Rock’s dark prince and his iron fist in a Velvet glove
Biography; Notes From The Velvet Underground: The Life of Lou Reed; By Howard Sounes; Doubleday, €19.95
Lou Reed’s death from liver disease, two years ago this month, shocked many but surprised few. Reed had burned the candle at both ends for so long that his middle-age transition into a yoga-loving health nut came too late to save him from a premature death.
The demise of Reed was just one more chapter in the long, slow death of the Sixties. The music he made with the Velvet Underground in the ...