Lou Reed 在组建 The Velvet Underground 之前创作的歌曲将结集发行

在组建 The Velvet Underground 之前, Lou Reed 曾受聘为 Pickwick Records 创作了不少歌曲. 现在, 这批歌曲结集成为一张名为 "Why Don't You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65" 的新专辑, 定于9月27日由 Light in the Attic Records 发行. 专辑第一首歌曲 - The Primitives 的 "The Ostrich," 由 Lou Reed 担任主唱 - 现已推出. 新闻稿摘录如下:

(August 13, 2024) - Light in the Attic (LITA), in cooperation with Laurie Anderson and the Lou Reed Archive, is thrilled to announce the forthcoming release of Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65, out digitally on September 27th and via 2xLP/CD on October 4th. Following on the heels of Reed’s Hudson River Wind Meditations (2023 reissue) and Words & Music, May 1965 (2022), the latest installment in LITA’s acclaimed Lou Reed Archive Series is a compilation of pop songs penned by Reed during his mid-60s stint as a staff songwriter for the long-defunct label Pickwick Records.

One of the most original and innovative figures in music history, Reed first gained recognition as co-founder and frontman of the massively influential Velvet Underground. Over the course of his five-decade career, the two-time Rock & Roll Hall of Famer brought his singular vision to an eclectic expanse of musical endeavors, including era-defining albums like 1972’s Transformer and wildly experimental works like the 1975 avant-garde noise classic Metal Machine Music. But before establishing himself as an enduringly iconic singer, songwriter, musician, and poet, Reed got his start as an in-house songwriter (and occasional session guitarist/vocalist) for Pickwick Records — a label specializing in sound-alike recordings that emulated the major pop hits of the day. Encompassing everything from garage-rock and girl-group pop to blue-eyed soul and teen-idol balladry, Reed’s output for Pickwick ultimately offers a fascinating early glimpse at his ever-evolving and truly limitless artistry.

Why Don’t You Smile Now... has been restored and remastered by GRAMMY®-nominated mastering engineer John Baldwin. Both the 2xLP & CD editions feature in-depth booklets with unseen photos, liner notes by Richie Unterberger, and an essay by Lenny Kaye. The double-LP package is designed by multi-GRAMMY®-winning artist Masaki Koike. This release marks the first official anthology of Lou Reed’s work for Pickwick Records and features rarities, cult classics, and previously unreleased material.

A highly prolific period in which he co-wrote dozens of songs that saw release, Reed’s tenure at Pickwick began soon after connecting with Terry Philips — the label’s chief songwriter and producer, who’d envisioned creating an in-house equivalent to the Brill Building’s hitmaking songwriting/production teams. Despite the assembly-line nature of Pickwick’s output, the experience proved to be deeply formative for Reed and, in Unterberger’s words, “gave him his first opportunities to filter his love for rock, soul, girl group sounds, Phil Spector, and a bit of far-out experimentation into commercially released material.”

The opening track to Why Don’t You Smile Now..., a stand-alone single called “The Ostrich,” finds Reed taking the helm as lead vocalist and delivering a fantastically loopy twist on the dance records that dominated the first half of the 60s. “It’s as much a parody of dance craze rock ’n’ roll as an entry into its overcrowded field,” Unterberger writes. “Yet it isn’t without the kind of hooks aimed at sparking a hit single, performed with the all-out élan of a youngster living and breathing rock ’n’ roll at its most devil-may-care corner.” Co-written by Reed and recorded as The Primitives, “The Ostrich” even paved the way for the formation of The Velvet Underground after Philips enlisted a young avant-garde musician named John Cale to join The Primitives’ live band for a truncated promotional tour.

Watch Video for “The Ostrich” here: http://t.cn/A6RAhk5z

Over the course of its 25 songs, Why Don’t You Smile Now... also covers such wide-ranging stylistic terrain as soul-pop (on The Hi-Lifes’ “Soul City”), surf-tinged doo-wop (on The Hollywoods’ “Teardrop In The Sand”), and riff-driven garage-rock (on The Roughnecks’ “You’re Driving Me Insane,” hailed by Unterberger as “a hint of the kind of mental instability, even madness, that would factor into some — though by no means all — of Reed’s most impressive later work, whether with The Velvets or on his own”).

One of the most historically significant cuts on Why Don’t You Smile Now..., The All Night Workers’ “Why Don’t You Smile,” marks the first commercial release naming Cale as a composer, with songwriting credit given to Reed, Cale, Philips, and Jerry Vance. Soon after a 1965 session in which he recorded a series of demos, Reed parted ways with Pickwick and joined Cale in forming The Velvet Underground along with guitarist Sterling Morrison, drummer Maureen Tucker, and occasional singer Nico. For Philips, who initially hired Reed for his lyrical talents, then encouraged his development as a singer, guitarist, and songwriter, the departure was inevitable. Philips told Unterberger, “I thought he could be what he became.”

Pre-order Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65 & limited edition merch here: http://t.cn/A6RAhk57

Tracklist:

Side A
1. The Primitives - “The Ostrich”
2. The Beachnuts - “Cycle Annie”
3. The Hi-Lifes - “I’m Gonna Fight”
4. The Hi-Lifes - “Soul City”
5. Ronnie Dickerson - “Oh No Don’t Do It”
6. Ronnie Dickerson - “Love Can Make You Cry”
7. The Hollywoods - “Teardrop In The Sand”
8. The Roughnecks - “You’re Driving Me Insane”

Side B
1. The Primitives - “Sneaky Pete”
2. Terry Philips - “Wild One”
3. Spongy And The Dolls - “Really - Really - Really - Really - Really - Really Love”
4. The Foxes - “Soul City”
5. The J Brothers - “Ya Running, But I’ll Getcha”
6. Beverley Ann - “We Got Trouble”
7. The All Night Workers - “Why Don’t You Smile”
8. Jeannie Larimore - “Johnny Won’t Surf No More”

Side C
1. Robertha Williams - “Tell Mamma Not to Cry”
2. Robertha Williams - “Maybe Tomorrow”
3. Terry Philips - “Flowers For The Lady”
4. Terry Philips - “This Rose”

Side D
1. The Surfsiders - “Surfin’”
2. The Surfsiders - “Little Deuce Coupe”
3. The Beachnuts - “Sad, Lonely Orphan Boy”
4. The Beachnuts - “I’ve Got a Tiger in My Tank”
5. Ronnie Dickerson - “What About Me” http://t.cn/A6RA7vKp