The Life of Lou Reed: Notes from the Velvet Underground

by Howard Sounes

Overview

Fifty years after the concerts captured on the legendary album 1969: The Velvet Underground Live comes this illuminating biography of Lou Reed.

As band leader of the Velvet Underground and later a successful solo artist, Reed was much more than what the general public came to know as the grumpy New Yorker in black who sang “Walk on the Wild Side.” To his dedicated admirers, he was one of the most innovative and intelligent songwriters of modern times—a natural outsider who lived a tumultuous and tortured life.

In the course of his deep research into Reed’s life, from a humble upbringing on Long Island to death from liver disease in 2013, Howard Sounes interviewed more than 140 people who knew the artist intimately—some of whom have not spoken publicly about him before. With new revelations from former wives and lovers, family members, fellow band members and celebrities, and music industry figures, this book offers an updated, unfettered look at Reed’s creative process, his mental health problems, his bisexuality, his three marriages, and his addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Featuring previously unpublished photographs of some of Reed’s most private moments, this is the definitive account of one of rock ’n’ roll’s most complicated and brilliant prophets.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781635766387
Publisher:	Diversion Books
Publication date:	09/10/2019
Pages:	416
Sales rank:	1,144,815
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Howard Sounes is known for writing detailed and revelatory biographies of a wide range of extraordinary personalities, including the murderers Fred and Rosemary West (Fred & Rose), Charles Bukowski (Locked in the Arms of a Crazy Life), and musicians Bob Dylan (Down the Highway) and Paul McCartney (Fab). Each book is based on extensive original research. For more information visit www.howardsounes.com

Table of Contents

I Coney Island Baby, 1942-59 1

II On to the Darkened Sea, 1960-64 19

III Honeybun, Black Jack, Sterl and Moesy, 1964-65 42

IV The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, 1966 64

V Light and Dark, 1967-68 92

VI A New VU, 1968-70 112

VII Solo in the Seventies, 1970-73 130

VIII Self-Parody, 1973-74 156

IX Howling Like the Devil, 1975-76 180

X The Arista Years, 1976-80 202

XI Second Marriage, 1980-87 228

XII New Inspiration, 1987-92 251

XIII Return to the Velvet Underground, 1992-96 275

XIV Love, Lou, 1996-2008 295

XV Nevermore, 2008-13 315

Author's Note and Acknowledgments 335

Source Notes 341

Bibliography 357

Image Credits 361

Index 363

Editorial Reviews

08/19/2019

In this admiring biography, music writer Sounes (Down the Highway) offers a measured chronicle of the life and music of Lou Reed (1942–2013). He traces Reed’s life from his childhood and youth in New York City and his early forays into performing music to the heights of his work with the Velvet Underground, his career as a solo artist, and his ceaseless creativity. While the Velvet Underground struggled through its seven-year existence, the band gave Reed an opportunity to develop as a songwriter and performer, skills that allowed him to embark on a successful solo career. Sounes examines Reed’s life alongside his recordings—for example, 1973’s Transformer, with its single “Walk on the Wild Side,” launched Reed into international stardom; two years later, a lawsuit against him by his manager slowed Reed’s songwriting for Coney Island Baby. In Sounes’s workmanlike prose, Reed emerges as an artist who refused to compromise, often to his own detriment (early in his career, he refused to play at a fraternity party and punched a glass door to ensure he wouldn’t have to). While there’s not much new here, Sounes proves to be an amiable narrator who successfully reveals Reed as an innovative, influential musician. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

"Compelling...Sounes takes pride in carefully debunking the myths that have crept in from Reed's own fictionalizations." —The Sunday Telegraph

"Controversial...Sounes' book pushes the standard Reed narrative." —New York Times

“A measured chronicle of the life and music of Lou Reed…Sounes proves to be an amiable narrator who successfully reveals Reed as an innovative, influential musician.” —Publishers Weekly

"A walk on the dark side." —Independent

"A must read...Sounes chronicles Reed's turbulent, and often brutal, relationships with men and women....and the wayward talent that produced such classics as ‘Walk On The Wild Side.’" —Daily Mail

Praise for Fab: An Intimate Life of Paul McCartney

“Few Beatle biographies are as exhaustive as this 634-page epic: Sounes (who wrote a similarly extensive Bob Dylan bio, Down the Highway) paints an unsparing portrait of McCartney as a somewhat overconfident artist with a nasty competitive streak…For fans willing to ponder their hero’s flaws, Fab delivers all you need to know.” —Barry Walters, Rolling Stone

“The graceful prose and superb storytelling create a riveting narrative.” –Kirkus Reviews, Best Biographies of 2010

Praise for 27: A History of the 27 Club Through the Lives of Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain and Amy Winehouse

“This fine study looks at the tragic history of the 27 Club...Much of the book’s power lies in its refusal to pander to the romantic-melancholy notion of the tortured young artist who lives fast and dies young. Instead the squalor and chaos of their everyday existence is exposed in uncompromising detail...This book is not about more rock star mythologizing. It's about skewering the mystery of the 27-connection, by exposing its all-too-tragic reality.” –Sunday Times (UK)

“In his latest pop-cultural study, Sounes offers a stern corrective to the adage that it’s better to burn out than to fade away…A compelling examination of the effects of sudden fame on mentally fragile artists.” –Kirkus Reviews

Praise for Down the Highway: The Life of Bob Dylan

“Many writers have tried to probe [Dylan's] life, but never has it been done so well, and so captivatingly.” –The Boston Globe

“Dylan comes alive…Sounes has added a wealth of new information to Dylan studies.” —New York Times Book Review

"Sounes covers the highs and lows of Reed's personal and professional life…Reed was widely known to be a complex and deeply talented musician who dealt with addictions and mental health issues exacerbated by drug abuse. Sounes ably covers every aspect.”—Library Journal

“There have been a raft of new or updated Reed bios since his 2013 death…But Sounes’ stands out in that it gives the greatest page space to Reed’s frustrating and off-putting personal behavior to those he loved, hated, and all in between…And while Sounes’ concentration is often on the personal side of Reed, that doesn’t mean he skimps on what is ostensibly the reason for someone to pick up the book: his music…Bold, raw, and revealing.”—Houston Press

"The clearest-eyed assessment of Reed to date. Taking the measure of a life marked by perpetual conflict and bridge-burning, Sounes leaves final judgments of Reed’s character to the reader…Sounes has a reputation for dogged research, and The Life of Lou Reed excels when it ventures off the beaten path and digs deep…Sounes proves the most reliable and entertaining of Reed’s biographers…He is the unflappable center at the heart of a hurricane. For adventurous souls wishing to delve into the turbulent life of a difficult but hugely influential artist, The Life of Lou Reed: Notes from the Velvet Underground is the definitive account. It explains why we all should care.”—National Review

“[Sounes] praises Reed’s work with the Velvets, while focusing on Reed’s personal shortcomings and misadventures afterward: alcoholism, drug addiction, a complicated sex life and his despicable treatment of lovers, wives, family members, friends, enablers, fellow musicians and record-company executives. Sounes’ interviews with many of these Reed discards paint the artist as an insecure tyrant for whom relationships were largely transactional.”—Chicago Tribune

“An absolute 'must read' for the legions of Lou Reed fans…An extraordinary and deftly presented account of his life and career…Unreservedly recommended for community, college, and university library American Biography collections in general, and Lou Reed supplemental studies in particular.”—Midwest Book Review

“A very clear-eyed, unflinching look at an artist Sounes describes with some understatement as a ‘complex, difficult man’…We get a first-hand account of Reed’s family life from his sister, as well as insights from romantic partners, band members, and business associates (around 140 interviewees in all), creating a rich and detailed portrait of this truly unique talent.”—Record Collector

“A beautifully considered book, with enough detail for the geeks, enough context for the historians, and just enough juicy stuff for everyone else.”—PopMatters

“The Life of Lou Reed clears up a trail of misinformation, some of it spread by Reed himself.”—Milwaukee Shepherd Express

From the Publisher