I am not much of a hoarder, unless it is of the intangible: music, interviews…love…life…This is perhaps my favorite Lou Reed interview. It does not have the pizazz of the buzz of his Australian interviews at the height of his ‘Death Dwarf/Rock and Roll Animal transformation. It doesn’t have the bite and horror of one of his infamous maulings of stupid journalists who asked him stupid questions.
What it does have is an expert and respectful interviewer in David Wild, who clearly loves Lou Reed’s work, and is delighted to meet Lou. Lou responds to that respect by giving a spectacularly open and good natured interview, packed full of wonderful readings and performances. Lou’s devastatingly good performance of The Kids, at the start of part 2a is one of the best performances of the songs ever recorded. This is Lou Reed semi-unplugged, accompanied only by the magnificent bassist, Fernando Saunders. Reed’s gentle and sympathetic love for those suffering, and his simple yet sincere and deep expression wins out over his thorny carapace. This is Lou as one of the great American artists, at least on the level of Edgar Allen Poe, whom he greatly admired. Though this interview is somewhat pushing Reed’s most recent project at the time, The Raven, instead Lou is steered to talk about that which he loves. It is a joy to behold.
Enlightening and enjoyable, this an interview to treasure.