Lou Reed on Guns & Ammo | Blank on Blank | PBS Digital Studios

Published on Feb 17, 2015

"I write a song called 'Heroin', you would have thought that I murdered the Pope or something"

- Lou Reed on March 20, 1987, as told to Joe Smith



Lou Reed. Lou Reed. Here we bring you a rarely heard interview Lou recored in 1987. It's vintage Lou. Salty and sweet. Earnest and cocky. Grouchy and kind of endearing. Reed (and his legendary band The Velvet Underground) were those musicians who never got the extensive accolades or awards--nor the riches many of their contemporaries found. Yet he never seemed to waver in his search for the perfect sound and his quest "to elevate the rock and roll song and take it where it hadn’t been taken before." Here we present some interview outtakes that give a taste for this iconic American musician. Lou Reed died of liver disease on October 27, 2013. He was 71.



In this animated film Lou Reed talks about chasing off nosy college kids on his porch with his shotgun, how he dreamed about writing the great American novel while at Syracuse University, "how savage the reaction against" the Velvet Underground was, the intention of taking books and putting them into songs, writing rock and roll you could grow old with, not thinking The Doors or the Beatles were up to the level of his band, and how he hoped to elevate the rock and roll song to where it hadn't been before.



RIP, Lou.



LOU REED QUOTES



"What we had was ambition and a goal ... to elevate the rock and roll song and take it where it hadn’t been taken before."

"I have faith in my own vision, and didn’t want them to tamper with it."

"Don’t thin my voice out and make it like that high shit. This is the way I sound."

" I’ve gone out with my shotgun. This is hunting country out there. You better run."

"I wanted to write the great American novel but I also loved rock and roll."

"I got a little puzzled at how savage the reaction against us was."



Hear the full, unedited interview, learn more about Lou Reed including a pic of his college band, and see some sweet Lou Reed GIFs @ http://blankonblank.org/interviews/lo...



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Executive Producer: David Gerlach

Animator: Patrick Smith

Audio Producer: Amy Drozdowska



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Musichttp://youtu.be/Jcd9BS2Ty_M

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

"Venus in Furs"

"Heroin"

"Rock and Roll"

LOU REED

"Perfect Day"



Photos

P. TUFTS

PHIL KING

via FLICKR

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Link: http://youtu.be/Jcd9BS2Ty_M