All Tomorrow's Parties

R.I.P. Lou Reed

After graduating from Syracuse University & spending some time at journalism school, drama school, & music school, Lou Reed eventually landed a job, as a writer, with Pickwick Records, one of those cop-the-current-trend-and-cash-in-on-it companies.

Said Reed:

“There were four of us literally locked in a room writing songs, then we'd go down into the studio for an hour or two & cut three or four albums really quickly…which came in handy later on because I knew my way around a studio…not really well enough but I could work really fast.”

During this period Reed & his Pickwick cohorts assumed various guises & cut “Cycle Annie”, as the Beachnuts, “You're Drivin' Me Insane”, as the Roughnecks, & both “The Ostrich” & “Sneaky Pete” as the Primitives; all of which are featured here.

These recordings betray Reed's involvement - his unmistakable voice of course, & his style of playing that's the obvious antecedent to that which flourished later on. But of special interest is the Primitives “The Ostrich” & “Sneaky Pete”.

Reed recalls that one time at Pickwick:

“I was stoned & I made up this thing called “The Ostrich”, just for laughs - I decided to make up a dance, so I said, you put your head on the floor & have somebody step on it; it was years ahead of its time - & another thing called “Sneaky Pete”. When they heard it they thought it could be a single, so we needed people who could be a group.”

Reed had met John Cale at a party.

“I had long hair,” remembers Cale, “& Lou said I looked commercial. He was trying to get a band together. I didn't want to hear his songs - they seemed sorry for themselves. Eventually he showed me the lyrics - they had some really perceptive thing in them.” Cale joined Reed's band nonetheless, presumably only because, as Reed said: “We had a common interest, namely dope.”

These two recruited one Sterling Morrison, & a friend of Cale’s, a Scottish drummer named Angus MacLise, & the Primitives were born. “The Ostrich” was released, but did little (it's interesting to note, however, that on the Velvets first album Reed is credited with playing ‘Ostrich guitar).

The band stayed together though, under new billings such as the Warlocks & the Falling Spickes. Maclise had left early in the piece; he was replaced by Maureen Tucker. This was in 1965, & Reed was writing the songs that would eventually become the Velvet Underground's. The rest is history of course, & its re-telling here would be quite irrelevant anyway.

 

The Velvet Underground – etc., Plastic Inevitable Records FIRST-1, 1979.

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Side A –

Cycle Annie – The Beachnuts

The Ostrich

Sneaky Pete – The Primitives

You’re Drivin’ Me Insane – The Roughnecks

Conversation – VU

Side B –

Foggy Notion

Inside Your Heart

I’m Sticking with You

Ferryboat Bill

Noise – VU

Goodbye to a Rock’n’Roll Animal,

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