Listen to Lou Reed’s cover of Buddy Holly’s ‘Peggy Sue’
The co-founder of The Velvet Underground, Lou Reed, was often considered a bit of a cantankerous contrarian, and there was little he enjoyed more than lambasting his highly revered peers. He was known for being difficult to work with from time to time due to his headstrong and unwavering opinions and dry sense of humour.
In the early 1970s, a magazine gathered some of Reed’s thoughts on contemporary artists and countercultural figures. Among the names were some of his former Velvet Underground bandmates and their early creative collaborator, Andy Warhol, of whom he said, “I really love him”.
Of his former Velvet Underground partner, Reed said, “I only hope that one day John [Cale] will be recognised as… the Beethoven or something of his day.”
He added: “He knows so much about music; he’s such a great musician. He’s completely mad – but that’s because he’s Welsh.”
He also saved praise for Maureen ‘Moe’ Tucker, The Velvet Underground’s drummer. “She’s so beautiful,” he said. “She has to be one of the most fantastic people I’ve ever met in my life. She’s so impossibly great, but I can never believe it, you know, when we’re walking round the studio, and I run into Moe, I just can’t believe it.”
Despite such kind words, Reed hit the other end of the spectrum when unleashing his vitriol toward the likes of Frank Zappa, Roxy Music, The Beatles, The Who and pretty much every west coast rock band of the 1960s.
It appears necessary to take Reed’s word with a pinch of salt, especially as he contradicted many of these opinions over the years. Whether it was boredom, humour or otherwise, the late songwriter’s interviews were noted for hyperbolic derision and praise. Perhaps a greater gauge of his respect would be a studio cover.
Throughout his prolific career, Reed covered the likes of David Bowie, John Lennon and Smokey Robinson, but these were usually confined to collaborative projects and live performances. For Reed, studio covers were an infrequent occurrence, but in 2011, he showed his respect to the late rock ‘n’ roll pioneer Buddy Holly by doing just that.
The below recording – which should have been titled ‘Peggy Lou’ – was contributed as part of the compilation covers album Rave On Buddy Holly. Alongside Reed’s raw, punky take on the 1950s staple were contributions from Paul McCartney, Graham Nash, Patti Smith and The Black Keys.
