Lou Reed - Early Years 1958 -1966

1958–1966: Early recordings and education

He began using drugs at the age of 16. Reed's first recording was as a member of a doo-wop three-piece group called the Jades, with Reed providing guitar accompaniment and backing vocals. After participating at a talent show at Freeport Junior High School in early 1958, and receiving an enthusiastic response from the audience, the group was given the chance to record an original single "So Blue" with the B-side "Leave Her for Me" later that year. While the single did not reach any music hit parade, notable saxophonist King Curtis was brought in as a session musician by the producer Bob Shad to play on both songs, and the single was played by a substitute DJ during the Murray the K radio show, which gave Reed his first-ever airplay. Reed's love for playing music and his desire to play gigs brought him into confrontation with his anxious and unaccommodating parents.

His sister recalled that during his first year in college, at New York University, he was brought home one day, having had a mental breakdown, after which he remained "depressed, anxious, and socially unresponsive" for a time, and that his parents were having difficulty coping. Visiting a psychologist, Reed's parents were made to feel guilty as inadequate parents, and they consented to giving him electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Reed appeared to blame his father for the treatment to which he had been subjected. He wrote about the experience in his song "Kill Your Sons" from the album Sally Can't Dance (1974). Reed later recalled the experience as having been traumatic and leading to memory loss. He believed that he was treated to dispel his homosexual feelings. After Reed's death, his sister denied the ECT treatments were intended to suppress his "homosexual urges", asserting that their parents were not homophobic but had been told by his doctors that ECT was necessary to treat Reed's mental and behavioral issues.

Upon his recovery from his illness and associated treatment, Reed resumed his education at Syracuse University in 1960, studying journalism, film directing, and creative writing. He was a platoon leader in ROTC; he said he was later expelled from the program for holding an unloaded gun to his superior's head.

Reed played music on campus under numerous band names (one being L.A. and the Eldorados) and played throughout Central New York. Per his bandmates, they were routinely kicked out of fraternity parties for their brash personalities and insistence on performing their own material. In 1961, he began hosting a late-night radio program on WAER called Excursions on a Wobbly Rail. Named after a song by pianist Cecil Taylor, the program typically featured doo wop, rhythm and blues, and jazz, particularly the free jazz developed in the mid-1950s. Reed said that when he started out he was inspired by such musicians as Ornette Coleman, who had "always been a great influence" on him; he said that his guitar on "European Son" was his way of trying to imitate the jazz saxophonist.

Reed's sister said that during her brother's time at Syracuse, the university authorities had tried unsuccessfully to expel him because they did not approve of his extracurricular activities. At Syracuse University, he studied under poet Delmore Schwartz, who he said was "the first great person I ever met", and they became friends.He credited Schwartz with showing him how "with the simplest language imaginable, and very short, you can accomplish the most astonishing heights." One of Reed's fellow students at Syracuse in the early 1960s (who also studied under Schwartz) was the musician Garland Jeffreys; they remained close friends until the end of Reed's life.

Jeffreys recalled Reed's time at Syracuse: "At four in the afternoon we'd all meet at [the bar] The Orange Grove. Me, Delmore and Lou. That would often be the center of the crew. And Delmore was the leader – our quiet leader." While at Syracuse, Reed was also introduced to intravenous drug use for the first time, and quickly contracted hepatitis.Reed later dedicated the song "European Son", from the first Velvet Underground album, to Schwartz. In 1982, Reed recorded "My House" from his album The Blue Mask as a tribute to his late mentor.[29] He later said that his goals as a writer were "to bring the sensitivities of the novel to rock music" or to write the Great American Novel in a record album. Reed met Sterling Morrison, a student at City University of New York, while the latter was visiting mutual friend, and fellow Syracuse student, Jim Tucker. Reed graduated from Syracuse University's College of Arts and Sciences with a BA cum laude in English in June 1964.

Reed moved to New York City in 1964 to work as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records. He can be heard singing lead on two cuts on The Surfsiders Sing The Beach Boys Songbook.[ For Pickwick, Reed also wrote and recorded the single "The Ostrich", a parody of popular dance songs of the time, which included lines such as "put your head on the floor and have somebody step on it". His employers felt that the song had hit potential, and assembled a supporting band to help promote the recording. The ad hoc band, called the Primitives: Reed; Welsh musician John Cale, who had recently moved to New York to study music and was playing viola in composer La Monte Young's Theatre of Eternal Music, on bass; Tony Conrad, violinist in the Theatre of Eternal Music, on guitar; and sculptor Walter De Maria on percussion. Cale and Conrad were surprised to find that for "The Ostrich", Reed tuned each string of his guitar to the same note, which they began to call his "ostrich guitar" tuning. This technique created a drone effect similar to their experimentation in Young's avant-garde ensemble. Disappointed with Reed's performance, Cale was nevertheless impressed by Reed's early repertoire (including "Heroin"), and a partnership began to evolve.

Reed and Cale (who played viola, keyboards and bass guitar) lived together on the Lower East Side, and invited Reed's college acquaintance Sterling Morrison and Cale's neighbor and Theatre of Eternal Music bandmate Angus MacLise to join the band on guitar and drums respectively, thus forming the Velvet Underground. 

Lou Reed - Early Years  1958 -1966

 1. The Jades - So Blue 

 2. The Jades - Leave Her For Me 

 3. Bobby Randle - Karen 

 4. Bobby Randle - Walking In The Shadows 

 5. Lewis Reed - Your Love 

 6. Lewis Reed - Merry Go 'Round 

 7. Felix & The Escorts - The Syracuse 

 8. Felix & The Escorts - Saved 

 9. The Primitives - The Ostrich 

 10. The Primitives - Sneaky Pete 

 11. The All Night Workers - Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket 

 12. The All Night Workers - Why Don't You Smile 

 13. The All Night Workers - Honey And Wine 

 14. The All Night Workers - God Bless The Child 

 15. The Intimates - I've Got A Tiger In My Tank 

 16. The Intimates - Smart Too Late 

 17. Donnie Burkes - Why Don't You Smile Now 

 18. Donnie Burkes - Satisfaction Guaranteed 

 19. Fire & Brimstone - I Could Hear The Grass Growin' 

 20. Fire & Brimstone - Underground 

 21. The Hobbits - Daffodil Days 

 22. The Hobbits - Pretty Young Thing 

 23. The Hobbits - Strawberry Children 

 24. The Hobbits - Men And Doors 

 25. The Virginia Wolves - I Can't Believe That You're In Love With Me 

 26. The Virginia Wolves - Rose Peddles Everywhere She Goes 

 27. The Beach-Nuts - Out In The Sun (Hey-O) 

 28. The Beach-Nuts - Someday Soon 

 29. The Beach Nuts - The Last Ride 

 30. The Beach Nuts - Surf Beat '65 

 31. Downliners Sect - Why Don't You Smile Now 

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The source is Soulseek, so it's hard to say who was the first, original author of this wonderful compilation. However, thanks to him for this rare collection. I hope he sees this...