Lou Reed: The Last Interview: And Other Conversations

by Lou Reed

Overview

A revealing collection of interviews with one of the greatest artists in the history of rock ’n’ roll—as brilliant, punchy, and blustery as the man himself
 
In this collection of powerful interviews given over thirty years—including his final interview—Lou Reed oscillates between losing patience with his interviewers (he was famous for walking out on them) and sharing profound observations on the human experience, especially as he reflects on poetry and novels, the joy of live performances, and the power of sound. In conversation with legendary rock critics and authors he respected, Reed’s interviews are as pithy and brilliant as the man himself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781612194790
Publisher:	Melville House Publishing
Publication date:	01/27/2015
Series:	Last Interview Series
Sold by:	Penguin Random House Publisher Services
Format:	eBook
Pages:	128
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Lou Reed was born in Brooklyn in 1942, and grew up on Long Island. He studied at Syracuse University with the poet Delmore Schwartz, and in 1964, he founded The Velvet Underground with John Cale. In 1967, the band released its debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, probably the most acclaimed album in rock ’n’ roll history. (It was hailed by Rolling Stone as “the most prophetic rock album ever made.”) After the band’s breakup in 1973, Reed went on to have an extraordinarily successful solo career, releasing such beloved albums as Transformer, Berlin, and New York. Over his forty years as a solo artist, Reed collaborated with a huge number of artists and musicians and produced a number of major productions, including a series of concerts based on his album Berlin, staged at St. Ann’s Warehouse, in Brooklyn, in 2006—a collaboration with the artist Julian Schnabel. He died of liver disease in 2013.

Table of Contents

Let Us Now Praise Famous Death Dwarves; Or, How I Slugged It Out With Lou Reed and Stayed Awake Lester Bangs

Creem

March 1975

Lou Reed: The Rollings Stone Interview David Fricke 25

Rolling Stone

May 4, 1989

Waiting For the Man Neil Gaiman 49

Reflex

July 28, 1992

Lou Reed and Paul Auster: A Conversation 69

Dazed & Confused, New York

April 1996

The Spin Interview: Lou Reed David Marchese 95

Spin

2008

The Final Interview Farida Khelfa 109

Rolling Stone

November 8, 2013

Editorial Reviews

A series that offers the thoughtful, provocative and impish responses of...great writers."
—Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

An Austin Chronicle pick for Rock & Roll Summer Reading

Praise for Lou Reed
“He was our generation’s New York poet, championing its misfits as Whitman had championed its workingman and Lorca its persecuted.”
—Patti Smith
 
“He was a master.”
—David Bowie
 
“Thank God for those, like Lou, who move within their own laws, otherwise imagine how dull the world would be.”
—Morrissey 

From the Publisher