In a new book, to be released this April through Anthology Editions, previously unpublished Lou Reed poems will be released.
The book will feature Reed’s introduction to the poems, an afterword from his widow Laurie Anderson, and will feature audio recordings of the singer reciting the poems at a 1971 performance at St. Mark’s Church in New York.
“A window to a little-known chapter in the life of one of the most uncompromising voices in American popular culture.”
Titled Do Angel’s Need Haircuts?, the new publication will boast 12 poems and short stories, only three of which have been released so far – including The Velvet Underground’s spoken word track The Murder Mystery.
Among the poems set for publication are We Are The People and Playing Music Is Not Like Athletics, which were written in the 1970s period when Reed had left The Velvet Underground to pursue poetry.
“The Lou Reed Archive has been keen to publish some of the rare and unique material from the diverse and extraordinary collection of Lou’s life’s work, and we decided to start with these poems,” archivist Don Fleming told The Guardian.
“Lou was a writer at heart, and during this period he considered giving up music to follow this path. Finding Lou’s own cassette tape in the archive, that he recorded at the event, was very exciting because we knew about the reading but had little idea of what he had read. His introductions to the pieces also gave us great insight into his creative process.”
Grab more details over at Anthology Editions.
Via Rolling Stone.
