Before & After: You're So Vain

Before - Carly Simon (1972)

After - Tony Randall & Jack Klugman (1973)

Movie of the Week: Stranded In Canton (1973, by William Eggleston)

By William Eggleston

In 1973, photographer William Eggleston picked up a Sony PortaPak and took to documenting the soul of Memphis and New Orleans. Some of this footage was used recently in the Big Star documentary. Read a little more about it here, and buy the book/DVD here.

So far underground you'll get the bends: More Lou Reed than you can shake a stick at

Since he passed away on October 27, there's been an overly abundant supply of Lou Reed content - bootlegs, video, what have you - popping up online. I thought I'd share here some links to a few items that have caught my attention.

Below, Lou gets interviewed by Anthony DeCurtis at the 92nd Street Y in NYC a few years back. I was lucky enough to be there, and I'm glad to see this again. DeCurtis seems a bit nervous at times, but he's good enough to give Lou space & let him finish his thoughts. I'm  sure it wasn't an easy gig. This video, and many others, can be found amongst the treasure trove of content that the 92nd Street Y recently made available here.

Secondly, and always good sources for tasty & choice live recordings, Doom & Gloom From The Tomb, and Aquarium Drunkard, have both have shared some great files from various sources recently. First up, from the Infinite Fool via Doom & Gloom, we have Lou Reed & The Tots - Alice Tully Hall, New York City, NY, January 27, 1973. This is a recording of one of the shows that the poster at the top of this post comes from. 

Then, from Music For Maniacs via Doom & Gloom, we have Pre-VU - an incredible collection of pre-Velvet Undergound recordings that involved Lou to some degree or another. Here's the track listing:

01. Jades - Leave Her for Me
02. Jades - So Blue (time-1002, 1958)
03. Lewis Reed - Merry Go Round (1962)
04. Lewis Reed - Your Love
05. The All Night Workers - Why Don’t You Smile Now
06. The Beachnuts - Cycle Annie (1965)
07. The Beachnuts - I’ve Got A Tiger In My Tank
08. the Hi-Lifes - Soul City (1965)
09. The Primitives - Sneaky Pete
10. The Primitives - The Ostrich
11. The Roughnecks - You’re Driving Me Insane

And then, perhaps the coolest of all, is a recording of Lou guest DJ-ing on the short lived WPIX rock station here in NYC in 1979. As Aquarium Drunkard writes, "Lou is in fine, fighting form here, peppering his commentary with scathing diatribes against Robert Christgau, Rolling Stone magazine, Jimmy Carter and NYC taxi drivers. He even takes some calls — witness the hilarious, surreal moment when Lou “Take No Prisoners” Reed admonishes a caller for using foul language. The music he plays is fantastic, too, with some classic doo wop, tracks from his then-unreleased The Bells LP, and a truly bizarro segue from Al Green to Nico. Lou even comes out in favor of disco.." Download a zipfile of this great show here.

And just for kicks, here are the Velvets doing "I'm Not A Young Man Anymore" which will be included with the forthcoming deluxe issue of White Light/White Heat.

I think thats it for now, but I know there will be more...It always comes back to the rain. And with that, I'll leave you with this classic shot of Lou & John Cale looking all festive back in 1977 as shot by Miss Kate Simon. I originally ran this last Christmas day with Kate's awesome playlist. And by the way, Kate, if you're reading this, don't forget that new Christmas playlist you've promised me this year.

Loaded: Lou Reed & John Cale at Lou's house in New York, Christmas 1977 - by Kate Simon

Lou Reed: Berlin acetate with some alternate mixes!

Thanks to Doom & Gloom From the Tomb for pointing the way to this gem: Experience the Sgt. Pepper of the seventies — in acetate form! A different mix, different tracklisting and some different music, apparently. One of my all time favorites! Grab it here.

Movie of the Week: Born To Swing (1973)

Image source

Born To Swing is an excellent documentary (from 1973) about the alumni of the Count Basie Band of 1943. Be warned that any band Basie had could kill...just lethal. My dog could sing in front of this band and sound good. Currently out of print, it can be had on VHS from some sellers at Amazon here.

Roxy Music: Live on Musikladen (1973)

Some OUTSTANDING footage of the original Roxy line up from 1973. Songs performed: Do the Strand, Editions of You, In Every Dream Home A Heartache and Re-Make/Re-Model.

Hat tip to Pukekos.

Movie of the Week: Wattstax (1973)

The Bar-Kays in full flight, Wattstax, Los Angeles, 1973

Movie of the Week: Deep Purple Live In Concert 1972-1973 Copenhagen & NewYork

I have a friend, old enough to remember, who insists that any contemporary band would shit their pants if they caught Deep Purple in the era this concert footage dates from. I can't say I agree, but I love to hear him say it.

For more Deep Purple, click here.

Before and After: I Wish You Would

Before - Billy Boy Arnold (1955)

During - The Yardbirds (1964)

During - John Hammond (1965)

After - David Bowie (1973)

After - The Blasters (1980)

Movie of the Week - Quadrophenia: Can You See the Real Me

Original album artwork, 1973

Movie poster, 1979

Movie of the Week - Ziggy Stardust: The Motion Picture (1973)

By DA Pennebaker. Shot on July 3, 1973 at the Hammersmith Odeon. 39 years ago this past week! Read a nice remembrance about growing up Ziggy by UK DJ, Mr. Greg Wilson here.

Movie of the Week - Lee Hazlewood & Nancy Sinatra live in Las Vegas (1973)

Here's a cool find...its prime 70's Nancy & Lee doing it Vegas-style! Hat tip to Dangerous Minds. As the description says, "Lee Hazlewood and Nancy Sinatras Las Vegas-show 1972, with interviews and documentary scenes from the production. Produced by Hugh Lambert, shoot by Torbjörn Axelman. Nancy Sinatra, Lee Hazlewood, Nancy Sinatra, Sr. ; Hal Blaine, drums ; Don Randi, piano ; Reinie Press, bass ; Al Casey, and Donnie Owens, guitar."

Lou Reed's Berlin advertised 1973

Ad for Lou Reed's Berlin, Billboard magazine Oct 20, 1973. Via BP.

Beefheart radio & TV commercials 1970-1973

Lick My Decals Off Baby spot C:


Lick My Decals Off Baby spot B:


Lick My Decals Off Baby spot A:


Beefheart-Cooder tour spot B:


Beefheart-Cooder tour spot A:


Clear Spot spots A & B with Wolfman Jack:


Warner Reprise combo spot:


Thanks to T. Tex for sharing this little zipfile of goodness. Grab everything here, and get:

• Clear Spot spots A & B (Wolfman Jack)
• Warner-Reprise combo spot
• Beefheart-Cooder tour spots A & B
• Lick My Decals Off Baby spots A, B & C
• Lick My Decals Off Baby TV spot

The Sacred Triangle - Bowie, Iggy, & Lou 1971-1973

Now available on DVD at See of Sound

The Stooges assault continues

Remember, the deluxe version of the Raw Power reissue is only available here.

Lastly, something I've been meaning to post for a while is some simply mind bending film of the Stooges, live in NYC in 1973, shot by Ivan Kral. There are four very short clips, but it's astounding footage, and not to be missed. Unfortunately embedding has been disabled, but you can view all four of them here. I encourage you to check out the rest of Ivan's cinema verite, you-are-there video clips by clicking here. It's real treasure. Thanks to Retro Kimmer for the reminder to post these.

The twenty year shock

This post was inspired by the incredible series of originals/covers posts that Any Major Dude has been running for a while now. For the last twenty years I've been under the impression that a song called "Biting My Nails" was written by Renegade Soundwave. Their version was probably the closest thing they ever had to a hit. At least here in the States. So sleazy, menacing and bad attitudinal was their version...who else could have written it? It was tailor made for them, no? Apparently not...not at least originally.

Originally the tune was written & performed by one Genevieve Waite on the 1973 album, Romance Is On the Rise. The album was produced by her then husband, John Phillips of Mamas & Papas fame. She being his third wife. According to Wikipedia, the album was released to some critical acclaim at the time, and the artwork used a photo by Richard Avedon so there must have been a decent artwork budget.

Anyway, I only found this out a few days ago as I was visiting my friend Michael Overn. Once a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, Michael took tickets, and shot video and did some lights at Danceteria here in NYC. He and some friends, including Karen Finley and Carlo McCormick also did a public access TV show. Michael pulled out a DVD and proceeded to show me an episode that was a tribute to Haoui Montaug's monthly cabaret show at Danceteria, No Entiendes (yes, this is where Madonna made her live debut in 1982 or so).


That's Haoui on the left. (Photo courtesy of Daniel Falgerho)

In this particular episode was a performance of "Biting My Nails" sung by Deb Parker & Cathy Underhill. As the song was playing, it sounded a bit "downtown New York" which was typical of the time. Sort of campy, ironic, fun...sort of like Pulsallama with a pretty hot backing band. Not much different than the original version it turns out. It didn't take long for me to recognize the tune, and realize that it preceded, by a good 3-4 years, the Renegade Soundwave version. It really sort of blew my mind.

The original -


The cover -