Sunday, October 27, 2013

Lou





     First time I played the 1st Velvet’s album I didn’t care for it, didn't get it. Parts/snippets sure, but most of it left me NO. Fresh Cream, Kind of Blue, the first Weather Report album, the 1st Sabbath, Country Joe, the Airplane, those hit instantly the first time I heard them. Lou and co, nope and nope. But I bought it, so I kept playing it. Exploring. Hoping.

     By LOADED I was starting to get it. “Sweet Jane” hit me. “Rock And Roll” and “New Age”, yeah, them’s good. But I was not yet a fan.

     Solo, I warmed right up to Cale—kept diving into more. Loved Nico! The dance w/ Lou… warming to where he led, letting him in, that came slow.

     TRANSFORMER. Sat there on the counter in the record store. I was looking at the back cover. Sure I’d heard “WotW” on the radio, liked it a lot. Did I dare spin this new album?

     The guy behind the counter asked, “You a fan?”

     “Not really. Like some of his stuff. Cale solo, a lot.”

     “Ah . . . To me, Lou’s great. He’s like a crime writer, reports from the street. Tells it like it is . . . I can see Lou as a character in Last Exit to Brooklyn.”

      That hit me, so I bought TRANSFORMER.  Adjusted by his comment and ready to try, I took it home and put it on the turntable.
     It played. I danced. "It's good. Good." I like this one.

     Hell, I was getting it. Thought so. Maybe I wasn’t ready for VU when I’d heard it? Sometimes it takes time to see, to understand.
     I went back w/ my new ears. Where the hell had my mind been? This is great. It works... I feel this one. 
     BERLIN. NEW YORK. MAGIC AND LOSS. Perfect albums. BERLIN is desert island!! !

     It took time for me to get Lou. But when I did it was love. 5 decades later it still is.

     All those FRI & SAT nights alone in my hole-in-the-wall apartments. Me and some cheapass whiskey, a few beers, pack of Camels, and a lot of dreams… THXXXXXXXXXXXXxxxxxxxx for being there Lou. And thxxxxxxxxxxxx for not laughing as I cried... and listening too. THXxxxxxxxxxx for the beacon. And the TRUTH! It helped!
    
  


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