Oooh. Arrived today. Won this ages ago on ebay to add to my collection of original Lou Reed album posters. This one is from 1978's infamous "Live: Take No Prisoners" album, my 2nd favourite of Lou's live albums. So here's my opportunity to educate you kids out there on some rock/punk history. Trust me - it'll be good for your soul (that's "soul" in a R&B sense, not in a Christian sense).
"Take No Prisoners" came out just after Lou's very well-received "Street Hassle" album (Feb 78) and was recorded at the Bottom Line, New York, New York, on May 17-21, 1978.
The album opens with the sound of Lou lighting a cigarette and talking to the listeners of the album BEFORE he goes on stage. "Hello. Sorry we were late, but we were just tuning."
Cut to being live on stage. Audience yelling out random shit. Musicians testing tuning and levels. Lou strikes the three main chords of "Sweet Jane". Audiences cheers. Guitar stops.
Lou: "What's the matter, we keep you waiting or something? Were we late? It's raining out.... (more random Lou banter)... I'm going to quote a line from Yeats for you... 'The best lack all conviction and the worst are filled with a passion and intensity' - now, you figure out where I am."
Bands kicks full swing into "Sweet Jane". Nice rendition. Gutsy. Not Wagner/Hunter, but unique in its own way with Lou and Stuart Heinrich doing a great job on axe duty. Great female back-up singers ("the coloured girls"??) hitting the chorus and sax playing counterpoint. I dislike a lot of the live renditions I've heard of this song, especially those Lou did in the 80s. They sound lifeless and tinny (IMHO... who am I to criticise Lou?). But this version I like a lot. It has huge New York balls.
At the beginning of the 2nd verse, Lou starts riffing about how much he hates Barbra Steisand at the Academy Awards thanking all of the little people. "Fuck her and the little people. I only like big people."
And so it goes. Half of the album is Lou riffing with the audience, half is him actually singing. The band just keeps on playing.
Lou: "So now everybody's going to say 'Lou Reed's mellowed, he's older. He didn't act mean, he talked.' We'll mug you later, you feel better?"
At one stage he says to someone in the audience "Leave if you don't like it." During an extremely mellow and groovy rendition of "I'm Waiting On The Man" he quips "I'll sing when you shut up. That's me, that's not life."
Many critics hated it, but it's the nasty, comic side of Lou that you've gotta love if you're a fan. Ten songs in 92 minutes! As the Amazon review says "if you appreciate pre-New York Lou, Take No Prisoners demonstrates, perhaps more than any other Reed artifact, the importance of major attitude and myth to classic punk."
Okay, so there's no Dick Wagner, no Steve Hunter, (which is why Rock And Roll Animal is still the favourite Lou Reed live album... the launch poster for that already hangs in my living room), As another reviewer points out on Amazon:
The hidden message that I'm not sure Lou understood at the time in his conscious mind, but somehow did subconsciously: "This guy isn't cool, kids. He's not even really me. It's an act that got out of hand. Don't you get it? Why are you buying this?"
Look at his albums after "Take No Prisoners": First, "The Bells," with its nakedly confessional, hard-to-take lyrics about families, love, and loss. Next, "Growing Up In Public," where he confronts his own mortality, addictions, and decides that love (with a woman!) is his salvation. Neither album was a a total success, but at least he was trying. Then came the album where he got it right: "The Blue Mask," where he figured out how to mix his personal, confessional songs with more disturbing character studies that weren't conveyed as autobiographical (usually).
The hint that Lou knew this was a character he was playing (although, no doubt, an extension of his own personality, as any good character is) was his famous line during the show:
"I do Lou Reed better than anyone."
Anyway... it continually amazes me how many of my friends, new and old, haven't heard much of Lou's music. You're really missing out on something. This is one of the central influences of most of the bands you probably do listen to. As someone once said "Not many people bought the Velvet Underground's records, but everyone who did went out and started a band."
Good to see your passion for Lou is alive and well still ...... "Sweet Jane" remains one of my favourites
Posted by: Rosky | Friday, March 18, 2005 at 11:59 AM