Flower Hour shortly after Reed moved to Warner Brothers Records after long stints with both RCA and Arista Records. Warner was banking on rumors that Reed was getting ready to re-form the Velvet Underground, and wanted to be his label when he did. (The Velvet reunion would not happen until several years later).
Reed was fronting one of his best backup bands, which included Eddie Martinez on guitar (Robert Palmer) and Fernando Saunders (ex-Jan Hammer Group), on bass. Reed offers sterling performances of both his classic hits ("Sweet Jane," "Coney Island Baby," and "Walk On The Wild Side") and newer material from that time period, including "My Red Joystick" and "New Sensations." He closes with a pumping version of the Velvet Underground staple, "Rock and Roll."
Lou Reed first came to prominence as part of the 1960s avant garde art and music movement that grew out of Greenwich Village in Manhattan. With his experimental rock band the Velvet Underground closely aligned with cutting edge artist and film maker Andy Warhol, they became the first act to take alternative music based on a Bohemian lifestyle and reach a large commercial audience with it.
In the beginning, Reed & the Velvets were spinning off the association with modern art and didn't have tremendous musical ability. The longer they performed together, the better they became as vocalists, musicians, and writers. By the time the Velvet Underground broke up in 1970, Reed had written some of the most influential rock songs of all time, including "Waiting For The Man," "Sweet Jane," "White Heat, White Light," and "Rock & Roll." Most of the music of the Velvet Underground was based around life as an artist in New York City, where hard drug use was almost a prerequisite.
In 1971, he went solo, and the following year hooked up with Tony DeFries, mastermind behind the marketing of David Bowie. Bowie and guitarist Mick Ronson were brought in to produce Reed's next album, Transformer. It yielded the odd Top 10 hit, "Walk On The Wild Side." From there, Reed became a highly successful solo artist and found a relatively supportive network of FM stations that would play one or two tracks from most of his studio albums. By the mid-1970s, Reed had surrounded himself with top notch musicians and had built his reputation as a powerful live act.
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