The artist Lou Reed thought “most people couldn’t sing” like
When The Velvet Underground first burst onto the scene in the mid-1960s, most fans didn’t know what to make of Lou Reed. Although his voice may have been rough around the edges like Bob Dylan’s, the dark poetry that he wove into every song that the band played excited and repulsed listeners alike, taking the building blocks of rock and roll and turning them into dark exercises on every track. While many might not have been that enamoured with Reed’s style, those who were would go on to shape the legacy of the genre.
In Reed’s native New York, one of his biggest fans was Patti Smith, who thought The Velvets were one of the most exciting acts on the scene. While many of the band’s core fanbase came from America, one outlandish star was learning the ins and outs of rock and roll from across the pond.
When first putting together his initial songs, David Bowie would turn himself into one of the greatest art-rockers on the scene, thanks to The Velvet Underground. Loving the sounds of tracks like ‘I’m Waiting for the Man’, Bowie shaped his music into something miles ahead of anyone else who came before him, penning tracks like ‘Queen Bitch’ as a tribute to what Reed was doing.
Although Reed could have kept making iconic music with The Velvet Underground, things began to fall through in the late 1960s. With various lineup changes starting around this time, Reed would become desensitised to the band’s work ethic before finally calling it quits after the album Loaded.
Even though Reed had a shaky start to his solo career, Bowie was one of the people who helped get him back on track. Having become one of the biggest stars in the world thanks to records like Ziggy Stardust, Bowie would steer Reed through his most commercially successful songs, including the colossal album Transformer.
While no one could equal Reed’s voice, he thought that Bowie’s croon was one of the most singular voices in rock and roll history. When talking about Bowie’s seminal influence, Reed would go on to tell Rolling Stone, “He’s got his crooner voice when he wants to. And he has a melodic sense that’s just well above anyone else in rock and roll. Most people could not sing some of his melodies. He can really go for a high note.”
Even though Reed was focused on turning his songs into works of art, he admitted that most of the great moments in his recordings have stemmed from what Bowie brought to them. On a track like ‘Satellite of Love’, for instance, Reed thought that Bowie helped tie the entire track together, explaining, “There’s a part at the end where it goes all the way up. It’s fabulous.”
Then again, Bowie has been incredibly grateful for Reed’s music as well, calling The Velvet Underground one of the true founders of what modern music sounds like today. Since Bowie got his first inspiration from the Velvet Underground, helping Reed reach the greatest heights that he could was practically a thank-you for that initial artistic push.
