The legendary guitarist and songwriter Lou Reed called “profoundly untalented”
Lou Reed was an unstoppable talent that no one could dispute – but conversely, the man himself was known for often being more than a little acerbic when it came to giving the down-low on some of his counterparts.
Of course, it’s one thing to just stay silent or simply shrug off the notion of complimenting other artists whenever you may be asked about the subject. But it’s entirely another issue when you get questioned on some of your worldly opinions and start turning it into an insult game, which was exactly the road Reed decided to travel. Never mind respecting the fellow classes of legends that he would find himself surrounded by: this was a man who would stop at nothing to voice exactly what he thought.
Most people would consider Pete Townshend as the visionary genius who propelled The Who to the front of the British invasion battalion and continued flying the flag even further – but evidently, this wasn’t enough to impress the harshest of critics. Instead, while the rest of the world was caught up in the awe of their 1969 magnum opus Tommy, largely helmed by the artistic mind of Townshend, Reed unfortunately saw it as little more than a gimmick.
“Jesus, how do people get sucked into that?” Reed later snarled towards the record in the 1970s. But taking his attack one step further, the singer then went for Townshend specifically in the jugular. Calling him “So talentless, and as a lyricist [Townshend] is so profoundly untalented. And, you know, philosophically boring to say the least,” it was clear that there weren’t many merits of the man that were clear to his view.
Reed took a particular issue with the sentiment of some of Townshend’s supposedly lacklustre titles and lyrics, mistakenly calling the record The Seeker “The Searcher”, before going on to sneer: “‘I ask Timothy Leary’… I wouldn’t ask Timothy Leary the time of day, for cryin’ out loud.” The fact that he didn’t like the words was clear enough – but it would give his argument more credibility if he at least knew the right names for them.
Naturally, this, coming from a man hardly known for his sense of searing honesty, was barely surprising. Reed was a tough nut to crack at the best of times, let alone when he was knowingly playing his favourite game of creating an impossible dance between truth and lies. But in this sense, it was also slightly hypocritical that he would take umbrage with a concept album of all things, where The Who – and, in turn, Townshend – could get wrapped up in their own little mirage of a world.
To the outsiders and naysayers, however, it was patently less enthralling. It was only natural that a cynical critic like Reed would put his two cents in and it wouldn’t necessarily be positive, but it seemed especially brutal given the persona he portrayed throughout his life. You win some and you lose some, you have to concede, but when it comes to people like Reed and their inscrutable web of perception, there’s simply no telling what will impress and what will be left to the wind.
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