See a Gallery of Lou Reed Pictures From the Seventies
Rolling Stone magazine is reporting that Lou Reed died today at the age of 71. This series of photos was initially posted last week.
It’s hard to argue with the theory that Lou Reed was a nexus for cool in the seventies. Especially since we found proof, in the form of five photographs, all taken by Reed’s longtime collaborator Mick Rock and found in a new collection of images titled Transformer (Genesis Publications). Click through to see the man who co-founded the Velvet Underground and later wrote “Walk on the Wild Side†hanging at parties with the likes of David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Mick Jagger, and Andy Warhol, with anecdotes about the pictures provided by Reed as well as photographer Rock.
All images from Transformer, by Lou Reed and Mick Rock, the signed limited-edition book of 2,000 copies from www.genesis-publications.com; price £295.
Mick Rock: “I was determined to get that shot. I remember pulling all three of them together but they were all happy to do it. ’The Terrible Trio...
Mick Rock: “I was determined to get that shot. I remember pulling all three of them together but they were all happy to do it. ’The Terrible Trio‘ or ’the Unholy Trinity,‘ as I dubbed them! David was going off to the States, and Lou and Iggy were there because they were his pals. Ziggy Stardust had just been released, and Raw Power and Transformer had not yet been released, so it was definitely a moment in time. As well as influencing music, David, Lou, and Iggy had a huge cultural reverberation.â€
![Mick Rock: â€Mick Jagger showed up and they were very chatty. I got a whole series of pictures of the three of them together. Ringo [Starr, not pictured] was there, too. No one else was shooting at these events; it was a different world.“](https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/8d7/6ee/dd3e9cfd228d13a4233d15a0715982fe4b-mickrock-1.2x.rsquare.w300.jpg)
![Mick Rock: â€Mick Jagger showed up and they were very chatty. I got a whole series of pictures of the three of them together. Ringo [Starr, not pictured] was there, too. No one else was shooting at these events; it was a different world.“](https://pyxis.nymag.com/v1/imgs/8d7/6ee/dd3e9cfd228d13a4233d15a0715982fe4b-mickrock-1.2x.rhorizontal.w807.jpg)
Mick Rock: â€Mick Jagger showed up and they were very chatty. I got a whole series of pictures of the three of them together. Ringo [Starr, not pi...
Mick Rock: â€Mick Jagger showed up and they were very chatty. I got a whole series of pictures of the three of them together. Ringo [Starr, not pictured] was there, too. No one else was shooting at these events; it was a different world.“
Lou Reed: "Andy has drifted away because they're there for me, not him, and no one is paying him any attention, but at least he's there. Andy dre...
Lou Reed: "Andy has drifted away because they're there for me, not him, and no one is paying him any attention, but at least he's there. Andy dressed up; I got a pimp hat."
The five preceding iconic images and quotes were taken from Transformer, a Lou Reed retrospective collection annotated by Reed and Mick Rock. The sign...
The five preceding iconic images and quotes were taken from Transformer, a Lou Reed retrospective collection annotated by Reed and Mick Rock. The signed limited-edition book of 2,000 copies is available through Genesis Publications (£295).
Photo: Genesis Publications 2013