I’ve been listening to different tracks from Lou Reed recently and found that many are catchy and likeable in one listen. He has many more songs than Walk on the Wild Side. I’ve never explored him like I should have, and I’ve been doing that along with Frank Zappa. It took me a while to pick a song to cover because I couldn’t decide on one.
This song is on his 1972 great album called Transformer. I love Lou’s delivery, half sung, half tossed off, like he’s talking to you from the corner of the room. It’s not a grand hit centerpiece like Walk on the Wild Side, but it shows what the Transformer sessions were really about. Taking Lou’s New York voice and framing it so the world couldn’t miss it.
It was recorded during the Transformer sessions in London in 1972, with David Bowie and Mick Ronson producing and helping shape the sound. Lou came in with the songs, but Bowie and Ronson gave the album a tighter sound than the rougher Velvet Underground days. Cleaner takes and separation between instruments. They gave the songs more of a punch. Ronson wasn’t just producing, he was also arranging and playing as well.
Transformer peaked at #29 on the Billboard Album Charts, #12 in Canada, and #13 in the UK in 1972. Transformer was Lou Reed’s most commercially successful and iconic solo album. The first single, Walk on the Wild Side became a Top Forty hit on both sides of the Atlantic. Within a year, Lou Reed transformed from a cult artist to an international star.
Lou Reed – There was this whole glam thing going on so I just put myself in that head. Its not like I had to go very far to do it. I have about a thousand selves running around. It’s easy.
Demo from 1971. Also my friend at thepressmusicreviews reviewed the RCA demos a while back.
I’m So Free
Yes, I am Mother Nature’s son (uh, uh)And I’m the only oneI do what I want, and I want what I see (uh, uh)Could only happen to me
I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)
Oh, please, St. Germaine (uh, uh)I have come this wayDo you remember the shape I was in? (Uh, uh)I had horns that bent
I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)
Do you remember the silver walks?You used to shiver and I used to talkThen we went down to Times SquareAnd ever since I’ve been hangin’ ’round there
I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)
Yes, I am Mother Nature’s son (uh, uh)And I’m the only oneI do what I want, and I want what I see (uh, uh)Could only happen to me
I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)I’m so free (uh, uh, uh, uh)Oh-oh, I’m so freeOh-oh, I’m so freeOh-oh, I’m so free
In the morning, I’m so freeLate in the evening, I’m so freeYeah, yeah, yeah, I’m so freeWhen I feel good, I’m so free
And when it’s in the morning, I’m so freeAnd when it’s in the evening, I’m so freeI’m so free, I’m so freeI’m so free, I’m so free
Feel so good now, I’m so freeOh-oh, I’m so freeYeah, yeah, yeah, I’m so freeOh-oh, I’m so free
Feel so free now, I’m so freeFeel a little nice, I’m so freeFeel a little down now, I’m so freeYou’re so free, I’m so free
I’m so free, I’m so freeI’m so free, I’m so freeI’m so free, I’m so freeI’m so free, I’m so free
…
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That’s one of the Lou Reeds I like. Every song in Transformer are worth listening to.
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It really is a great album. I’m now going through his catalog…why it took me so long I don’t know!
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love Lou
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Love me some Lou Reed! ❤️✨
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Transformer is a fav of mine. I bought it with four other early albums by Lou Reed that were released in a slip-case with the discs in card sleeves.
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That was the album that I knew him by the most…and now I’m digging into his other music…but yes it is a great album.
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Lou’s voice & delivery, as you said, really give his music a distinctive and interesting air.
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On many of those demos…he was singing really well. I haven’t heard that side of him as much…although I like his delivery regardless.
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I was always aware of Lou Reed, but it wasn’t until the New Sensations album and I Love You Suzanne that I really started listening, and then worked my way backwards towards the Velvet Underground. I’ll listen to I’m so free today before football starts. his story is pretty horrible, electroshock therapy did a huge number on his head, and presented him with a lot of challenges throughout his life, but he’s such a huge part f that New York sound…along with people like David Johansen and the New York Dolls and others, oh to have been there in the 70s and the beginning of time….Legs McNeil’s book Please Kill Me has become like my bible
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I can’t imagine what it was like in New York at that time. You gave some good examples…when I think of that period I think of the New York Dolls.
I may check that book out
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Lou Reed was a one of a kind embracing the dark, avant-garde form of rock music.
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