RIP Lou Reed

[Surlyboi]

Lou Reed, Rock ’n’ Roll Pioneer, Dies at 71

Mr. Reed, punk-poet, guitarist and songwriter, was a founder of the rock group the Velvet Underground whose music and lyrics influenced multiple generations.

[satael]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AwzaifhSw2c 

[Chimpy]

Well he is number 3 for this batch.

RIP Lou. 

[Father mike]

'New York' was one of my favorite albums ever.

This makes me quite sad.

[VainEldritch]

Well, shit... gonna miss ya Lou.

  

[Ironwood]

Isn't there a thread in general for this ?

[VainEldritch]

Lou always seemed kind of immortal to me - one of those constant creative presences shot through my life.

This came as a nasty shock. Yeah, I knew about the transplant, but I brushed it off thinking: "Hey! This is Lou Reed we are talking about here - surely a man made of some other material..."

I'll miss the magnificent bastard.

[Nebu]

I always felt Lou was in a class with Randy Newman and Bob Dylan.  All three are way ahead of their time as songwriters but not so great in the singing department.

Lou will be missed.  The guy could see the future.

[ghost]

Other than a few songs, I can say that I don't particularly like Lou Reed or the VU.  Nobody could deny the influence that the man had on modern music, however, and it's sad to see him go.

[Surlyboi]

The first thing I ever remember hearing by Lou was a chopped up version of "Take a Walk on the Wild Side", for a bank commercial in the 80s. It was just the sax bit at the end and the colored girls going "do do do" that led up to that. I was about 10 and I really liked the horn and the vocals. A few years later, I heard the whole song and it blew my mind that some bank actually wanted that to be the song for their commercial.

[Hawkbit]

wat

[Ingmar]

Here's a completely oversold rememberance of him:

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/9892086/remembering-lou-reed

[Selby]

Other than a few songs, I can say that I don't particularly like Lou Reed or the VU.  Nobody could deny the influence that the man had on modern music, however, and it's sad to see him go.

Kind of how I feel as well.  He wasn't exactly the nicest guy around either (but then how many people are?).  Everyone is talking about how "71 is too young" and "what a surprise" but let's face it, a pretty serious drug problem for many years and the average "rock and roll lifestyle" do not make for longevity.  And when I heard he was having a liver transplant back in the spring that made me feel he wasn't exactly long for the world then and had some serious health problems.

[Engels]

What is it with America and bad male singers? From Bob Dylan, to Bruce Springsteen to Lou Reed. You never hear us mooning over some hoarse-voice chanteuse like we do over these guys. Well, maybe Janis Joplin, but she could sing. Just croakily so.

That said, he seemed like a swell guy and will probably be missed by his friends and loved ones.

[Ingmar]

The singing isn't really the point with any of those guys.

[ghost]

I still haven't figured out what the point is with Springsteen.  Bleh. 

[Ingmar]

If Glory Days doesn't speak to you yet, just give it a couple years. 

[Teleku]

.....Bruce Springsteen is great, your crazy.  I mean, I remember listening to him when I was young and enjoying it.  Then I became a teenager and of course got into the mood that I would never listen to that shit and went to hard rock and thrash metal of the 90's instead.  Then a few years ago I started listening to his stuff again after about a decade and a half of not, and its really really good.  Been a staple of my play list for awhile now.

I especially don't get the bad singer criticism.  Not sure how he sounds NOW, but his voice sounded smooth and great in his original stuff.  Actually, of all the people talked about, Janice Joplin is the only person who's voice I think is bad.  So much so her music has pretty much been un-listenable (err, any sort of real word out there to describe that?) to me.  Which made it hard growing up, since that's all my sister would listen to in high school....

[Engels]

Really, out of Dylan, Reed, Springsteen and Joplin, you think Joplin's voice is the worst? YMMV I guess.

[Ingmar]

Well yes obviously a YMMV situation. Joplin's career was mostly made singing other people's songs (she had very few songwriting credits, and nearly all the famous songs were covers or written by someone else), without those pipes she'd have gotten nowhere - nobody sounds like her, and what she did was pretty impressive vocally IMO. The other guys are all songwriters first (although I think Bruce sings fine.) But you know, this is a forum where people love Cookie Monster metal singers, so obviously there's room for all kinds of wrong opinions. 

[Typhon]

I said the same thing Engels.  What? Really? Joplin is the worst?  Dylan's voice is comically bad.  I don't know which is worse, pre or post voice coaching.  Springsteen's voice is the best of a bad lot.

While we're at it, let's through Jim Morrison in there as well.  Fucking hate Morrison's voice.

[Sjofn]

Since we're all giving our opinions on this ... for my money, Dylan is the worst by a mile, vocally. There is not a single song of his where I like his version better than the inevitable cover, because the man cannot sing worth a damn.

I'll fistfight anyone who says St. Bruce can't sing. Unless they're talking about when he does falsetto, that shit ain't no good. Joplin is sort of funny, I can see why people would think she's not a good singer - she sounds a little like she's got laryngitis - but it just makes her sound more interesting to me than anything else. Lou Reed gets a "whatever" from me. Morrison is just sort of mumbly sometimes, which doesn't bother me.

Tom Waits should probably also be in the "I am not sure what he's doing is, strictly speaking, actually singing," conversation, but whatever, Tom Waits is awesome.

[Ruvaldt]

Tom Waits definitely belongs in the strange-voiced singers club, and he's also a phenomenal songwriter. 

His voice isn't what most would consider pretty, but he still shows a lot of talent with it from time to time, and he can do some amazing stunts with it as well.  Pretty much anyone could sing "Clap Hands", "Swordfish Trombones", or any number of his other songs that don't really employ actual singing, but "Anywhere I Lay My Head" and "Hold On" give me chills when he sings them and they don't if anyone else does them.  He has some songs that are distinctly his, and I don't think anyone else could do them justice.  It isn't just the skillful writing that makes those songs special, it's also his voice.  I can't say that about any Dylan song.  Lou Reed, maybe...Morrison, Joplin and Springsteen, definitely.  Leonard Cohen deserves a mention as well.

[Ingmar]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=107dADrIVBk would be a good example I think.

[lamaros]

Tom Waits definitely belongs in the strange-voiced singers club, and he's also a phenomenal songwriter.  

His voice isn't what most would consider pretty, but he still shows a lot of talent with it from time to time, and he can do some amazing stunts with it as well.  Pretty much anyone could sing "Clap Hands", "Swordfish Trombones", or any number of his other songs that don't really employ actual singing, but "Anywhere I Lay My Head" and "Hold On" give me chills when he sings them and they don't if anyone else does them.  He has some songs that are distinctly his, and I don't think anyone else could do them justice.  It isn't just the skillful writing that makes those songs special, it's also his voice.  I can't say that about any Dylan song.  Lou Reed, maybe...Morrison, Joplin and Springsteen, definitely.  Leonard Cohen deserves a mention as well.

Listen to his early stuff, pre Brennan-ed (like Heart of Saturday Night). He can actually sing. The non straight stuff he does with his voice is great though, not getting by on song writing at all.

[Paelos]

I saw Bruce live two years ago at Jazzfest in New Orleans. I challenge anybody to see a concert of his live and not have a good time. He's the new hardest working man in showbiz.

[Engels]

I love Bruce Springsteen, and even some of his music is great.

[ghost]

I really find his music intolerable, but I can't stand basically any "classic rock", e.g. the Eagles, Journey, the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Foreigner, Bob Seger, Van Halen, etc.