Seattle-based label Light in the Attic Records has decided that the best way to celebrate Lou Reed’s birthday this weekend – it’s March 2, in case you don’t already have it circled on your calendar – is to offer up a teaser for their upcoming tribute album honoring the late, great former Velvet Underground frontman.
As such, they’ve released the record’s opening track, Keith Richards’ rendition of “I’m Waiting for the Man,” to streaming services while also uploading the official video for the song to YouTube.
Keith Richards: Noted Lou Reed Fan
“To me, Lou stood out. The real deal!” said Richards in the press release for the upcoming album. “Something important to American music and to ALL MUSIC! I miss him and his dog.”
[If you're wondering exactly what Keith is on about with that last bit, we're reasonably sure that it's a reference to Lolabelle, the rat terrier that belonged to Reed and his wife, Laurie Anderson, and found fame in Anderson's documentary, Heart of a Dog.]
The video for the song features footage of Richards in the studio whilst recording the cover.
The Power Of The Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed will be pressed on so-called "Silver Nugget Vinyl" exclusively for Record Store Day (April 20) and will be available at participating independent retailers...or at least the ones who deign to order copies, anyway, but one would hope that that would be just about all of them. In addition, the album will be released digitally and on CD on the same day. All physical version of the album feature photos of Reed by Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and Mick Rock, along with liner notes by the album's producer, Bill Bentley, who worked with Reed for 25+ years.
"There are many moments when Lou Reed’s soul still rushes through me like a warm wind on a motionless day,” writes Bentley in the liner notes. “It might be a certain chord I hear, a word spoken with his distinct New York accent, or even just a glancing memory of the way he smiled when he was happy followed by a restrained cackle which assured all was right in Reed’s world... His spirit is there, undiminished with a worldly peaceful wisdom he had never quit seeking.”
Tracklist – The Power Of The Heart: A Tribute To Lou Reed
1. Keith Richards - I’m Waiting for the Man
2. Maxim Ludwig & Angel Olsen - I Can’t Stand It
3. Rufus Wainwright - Perfect Day
4. Joan Jett and the Blackhearts - I’m So Free
5. Bobby Rush - Sally Can’t Dance
6. Rickie Lee Jones - Walk on the Wild Side
7. The Afghan Whigs - I Love You, Suzanne
8. Mary Gauthier - Coney Island Baby
9. Lucinda Williams - Legendary Hearts
10. Automatic - New Sensations
11. Rosanne Cash - Magician
12. Brogan Bentley - The Power of the Heart*
* CD/Digital only
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