Lou Reed was many things; an icon of rock music, a pioneering avant-garde artist, and a fantastic spoken wordsmith (yes, Lulu is good).
His vision was uncompromising, his creativity was unmatched, his art was unfiltered, honest, authentically himself. He also wrote a bunch of failed attempts at Top 40 hits for a budget record label in the mid-60s. Yes, Lou Reed used to churn out trend-chasing pop songs for Pickwick Records, and his greatest non-hits have been compiled on Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed At Pickwick Records 1964-65, a collaborative effort between Light in the Attic, Laurie Anderson, and the Lou Reed Archive.
It’s got all your favorite rock-and-roll classics! Or, more accurately, it’s got a lot of songs that kinda sound like all your favorite rock-and-roll classics! Say, do you like The Beach Boys? Well, Pickwick Records can do you one better with The Beachnuts! And if you’re a fan of The Ronettes, hey, why not give Spongy and the Dolls a try? In all seriousness, a lot of these songs are way too good to be novelty tracks, and whether you’re a diehard fan of Reed’s work or just a nerd about 60s pop and rock, Why Don’t You Smile Now is worth checking out.
Why Don’t You Smile Now comes out September 27th – check out The Primitives’ “The Ostrich,” which features Lou Reed on guitar and vocals (and is the namesake of Lou Reed’s “Ostrich tuning”) below.