Photo: Press
Lou Reed’s entire personal archive of memorabilia, tapes, photos and correspondence, which will be made available to the public at the New York Public Library, has been declared a "treasure" by the singer’s wife.
The collection, featuring 300 feet of correspondence, photos and business papers, 600 hours of demo, studio, concert and interview tapes and 1300 hours of video footage, includes such gems as a recording of Reed’s last show with the Velvet Underground, business memos about David Bowie’s work on ‘Transformer’ and what’s thought to be the very first Velvet Underground demo tape.
"You stand back and look at someone's whole life, and you realize, 'He did that there, and then did this over there.'” Red’s wife Laurie Anderson told Rolling Stone of the archive acquired by the New York Public Library on what would have been Reed’s 75th birthday. “You get to see the big pictures. It's such a thrill to see that, in as many shapes as he did… It is a real treasure for people and I'm so glad that they're going to get to use it."
While some key pieces will go on public display the rest of the collection, also including the letter from the Velvet Underground’s manager laying out the terms of his departure from the band, his personal phone book, receipts from his tours and notes from Jimmy Page, will be available for hands-on scrutiny by the general public.
"What is unique about this is that, unlike a museum, you can handle all of these documents," said Jonathan Hiam – curator at the Library's American Music Collection and the Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound. "We have to protect them, so there's always a balance. But you're going to be able to dig through this stuff."
