Airing of 'Waiting' 65 demo on 'Walking the Wild Mind' BBC R4
Posted: 26 Feb 2019 18:07
Walking the Wild Mind - Sat 2nd March 2019 at 20.00 UK BBC Radio 4
Archive on 4
Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega explores Lou Reed's complexities with New Yorkers who knew him well.
Suzanne first saw Lou Reed perform when she was a student in New York. In that first concert she saw him intimidate and upset the audience in the first half of the show but, after the interval, he was another performer entirely. This was Lou bestowing all his charisma and talent to fans.
She explores the two sides of Lou Reed in a programme celebrating the imminent unveiling of his archive. Lou's widow, artist and musician Laurie Anderson, has donated it to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Suzanne Vega lived a couple of blocks away from Lou and Laurie and often visited them at their country home. She wanted to get him know him better, but it was obvious that he needed to protect himself. Now, Suzanne talks to other New Yorkers who knew and worked with him.
Along with producer Judith Kampfner, she has an exclusive sneak peek at some of the archival gems - the jewel, an exclusive for the BBC, is the opening of an iconic song from a 1965 demo.
What is more interesting for us is the playing of a demo version of 'Waiting' that Reed recorded probably at Pickwick..
His widow and an archivist were sorting the musician’s belongings to donate his archive to the New York Public Library For The Performing Arts when they found the sealed object.
Judith Kampfner, who has produced a BBC Radio 4 show about Reed’s life and music, featuring a one-minute, eight-second “fragment” of the demo, airing for the first time on what would have been Reed’s birthday, said: “One of the last things they found on a shelf, behind his desk, behind a row of CDs was a tape.”
She told the Press Association: “It was completely sealed. They realised that this was something that Lou had sent to himself in 1965.”
Reed is thought to have sent the tape to his parents’ house in Long Island to secure what was then known as “a poor man’s copyright” – designed to register intellectual property.
“Maybe he had forgotten about it because it was never opened. It was in a box, sealed with tape,” Kampfner said.
The demo, the earliest known recording of the song, is “completely different” from the finished version loved by fans.
“It’s harmonised with another male voice … At the time Lou was working at Pickwick Music, having to write songs very, very fast for this record company, churning out music. It’s thought it’s one of his co-workers there.
“Obviously I’m Waiting For The Man is about going to meet your heroin dealer. Reed was trying to be gritty, writing a song about heroin, but (his tone) comes across as quite innocent.
“He was a very shrewd and fascinated observer of street life, the underbelly of New York, and that’s captured really well in that song…
“When the song comes out, Lou has found that gravelly, strong voice. This is very youthful and sounds more innocent.
“He knew what he wanted to say in the lyrics but he didn’t know how to say it musically. He hasn’t found his tone yet.”
The early demo could be released from the tape, which technicians initially struggled to get working.
Archivist Don Fleming tells the programme: “What you hear … is Lou’s still trying to figure it out…
“It’s not the rock-and-roll Lou that most people might want to hear or be expecting to hear. It’s hearing an artist developing.”
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingn ... 06938.html
This tape from his archive is postmarked May 65.
Archive on 4
Singer-songwriter Suzanne Vega explores Lou Reed's complexities with New Yorkers who knew him well.
Suzanne first saw Lou Reed perform when she was a student in New York. In that first concert she saw him intimidate and upset the audience in the first half of the show but, after the interval, he was another performer entirely. This was Lou bestowing all his charisma and talent to fans.
She explores the two sides of Lou Reed in a programme celebrating the imminent unveiling of his archive. Lou's widow, artist and musician Laurie Anderson, has donated it to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Suzanne Vega lived a couple of blocks away from Lou and Laurie and often visited them at their country home. She wanted to get him know him better, but it was obvious that he needed to protect himself. Now, Suzanne talks to other New Yorkers who knew and worked with him.
Along with producer Judith Kampfner, she has an exclusive sneak peek at some of the archival gems - the jewel, an exclusive for the BBC, is the opening of an iconic song from a 1965 demo.
What is more interesting for us is the playing of a demo version of 'Waiting' that Reed recorded probably at Pickwick..
His widow and an archivist were sorting the musician’s belongings to donate his archive to the New York Public Library For The Performing Arts when they found the sealed object.
Judith Kampfner, who has produced a BBC Radio 4 show about Reed’s life and music, featuring a one-minute, eight-second “fragment” of the demo, airing for the first time on what would have been Reed’s birthday, said: “One of the last things they found on a shelf, behind his desk, behind a row of CDs was a tape.”
She told the Press Association: “It was completely sealed. They realised that this was something that Lou had sent to himself in 1965.”
Reed is thought to have sent the tape to his parents’ house in Long Island to secure what was then known as “a poor man’s copyright” – designed to register intellectual property.
“Maybe he had forgotten about it because it was never opened. It was in a box, sealed with tape,” Kampfner said.
The demo, the earliest known recording of the song, is “completely different” from the finished version loved by fans.
“It’s harmonised with another male voice … At the time Lou was working at Pickwick Music, having to write songs very, very fast for this record company, churning out music. It’s thought it’s one of his co-workers there.
“Obviously I’m Waiting For The Man is about going to meet your heroin dealer. Reed was trying to be gritty, writing a song about heroin, but (his tone) comes across as quite innocent.
“He was a very shrewd and fascinated observer of street life, the underbelly of New York, and that’s captured really well in that song…
“When the song comes out, Lou has found that gravelly, strong voice. This is very youthful and sounds more innocent.
“He knew what he wanted to say in the lyrics but he didn’t know how to say it musically. He hasn’t found his tone yet.”
The early demo could be released from the tape, which technicians initially struggled to get working.
Archivist Don Fleming tells the programme: “What you hear … is Lou’s still trying to figure it out…
“It’s not the rock-and-roll Lou that most people might want to hear or be expecting to hear. It’s hearing an artist developing.”
https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingn ... 06938.html
This tape from his archive is postmarked May 65.