Hi. I would like to review Lou Reed's live album, Rock And Roll Animal. Grab a steaming cup of joe, add some cocoa, and join me for a review of one of rock's most terrifying displays.

In 1973, Lou Reed was hopelessly addicted to heroin. He rounded up a guitar team of also hopelessly addicted junkies, Steve Hunter and Dick Wagner, from the tenement slums of NY, and began rehearsing what would become one of the most nightmarish tours in rock history.

The tour featured Reed, at this time a gaunt Frankenstein figure wearing mascara and black fingernail polish. He bought Wagner and Hunter a pair of 1950's Gibson Les Paul specials, instruments as beat up and broken-in as the guitarists who would use them. Under Reed's stern control, the two guitarists developed a guitar style of intertwining blistering riffs, soaring leads, and sighing bends. Reed ordered the two to immediately quiet down when he began singing, or he would cut them with a razor.

Reed was so hearbreakingly addicted to heroin he was forced to take out his syringe on stage and shoot up in front of the audience. He would dance like a black cat, astonishing critics with his speed and agility. At 118 pounds, Reed was pure muscle and could knock a man out with a blinding flurry of punches.

Reed's songs Lady Day, Rock and Roll, White Light White Heat, Heroin and Sweet Jane sounded fierce, taut and malevolent. By the end of the tour Reed was in such bad shape his crew had to carry him to the microphone.

After the Rock And Roll Animal tour was over, Reed, Hunter and Wagner each weighed less than a 100 pounds. The three of them barely survived the grueling schedule of shows, and did so on a diet of coffee, horse, and Vitamin C.

Not so. He used a pencil and simulated the act of mainlining amphetamine, not heroin. I'm not saying he didn't use heroin, I'm saying that he didn't shoot up on stage and was more into speed than smack.

Mist.

So, during the song, Heroin, Reed pulled out a syringe and simulated shooting amphetamine?

No, he simulated shooting up smack, but didn't actually do it. For starters, he would have vomited either on stage or over the people in front of the stage! It was during the song 'Heroin', so he wouldn't have simulated shooting up speed, because who would know the difference since it was a pencil, plus White Light/White Heat is just a little bit too fast of a song to simulate anything!

Whilst we're on this subject, a rumour went around in Edinburgh amongst Velvets fans that the song 'Heroin' was actually about speed, due to the line 'When I'm rushing on my run'!!

Mist.

Macheal's right. And this was more a gimmick for the show than a real act of mainlining on stage. Lou was reckless and addicted, but he ain't no chump! And he knew that a quick arrest could insue if he tried to mainline drugs on stage. Hell Jim Morrison got locked up just for whipping out his cock on stage. Lou was into the show! And was in full character.

Kick-ass, stellar performance!

'You start out wrinkled and you cry...you end up wrinkled and you die.'

Lou used to get slagged off behind his back when he visited Maxs Kansas City around 1975/76, because in the mornings, Rachel used to have noticeable stubble!!

Mist.

Hey Michael, did you the Berlin show when it came through your neck of the woods?? I am in Jakarta now and had no opportunity to go...
Cool review of the film here:

http://www.uncut.co.uk/film/lou_reed/reviews/11902

No, I didn't see it. I really wanted to go, but circumstances changed and I didn't see Berlin, but I see Marseille instead!

Mist.

Yeah, Lou was in full "faggy" phase and loved to bend the limits! Great shows on stage and off. Look at the cover for Take No Prisoners and one gets a glimps of Lou's party. Great stuff!

Rock and Roll Animal is a simply wonderful album , as for the Hunter Wagner team , I would love to see Bowie do an album/tour with them ,there are a few notable albums were they are featured Alice's Welcome to my nightmare ,Peter Gabriels first solo album ,and of course Lou Reeds Berlin ,and many more !

I love the guitar sound of Hunter and Wagner ,I loved the sound on Coopers Billion Dollar Babies ,and have since read that our two heroes were involved in that too , as session men ! I think they have a really great sound that has even been copied , that guitar break in All I want is you by Roxy reminds me of them , which isn't too surprizing as they supported Alice Cooper in 73 ,

i remember at the hordern in sydney when he wrapped the mic cord around his arm and simulated shooting up, thought i'd taken some shots at that show but could only find shots of the next tour when flo and eddie got up on stage (can't remember exactly what year???) getting old now, but he had more hair then ha ha ha...

do remember hunter/wagner though, big fan of rock'n roll animal..

keggie

yeah whatever was going on in lou's personal life the "shooting up on stage" was obviously pure theatre. did not know hunter/wagner were on the stuff too. seems hard to believe they could play stuff that fast and intricate whilst being smacked out.

You saw Lou Reed back then, AWESOME !

i missed the rock n roll animal tour. but caught the one for part two of that album, lou reed live.my favourite time i ever saw mr. reed was hammersmith odeon on the coney island baby tour ... a simply stunning version of "kicks" just about blew my socks off.

I wonder if he regrets the final lines of Coney Island Baby; "I'd like to send this one out to Lou and Rachel..........", bearing in mind that Rachel had stubble first thing in the mornings!

Mist.

i honestly think that was a real love story. a fucked up love story. but a real one all the same.

He did a similar thing about Sylvia (on the Blue Mask, I think). It's only a matter of time before Laurie gets a namecheck too!

Mist.

actually thanks for the prompt on this, dug up some proof sheets but think the negs are long gone, unfortunately...
note the shirt....

keggie

Thanks Keggie. Nice photos.

Sylvia also get's a name check on New York in the song the beginning of a great adventure.

He sings Sylvia what do you call your lover boy. I love that song. As for as I know Laurie A. Did not get a name check yet but many books and songs are dedicated to her.


Bettina

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http://www.loureed.nl

Cant comment on the drug taking on stage but RNRA is my fav live album of all time,Im not a huge LR fan but this live album knocks spots off all DBs live albums.
What i often find strange is that Lou Reed live (album) is from the same gig but sounds different to me and it never gets mentioned along side RNRA.

ziggyson

Is Lou Reed Live available on CD ?

Yes, I bought it new for $1.50.

Is it the one where he has a cap on ? not seen it anywhere ! dont Hunter/Wagner come out of opposite speakers to R n R Animal ? read it on Wikapedia.

Yeah the one with the cap on mate. Bettina will probably know more about 'Lou Reed Live' she's a big fan.

My guess would be it was rushed out on the success of its predecessor and was mixed by someone else.

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lou reed live (the one where he wears the denim trilby hat) was produced by steve katz assisted by bruce somerfeld and george semkiw.

rock n roll animal was produced by steve katz and lou reed with assistance by ralph moss and bruce somerfeld.

so a slightly different team for the second one .... i must admit i have never noticed a big difference in quality between the two other than they obviously cherry picked the best performances for the first one. i still see both CD's in the shops quite regularly. both are worth owning. i often wish i had the original set list so i could put them in the right running order a la "stage".

All the tracks from the 21st December 1973 Lou reed show are now available, via the updated cd of Rock 'n' Roll Animal and Lou Reed Live.

This was the show's set list -
Intro / Sweet Jane,
How Do You Think It Feels?,
Caroline Says...1,
Waiting For The Man,
Lady Day,
Heroin,
Vicious,
Satellite Of Love,
Walk On The Wild Side,
Oh Jim,
Sad Song,
White Light / White Heat,
Rock And Roll.

It's worth putting the songs back in order - makes for a truly storming concert. I had to boost the volume on the Lou Reed Live tracks to match that on the RNRA cd, but otherwise the sound of the songs, the mix, and the overall oomph of the tracks is pretty similar across both albums.

I wish Lou would reissue both, in the correct order, but until then my home made version will do.

Cheers,
Richard

Richard that sounds like a great idea ! I had both of these records in the seventies but found I had a strong affinity with R n R Animal , but never really clicked with Live ? I used to enjoy listening to R n R Animal on Saturday afternoon suffering from a rather heavy head due to the previous nights shenanigans ,probably contemplating the night ahead !

I am going to start collecting Lou Reeds newer stuff ,my own favorite albums were always Transformer ,Berlin , R n R Animal , and Sally cant dance ! I always think that a couple of the tracks off Sally i.e. Animal Language and Kill your Sons could have had Hunter / Wagner on them ,I know they dont ! its just the sound ?

thank you richard ... i will have to look out for the updated RNRA ... how many extra tracks ?

Richard thanks for posting that! I Was about too, as I have it! I ordered from Amazon last year, because I love both discs. They are the same show. And Oh Jim is stunning! Full of menace, the drums are un-relentless! A slow burner that one!