October 21, 2022
Light In The Attic
1xLP (Yellow) and Deluxe 2xLP + 7" Vinyl Available
Lou Reed’s work with the Velvet Underground is rightfully remembered as some of the most sonically inventive and unsettling rock music ever made. Words & Music - May 1965 captures classic tunes like “I’m Waiting for the Man”, “Heroin” and “Pale Blue Eyes” in their embryonic stage with Reed’s voice, guitar and the occasional puff of a harmonica and a harmony from future bandmate John Cale. These early versions show a remarkably calm side of Reed’s songwriting with a track like “Heroin” turning into an almost soothing folk lullaby as opposed to the nihilistic death trip of the Velvet Underground version. The tracks here bear a stronger resemblance to the Greenwich Village folk scene of the time than anything that was being made at Andy Warhol’s “Factory” and show the versatility of these songs and the power they can still maintain when stripped back to their most basic parts.