Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic - An Online Talk with David Holzer

Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic - An Online Talk with David Holzer

Lou Reed: “My god is rock ’n’ roll. It’s an obscure power that can change your life.”

Love or hate it, Lou Reed’s 1975 album Metal Machine Music (MMM) stands alone in rock and roll lore. Over the years, myths and legends have grown up around MMM. This talk will reveal fascinating true stories of the mystical influences behind the album.

In 1975, Lou Reed had come in out of the cold after spending the 1960s in the wilderness with cult band The Velvet Underground. His 1972 Bowie-produced Transformer spawned the surprising international hit 45 “Walk on the Wild Side”. Sally Can’t Dance, his 1974 album, reached the US top ten charts.

To this day, Metal Machine Music is still dismissed by most as Lou’s perverse drug-addled prank to force his label RCA and bewildered management to drop him just when he’d become a star. But MMM was nearly a decade in the making. Every sonic element was meticulously planned. And it was made for a magickal purpose.

As Lou said, “The thing I really like is…the Tarot, the I-Ching, [Theosophist] Alice Bailey books.” Inspired by Lou’s devotion to Bailey’s teachings and his fascination with esoteric, occult, and other magickal practices like those of the Johrei Church, Metal Machine can be seen as the rock and roll equivalent of drawing down healing white light.

Using MMM as our grimy prism, we will present a picture of an entirely different Lou Reed from the mythologized Rock ‘n’ Roll Animal, showing him as a lifelong magickal thinker. We will tell the story of how MMM became the increasingly revered and influential living, breathing avant-garde classic it is today and show how Lou returned to the album’s principles in his later years to make some of his most powerful music ever. A discussion will follow.

Tickets: $12 (online only event)

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David Holzer is a London-born author described by Laurie Anderson as a “wild scholar.” He writes about music and musicians, Beat literature and art, the counterculture, and varieties of contemporary spirituality. In his work, he explores and attempts to resolve the mystery of why some works of art by remarkable artists have an exceptional power to fascinate. His writing on music is regularly featured in Ugly Things magazine. For several years, he wrote for the respected Beat Scene magazine. He has been published on the Yoga International and LA Yoga websites and in Om magazine. ‘The Secret Writing Mantra,’ his popular yoga for writers’ course is offered on the DailyOM platform. David’s forthcoming book Lou Reed: Metal Machine Mystic draws on extensive research and hours of interviews with Lou’s friends and collaborators. He lives in Spain and Hungary with his wife.

https://davidholzer.com/lou-reed/

CONTENT DISCLAIMER: The views, opinions, and thoughts expressed by the presenters are solely those of the presenter and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Presentations are intended for informational and entertainment purposes.

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