new york

Lou Reed went back to basics with a new band for the intense lyrical visions of urban decay and the mysteries of life that comprise this conceptual tour de force.  After the release of 'Mistrial' he took part in the Conspiracy of Hope tour with U2, Sting, Bryan Adams, Peter Gabriel, Joan Baez, and The Neville Brothers to raise awareness of human rights issues for Amnesty International.  The experience gave Reed a more profound perspective on the issues of AIDS, drugs, crime, and poverty; which informed the songs that he was writing for his next album.  'New York' was recorded at Media Sound, Studio B in (where else?) New York City with Lou Reed on vocals, guitar, and background vocals; Mike Rathke on guitar; Rob Wasserman on Clevinger electric upright six-string bass; and Fred Maher on drums on all songs except "Last Great American Whale" and "Dime Store Mystery"; and Fender bass on "Romeo Had Juliette" and "Busload of Faith";  with Maureen Tucker providing percussion on "Last Great American Whale" and "Dime Store Mystery"; Dion DiMucci adding background vocals to "Dirty Blvd"; and Jeffrey Lesser on background vocals.  The sessions were produced by Reed and Maher.  

Reed revealed in 'Rolling Stone':     "I did what I always do.  The only change has been – and I know it sounds clichéd – but if you practice something over and over and over and over, you're supposed to get better at it...I've become completely well adjusted to being a cult figure," he says...I never in a million years thought people would be outraged by what I was doing," Reed says. "You could go to your neighborhood bookstore and get any of that...It's interesting when you've been around as long as I have to see these things come around," Reed remarked near the end. "It's like, do you want to be serious? About your own life? And if you don't want to be serious, there's party records, and that's a lot of fun. But I'm interested in something else. I'm not saying it's better than all the rest. It's just different...I have a few more words at my disposal. And I can't ignore that...Faulkner had the South, Joyce had Dublin. I've got New York – and its environs. It's just a big city. The reason I don't think the album's inhibited by topicality is because I travel around a lot. I talk to people, and it's just the same old stories over there. Different name, same situation...It's interesting, from a writing point of view, the techniques I used. The sequence is important. Because every time you're hit with a song, you've been hit with a few others before it. There have been these other things whispered in your ear, setting you up for what that song's going to talk about. In "Romeo Had Juliette," you have the two teens. You have "Halloween Parade," people dying of AIDS, then Pedro in the welfare hotel in "Dirty Blvd." Then you have these two people who are fighting ["Endless Cycle"] and what if they had a kid.  Then it's into the ecology ["Last Great American Whale"], and suddenly you've got a guy talking about "Gee, maybe I oughta have a kid" ["Beginning of a Great Adventure"]. But while he's talking about that, you've been loaded up with five other ones. What has been happening to the kids? What is happening to the land?...It's also about the use of language. That's why I say maybe we shouldn't think of me making rock and roll records. I'm in this for the long haul. I feel I've just started to get a grip on it, what I can do with it, what I want to do with it. And who I'd like to take with me when I do it...It's really easy, in a sense, because the people who like it will go with me. And the people who don't will say I'm full of shit. And more power to them. They don't want me, and I'm not interested in them, either. That's okay. [Smiles] I have no problem with that."

'New York' became one of the biggest successes of Reed's career, second only to 'Transformer', going gold in France, the UK, and the US and charting at number forty in the US, twenty-nine in France, nineteen in Germany, eighteen in Austria, fourteen in the UK, and number one in Switzerland.  





http://www.loureed.com/




"Dirty Blvd"




"Busload of Faith"








'New York'
full album:


01 00:00 "Romeo Had Juliette"
02 03:09 "Halloween Parade"
03 06:40 "Dirty Blvd."
04 10:09 "Endless Cycle"
05 14:07 "There Is No Time"
06 17:53 "Last Great American Whale"
07 21:33 "Beginning of a Great Adventure"
08 26:29 "Busload of Faith"
09 31:20 "Sick of You"
10 34:44 "Hold On"
11 38:09 "Good Evening Mr. Waldheim"
12 42:45 "Xmas in February"
13 45:39 "Strawman"
14 51:33 "Dime Store Mystery"





live 1989