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AMERICAN POET
Lou Reed
(Burning Airlines/Fusion III)
This decent recording of a radio gig in Hempstead, New York on Boxing Day, 1972, offers a rare glimpse of the Transformer-era Reed, and is the missing live link between his final days fronting The Velvet Underground, as heard on Live At Max's Kansas City, and the glammy, grandiose performances of Rock 'N' Roll Animal. The "hits" of Velvets vintage -- White Light White Heat, Heroin, Waiting For The Man, Sweet Jane, Rock 'N' Roll -- have a vital, if less raucous, feel.
Reed breaks out Vicious and Berlin for what must have been among their first U.S. performances. Factor in a rather hilarious interview segment (Reed hopes aloud that his old Velvets bandmate Doug Yule is dead, audience gasps) and this becomes a must-have for completists -- a fine replacement for that worn out, unplayable copy of Live At Max's. Otherwise, you won't miss it. (More on: Lou Reed).
Track Listing
1. White Light White Heat
2. Vicious
3. I'm Waiting For My Man
4. Walk It Talk It
5. Sweet Jane
6. Interview
7. Heroin
8. Satellite Of Love
9. Walk On The Wild Side
10. I'm So Free
11. Berlin
12. Rock 'N' Roll