Joseph Arthur

When Lou Reed friend Bill Bentley, now working as an A&R director for Vanguard Records, read Joseph Arthur’s moving eulogy in American Songwriter magazine, he approached him to record an album of Lou Reed songs. “Bill told me, ‘Don’t overthink it,’” says Joseph. Arthur set himself up in his Brooklyn studio last December and proceeded to cut twelve of his favorites—using only acoustic guitar and bass, piano and vocals. “The only way I know to give new life to something as rich with life as Lou’s songs and recordings is to go about them in a completely different way. No drums or electricity.”