Lou Reed: The King of New York (paperback edition) and other recent Reed-ology.

My biography of the iconic rock musician is now in paperback. And some of his earliest music turns up in a new film ("The Featherweight") and on an impressive new compilation album.

I wont bury the lead here: the U.S. paperback edition of my biography Lou Reed: The King of New York is out next week (October 1st or 3rd, depending on your source). You can order it from your local bookstore — in-person, on the phone, via bookshop.org — or via Amazon Barnes & Noble and other online retailers. I spent nearly 10 years writing this book, I’m quite proud of it, and if you are a subscriber to this Substack, I’m certain you’ll enjoy it. So please forgive my self-promotion.

I’m excited to announce some West Coast launch events I’ve booked next month. Come out & say hi:

—10/22 at Pegasus Books Downtown (2349 Shattuck Avenue) in Berkeley CA w/ my pal and fellow author/historian Pat Thomas.

—10/25 at Book Soup in Los Angeles CA w/my pal, fellow author, and longtime music journalism comrade Craig Marks (LA Times, SPIN, Blender, etc.)

If you’d like a signed copy of the paperback (or the handsome hardcover, also designed by the brilliant minds at No Ideas) but can’t make the LA event, you can pre-order from Book Soup and request a signed copy in the comments window (right below where you enter the payment info on the order form), and they’ll mail you one. You can also order a copy of my first book, Love Goes To Buildings On Fire, and I’d be happy to sign that, too.

I know how hard it is to get people’s attention nowadays, and how much great writing flies beneath the radar. So I’m truly grateful for folks who took the time to read and review both my books — especially my fellow Substackers. Below are a few reviews of Lou Reed: The King of New York that impressed me. (To the authors, thanks & obrigado!)

The Mensch, the Bastard, Lou Reed

Reading Is Fundamental: Will Hermes’ Lou Reed: The King Of New York is the best book on the subject yet

Lou Reed em detalhes

In other Lou Reed news, I wrote last week about the new archival reissue of Reed’s wild pre-Velvet Underground recordings for Pickwick. FYI, the full LP posted to streaming platforms today, and the physical LP/CD sets are due next month.

And here’s the LP. Apple Music users click here. Spotify users click below:

I haven’t seen The Featherweight yet in its entirety. But the film, which opened last week in New York, has been getting great reviews. And I can report that an emotional high point involves one of the earliest recordings of “Heroin,” a solo acoustic version by Reed dated to 1965. I’m not 100% sure it’s the one on Words & Music, May 1965 —there are others from this period — but if not, the NYC folk revival country-blues version they use is pretty close. (FYI, it’s not used in this trailer, which is still pretty compelling.)

Speaking of New York CIty folk music, I caught up with “anti-folk” legend Jeffrey Lewis a couple of weeks ago at the Meadowlark music festival in the Hudson Valley. His brilliant, ever-evolving song-lecture-medley “The History of the Development of Punk on the Lower East Side” covers Reed and the Velvets, of course. We chatted a bit, and he reminded me of this deep-diving doc on drummer Moe Tucker, which focuses on her remarkable drumming. It’s long, but fascinating.

I bought a copy of Lewis’ self-published book Revelations In The Wink of an Eye (My Insane Musings on Watchmen, from Conspiracies to Stupidities) — he’s an accomplished comic book artist himself — and his set was a blast, as always. It ended with an inspiring ditty about the Harris-Walz campaign, sung per folk tradition to a familiar repurposed melody. You’ll find a piece of it below; forgive my poor camerawork.

If you’re eligible to vote in the U.S., please make sure you are registered to vote, ditto your friends and family. Make plans to vote as early as possible. Volunteer when and where you can. Write postcards to mail to voters in swing states. And above all, talk to people of all sorts about this election, which is as important as any in our lifetime. Make America Love Again. Thanks, and I’ll catch ya next week. - Will