Lou Reed’s Pre–Velvet Underground Songwriting Compiled on New Album: Listen to a Song

Before co-founding the Velvet Underground, Lou Reed was a staff songwriter for other artists at Pickwick Records. Now, his mid-1960s songs, performed by assorted artists on the label (with occasional Reed contributions), have been compiled on an album. Out September 27, Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65 is the product of a partnership between Light in the Attic, Laurie Anderson, and the Lou Reed Archive, following their reissues of the late solo album Hudson River Wind Meditations and the Velvets demos set Words & Music, May 1965. The opening track, the Primitives’ “The Ostrich,” features Reed on vocals—listen to it below.

The Primitives song, co-written by Reed and performed with Pickwick honcho Terry Phillips, sowed the seeds for the Velvet Underground when John Cale joined the outfit on an early tour. Another song on the record, the All Night Workers’ “Why Don’t You Smile,” was Cale’s first credit as a commercial songwriter; soon after its release, he and Reed broke off from Pickwick to form the Velvet Underground.

John Baldwin restored and remastered the new record, which comes with liner notes by Richie Unterberger, an essay by Lenny Kaye, and more. Masaki Koike designed the double-LP package; check out the cover and tracklist below.

Why Don’t You Smile Now: Lou Reed at Pickwick Records 1964-65: