Sweet, Wild and Vicious: Listening to Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground

From the time he began recording with the Velvet Underground in the 1960s until his death in 2013, Lou Reed released nearly 50 original albums. Sweet, Wild and Vicious delves into each one, with descriptions, details, analysis and appraisals that will amplify fans’ understanding and appreciation of them.

This listener's guide is personal as well as definitive, a thoughtful consideration of Reed's entire career from the perspective of a devoted follower able to separate the highs from the lows.

Praise for Sweet, Wild and Vicious:

I didn't think we needed another book on Lou Reed or the Velvet Underground until I read Sweet, Wild and Vicious. A voracious listener and gifted writer, Jim Higgins contextualizes Reed's life and aesthetic in a way that illuminates the world he created between the headphones. His recordings — by turns brilliant, confounding and daring — finally get the book they deserve. It’s nothing less than an essential addition to our understanding and appreciation of Reed/Velvets. — Greg Kot (Sound Opinions co-host)

Replete with gimlet-eyed observations and a true fan's infectious enthusiasm, Jim Higgins' survey of Lou Reed's solo years is simultaneously a wild ride and a scholarly account of a complex and legendary canon. Two hundred and fifty-five pages of street hassles, dance crazes, and brilliant new sensations. Bold and essential. — Elizabeth Nelson (singer-songwriter, the Paranoid Style)

Jim Higgins begins this journey through the recorded music of Lou Reed and the Velvet Underground with a disclaimer: "I have no unifying theory of Lou Reed to sell you." Be glad about that! Because, as fits his subject, Higgins engages at street level, weaving carefully researched details, sharp original descriptions of the music and reactions from artists (and tastemakers) into a thorough exploration of the sonic realms this icon visited — and then owned.
— Tom Moon, author of the New York Times bestseller 1000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die.

I have been aware of and absolutely mystified by the glorious VU since I was 16 years old. Jim Higgins has written a book that celebrates this magical group of musicians and then proceeds to follow the many enigmas that is Lou Reed...(I had the pleasure to meet them all and record and play live with Moe and Sterling) ...Jim presents a very good take on Lou, and I'm sure the audience that adores Mr. Reed will enjoy the way Jim listens and responds to the recordings. —Victor DeLorenzo (actor, writer, musician, founding member of the Violent Femmes)

Jim Higgins plunges into Lou Reed’s work with vigor and hunger, with a world of knowledge and a mind open to new discoveries that appear to happen spontaneously, from the unconscious spirit straight to the page. He gives such precise details about lyrics I love — “Heroin,” “Street Hassle,” “Good Evening Mr. Waldheim” — and while underlining the contradictions and complexities of Lou Reed’s brilliance and persona(e), he accepts and embraces the totality of the artist with profound awe. I got chills reading about songs that, through Higgins’s words, I vividly heard echoing in the lost halls of my heart. A must-have for Lou Reed fans and, by Lou Reed fans, I mean anyone who has ever picked up a pen, a guitar, a book or some less hazardous drug. — Tammy Faye Starlite (singer, performer, Nico channeler)

Jim Higgins does a heroic job of navigating the choppy and complicated waters of Lou Reed’s recorded history, putting his spin on the good, the bad and the ugly contained in the grooves. Higgins takes no prisoners — you may not always agree with his take but he always makes a good, informative, thoughtful consideration and this book will make you want to go back and listen to the records one more time with fresh ears. — Steve Wynn (musician, Dream Syndicate, the Baseball Project, solo)

Jim Higgins is arts and books editor for the Milwaukee Journal Sentineland a former pop music and jazz critic for the Milwaukee Sentinel. He isa two-time winner of Wisconsin Area Music Industry award for musicjournalist of the year and twice won the Sentinel staff-voted award forhumor writing. Like Andy Warhol, he is a native of Pittsburgh.