‘He Treads Kind of Softly’: Musicians Remember Working With Lou Reed
The leather jacket and moody persona were only a part of the puzzle that was Lou Reed. Steve Katz of Blood, Sweat & Tears and Genya Ravan of Ten Wheel Drive remember Reed as a friend with a wicked sense of humor and a gracious heart.
Katz was the producer of Reed’s live album Rock ’n’ Roll Animal and the rocker’s highest-charting LP, Sally Can’t Dance. Reed rarely performed on other artists’ albums, but he agreed to join Genya Ravan on “Aye Co’lorado”; Reed would later invite Ravan to sing on his song “Street Hassle.”
In this 2013 interview Ravan and Katz share their memories of working with Reed.
Steve Katz
I was in the Blues Project in the mid-‘60s when I first saw Lou in the East Village and I don’t think we met after gigs because the Blues Project was more of a suburban pot band and the Velvets were more of a heroin street band. We couldn’t find any common ground to have a conversation so we never talked to each other. So it wasn’t until later that Lou and I got to be friendly.
Lou was managed by my brother Dennis, who signed him to RCA while I was still with Blood, Sweat & Tears. We had a rehearsal studio in Dobbs Ferry and Lou was also rehearsing there with his band, the Tots. Because of that, Lou and I got…
