LOU REED: OH, IT'S SUCH A PERFECT DAY, IT'S SUCH FUN!

The Grandma in the Baryshnikov Arts Center, 2007

Yesterday, The Grandma had a meeting with some old friends who she hadn't seen for a long time. It was a fantastic rencounter and they were talking about their lives during these last years. 

For The Grandma, it was a perfect day, as perfect as the Lou Reed's song, the wonderful singer who died on a day like today in 2013.

Lou Reed is one of The Grandma's favourite singers and she remembers strongly when, in 2007, she could listen to him with his wife Laurie Anderson and Patti Smith in the Baryshnikov Arts Center in New York City reading Catalan poetry. It was an amazing experience, it was another perfect day, like yesterday.

More information: Institut Ramon Llull

Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942-October 27, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. He was the lead guitarist, singer and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and also had a solo career that spanned five decades. The Velvet Underground achieved little commercial success during their existence, but are now regarded as one of the most influential bands in the history of underground and alternative rock music.

Lou Reed

After leaving the band in 1970, Reed released twenty solo studio albums. His second, Transformer (1972), was produced by David Bowie and arranged by Mick Ronson, and brought mainstream recognition.

After Transformer, the less commercial Berlin reached No. 7 on the UK Albums Chart. Rock n Roll Animal, a live album released in 1974, sold strongly, and Sally Can't Dance (1974) peaked at No. 10 on the Billboard 200, but for a period Reed's work did not translate into sales, leading him deeper into drug addiction and alcoholism.

Reed cleaned up in the early 80s, and gradually returned to prominence with New Sensations (1984), reaching a critical and commercial later career peak with his 1989 album New York.

Reed participated in a revival of the Velvet Underground in the 1990s, and made several more albums, including a tribute to his mentor Andy Warhol. He contributed music to two theatrical interpretations of 19th-century writers, one of which he developed into an album. He married his third wife Laurie Anderson in 2008, and recorded the album Lulu with Metallica. 

More information: Lou Reed

Reed's distinctive deadpan voice, poetic lyrics and experimental guitar playing were trademarks throughout his long career.

Lewis Allan Reed was born on March 2, 1942 at Beth El Hospital, now Brookdale, in Brooklyn and grew up in Freeport, Long Island. Reed's family was Jewish; his father had changed his name from Rabinowitz to Reed. Reed said that although he was Jewish, his real god was rock 'n' roll.

In 1964, Reed moved to New York City to work as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records. That year he wrote and recorded the single The Ostrich, a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it. His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and assembled a supporting band to help promote the recording.

Lou Reed in an Andy Warhol's creation

The ad hoc band, called The Primitives, included Welsh musician John Cale, who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music, along with Tony Conrad. 

Cale and Conrad were surprised to find that for The Ostrich, Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note, which they began to call his ostrich guitar tuning. This technique created a drone effect similar to their experimentation in Young's avant-garde ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire, including Heroin, and a partnership began to evolve.

Throughout the 1970s, Reed was a heavy user of methamphetamine and alcohol.

In February 2000, Reed worked with Robert Wilson at the Thalia Theater again, on Poe-Try, another production inspired by the works of a 19th-century writer, this time Edgar Allan Poe.

More information: Brain Pickings

In April 2000, Reed released Ecstasy. In January 2003, Reed released a two-CD set, The Raven, based on it. The album consists of songs written by Reed and spoken-word performances of reworked and rewritten texts of Edgar Allan Poe by the actors, set to electronic music composed by Reed. It features David Bowie and Ornette Coleman.  A single disc CD version of the album, focusing on the music, was also released.

Reed had suffered hepatitis and diabetes for several years. In October 27, 2013, he died from liver disease at his home in East Hampton, New York, at the age of 71. 

More information: ABC

Music should come crashing out of your speakers

and grab you, and the lyrics should challenge whatever 

preconceived notions that listener has.

Lou Reed