Lou Reed's Auspicious Debut

Lou Reed "I Can't Stand It"
Lou Reed "Lisa Says"
Lou Reed "Wild Child"

By 1971, Lou Reed was largely forgotten by even the most diehard Velvet Underground fan (the few that existed at the time). Glam-rock was right around the corner and VU, although a major influence on glam superstars such as David Bowie, were largely considered to be '60s relics by many music fans.

After leaving the Velvet Underground, Reed didn't jump right into his solo career. Unsure of his next career move, he spent over a year working in the office of his father's company. Coaxed into making a solo album by RCA, the label put Reed in a London studio with a sympathetic producer in the form of former rock critic Richard Robinson, and a backing band of some of the UK's finest musical talents. Unfortunately, as talented as folks like guitarists Steve Howe and Caleb Quaye and keyboard wizard Rick Wakemen might have been, they fell short of capturing Reed's true street-smart vibe.

Featuring a mix of great VU outtakes along with a handful of fresh originals, Reed's self-titled debut album hit the shelves in 1972 to little or no acclaim. RCA, seemingly unsure of what to do with their "boy genius," under-promoted the disc to death (and continues to do so since the album is currently out-of-print in the U.S.). For his part, Reed washed his hands of the album shortly after its release, quickly moving on to record his breakthrough effort, 1973'2 Berlin. Even senior Rolling Stone scribe David Fricke, in his liner notes to this 2000 U.K. CD release of the album, seems unsure of what to write about this historically important, albeit musically flawed debut album, his comments often in conflict with each other.

I knew little about Lou Reed as a 15 year old rock critic wannabe in '72, just what I'd read about in the eagerly anticipated issues of Creem magazine that I bought every month like clockwork. I knew that Reed was considered "important" by writers I admired like Lester Bangs and Dave Marsh, and that was more than good enough to get me to buy this album upon its release. Since I was unfamiliar with the Velvet Underground and their music at the time, Lou Reed the album sounded just fine to me.

Thirty-five years later, the album still sounds good, possessing a certain timeless, ethereal quality lacking in Reed's later, more cynical work. Sure, a number of these songs, including "Lisa Says" and "I Can't Stand It," were tunes that Reed had written for the Velvet Underground that were never released during the band's brief lifespan. A handful of new songs, such as "Wild Child," fit into the same mold -- offering folkish, almost innocent lyrics matched with atmospheric and often whimsical music.

As previously stated, the prog-rock studio band provided Reed lacked the muscle that later Reed ensembles (especially those with guitarists Dick Wagner and Steve Hunter) would flex. The players were more than adequate, however, to create a fascinating and surprisingly fragile debut album that serves as a valuable bridge between Reed's immense Velvet Underground legacy and his remarkable '70s-era solo work like Berlin, Transformer and Sally Can't Dance that would earn him a place in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Lou Reed is the artist's most tentative album and although not among his best, it's certainly not among his worst, either.

(Click on the Lou Reed CD cover to buy the album from Amazon.com)