Forgotten Album Friday #20 - Lou Reed & John Cale Songs For Drella

Songs for Drella (1990) remains a highlight in both Cale and Reed's lengthy careers- it forms part of Reed's strongest trilogy of albums since the Velvets demise (the others being New York, 1988 & Magic&Loss, 1992) Reed & Cale had infamously fallen out when in The Velvet Underground & had not worked together since- this collaboration, along with Moe Tucker's contribution to New York, would lead to the VU temporarily reforming (the resulting live album containing some wonderful takes on classics like Beginning to See the Light & Femme Fatale).




Songs for Drella is one based around a limited musical soundscape (Reed on Vocals/Guitar; Cale on keyboards/vocals/viola) & one that has a sense of improvisation. It was a work primarily written for performance- like Tom Waits recent Alice/Blood Money setz- so perhaps some of the songs are more theatrical than melodic; but I like the whole journey around a fictional take on Warhol's life from people who were once close to him...(the final track on New York leads here...)

The tracks with Cale on lead vocals stand out- Style It Takes (wonderfully performed on Fragments for a Rainy Season),Trouble with Classicists (great guitar from Reed), A Dream & (especially) Forever Changed stand out. Reed also gets to sing some great songs- the amusing Smalltown, the ethos of Work (up there with There is No Time), the spleen-venting I Believe (Valerie Solanis surfacing...) & especially the touching Hello It's Me- which shows that its possible to continue discourse with the dead: "I know it's late in coming but it's the only way I know/Hello it's me- goodnight Andy.../Goodbye Andy"-

Key tracks:

Smalltown

Style It takes

Work

Trouble With Classisiscts

Hello it's Me

Lou Reed and Blind Boys of Alabama perform Jesus

Interesting clip, it is also worth checking out Letterman clips to marvel at the incicerity and stupidity of Letterman, which I have only ever seen matched by Jay Leno I think! Q Did you write that one? A Eh yes the Velvet Underground classic? Anyway great performance by Lou:

Forgotten Album Friday #4, Lou Reed - The Blue Mask

For even a casual listener of Lou Reed this is a simply stunning album with moments of raw power and a jagged edgy sound to match lyrics which are visceral and personal. It comes at the end of a really fallow period for Lou Reed and he had been dropped by Arista. His somehat infamous advert for Honda Scooters got him the funds to get an incredible band together with Robert Quine (Richard Hell & The Voidoids), Fernando Saunders and Fred Maher providing fantastic backing with no overdubs. The result was his best album since Berlin and was not equalled until New York. Rober Quine later played on Lloyd Coles first solo album which Fred Maher produced following the latters stint on Drums to the follow up Legendary Hearts.

Key tracks:

My House
The Blue Mask
Average Guy
Waves of Fear
The Day John Kennedy Died