RECORDING September 2022 - 18

L Session
og
L Session
og
Bleedand
Leakage
with Lou Reed, Part 2
Lou Reed exhibit at NYPL
Photo by Marc Urselli
Lou Reed: Václav Havel photos and letter from exhibit at NYPL
Photos by Marc Urselli
Caught Between the Twisted Stars
As I write this and reminisce, I just returned from
an exhibit that just opened at the New York Public Library
entitled, " Lou Reed: Caught Between the Twisted
Stars. " Lou's wife, Laurie Anderson, generously donated
this comprehensive, well-curated exhibit of the Lou
Reed archive to the NYPL. It was put together by Laurie,
Jason Stern (Lou's operations manager), archivist
Don Fleming, engineer Matt Sullivan and producer Hal
Willner (while he was still with us). It starts from the Velvet
days and takes you through Lou's life with photos,
articles, correspondence, videos, tapes, lyrics, guitars,
memorabilia and much more. The exhibit is set to run
until Lou's birthday weekend on March 4, 2023.
Memories
The exhibit unlocked so many unforgettable memories
of my time with Lou. For example, when I walked
the Coney Island Mermaid Parade with Lou and Laurie
as King and Queen on the main float of the parade.
Also, the time I took Lou and Laurie to my parents'
home in Southern Italy on a day off on our tour and
my mom made lasagna for everyone. Lou was on a
gluten-free diet and had asked for a steak instead, but
pushed aside the steak and pulled Laurie's lasagna
plate closer to him with his mischievous smile forgetting
about his diet for the day.
18 RECORDING September 2022
There was the time I almost killed Lou when we climbed the
stairs of the bell tower of Groningen, Netherlands. We were
offered to hold on to the bell's rope as it swung and tolled. The
weight of the bell pulls you up very quickly and the adrenaline
junkie in me enjoyed that very much, but I had not expected that
Lou would also want to do it. When I saw him shoot up into the
air, I seriously thought he was going to let go and fall. It would
have all been my fault for setting a bad example and for killing
the man. Luckily, Lou was a tai chi master and had plenty of
muscles to hold on tight! At the end of the long climb up, we had
a very special moment in which the carillonneur (the person who
plays the bells) played a Lou Reed song on the bells in honor of
Lou's presence for the whole city to hear. Five years later, carillonneur
Auke de Boer played " Perfect Day " on the tower's bells
to commemorate Lou's passing and his visit on that very same
day (youtube.com/watch?v=9C_zAlF6mwY).
I feel honored to have been a part of Lou's life. It's impossible
to describe. Words just can't.
Please go and visit the exhibit before it closes! Even if you don't
live in New York, it's worth the trip. After all, Lou was the King of
New York, and you've got to pay your respects to the king!
Marc Urselli is a Grammy Award-winning engineer working
out of New York City and London. Read about his current
projects and past successes at marcurselli.com.
Lou was the King of New York
http://youtube.com/watch?v=9C_zAlF6mwY http://marcurselli.com
RECORDING September 2022

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of RECORDING September 2022
