Words & Music, May 1965

Just as much as Bob Dylan, Lou Reed changed how rock songs were written when he emerged as an artist in the mid-60s. Reed brought a bold emotional maturity to his lyrics that was absent from rock songwriting when the Velvet Underground first surfaced in 1966, and he tackled subject matter verboten in pop music at the time. However, while Dylan seemed to emerge fully formed after the hiccup of his first album with 1963s The Freewheelin Bob Dylan (the first LP where his original tunes dominated the set list), it took a little longer for Reed to find his voice as a tunesmith. He had recently started working with John Cale when he made a rough tape in May 1965 to document songs hed been working on, which he mailed to himself as a "poor mans copyright" and then set aside. After Reeds death, archivists discovered the tape in his offices, and found it included the earliest known recordings of several VU classics, along with tunes previously lost to the ages. Words & Music, May 1965 allows fans to hear this music for the first time, and its historically priceless stuff. Reed is backed just by his acoustic guitar, and this music suggests the influence of the folk-leaning singer/songwriters of the time in a way his work with the Velvets would not. These songs were works in progress, and hearing "Heroin" and "Pale Blue Eyes" while he was still toying with the lyrics is fascinating. If "Too Late," "Walk Alone," and "Men of Good Fortune" (the latter not the song that would appear on 1973s Berlin) werent great Lou Reed songs, theyre certainly good ones, and they add a wealth of detail to this portrait of a songwriter honing his craft. Its also a warts-and-all demo recorded on an amateur tape recorder in someones apartment, presented here with all the flubs, false starts, and bursts of laughter left in. This isnt the work of a musician striving to preserve his work in its best light, but a lo-fi tape meant to document his rough drafts while they were still fresh in his mind. Devoted fans will note that this bears a certain resemblance to the acoustic demos that appear on disc one of the Velvet Underground box set Peel Slowly and See, except this is a noticeably rougher, sloppier performance. Most importantly, this shows that while Reed was close to the goal line in terms of his songs, musically he hadnt formulated the bracing electric sound that was so important to the Velvet Underground (or if he had, he wasnt trying to capture it that evening). This is a major find and a fascinating document for serious fans, but from a strictly musical standpoint, the average listener will only find this enjoyable for so long. If youre a historically minded Lou Reed completist, Words & Music, May 1965 is a must. Others are advised to approach with caution and keep their expectations in check. ~ Mark Deming