Remembering Lou Reed

Last week, the women of the Pussy Power Hour decided to change it up a bit. Instead of solely focusing on women, we felt it was appropriate to do a show that focused on the late great Lou Reed. Hopefully you have heard of him or of his music, but if you haven’t, let me give you a little background. 

Lou Reed was born in Brooklyn in the early 40s. He learned to play guitar by listening to the radio as a kid.  His family was Jewish, and when asked he said he was, but that his “god is Rock n roll. It’s an obscure power that can change your life. The most important part of my religion is to play guitar.” He founded the Velvet Underground in the mid-1960s with a few other friends. Reed and early bandmates John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker delivered work variously featuring screeching feedback and meditative guitar mantras, droning viola, metronomic drumming and gently strummed lullabies. After lineup shifts resulted in the Velvet Underground disbanding. The band was never considered to be commercially successful, but Reed continued to dabble in guitar rock from countless angles for the rest of his life, tackling major and minor projects to varying degrees of success.

His personal life has always been somewhat of a mystery, with rumors of his sexual orientation in question, but he was always able to keep it private. He was a man ahead of his time.

As a solo artist, Reed became the king of downtown cool. He made failed stabs at commercial albums in the 1970s and '80s, and even Reed acknowledged their artistic shortcomings.For many, Reed fed a craving that we didn't know we had. Others passed judgment; he reveled in the grit that interested him, and though some cast his expressions as too difficult or depressing, Reed disagreed. Reed paved the way for rockers to come after him and expressed himself the best way he knew how, through music. Because of his realism, American music was changed forever.

Madame Lalaurie and American Horror Story

If you're like us, you've been captivated by this season's American Horror Story: Coven. If you haven't been following, the story takes place in New Orleans and is centered around the infamous Madam Delphine Lalaurie.

I recently took a trip down south to visit the historic, and truly beautiful, French Quater district of New Orleans. During my stay, I was fortunate enough to meet a local named Tony, who gave me an intimate and,what he thinks to be, an accurate account of the Madam Lalaurie mystery. I was standing directly in front of the home when he told me the story. Here is the account:

In the 1830's Madam Delphine Lalaurie purchased the grand estate on 1140 Royal St. in the French Quater of New Orleans. (schedule a tour of the house here) She and her third husband, Dr. Leonard Loiuse Lalaurie, were very well known in the neighborhood and hosted extravagant parties and events. Lalaurie was described by her peers as sweet, charming, captivating and gracious. However, rumors began to surface that she was extremely cruel to her slaves. 

One early morning, Lalaurie was seen by neighbors cow-hiding a young slave girl. The young girl ran back through the house, screaming the entire way. Lalaurie chased her and the girl ended up throwing herself out of the third story window, falling to her death. Lalaurie was said to have carried her lifeless body back into the house. Rumors have it that she was buried in a very shallow well in the backyard of the Lalaurie estate. Now, back in this time, it was illegal to purposefully damage or destroy your own property. Because slaves were considered property, it was actually illegal for slave owners to "damage" their slaves. The death of the young girl went unpunished.

Rumors surfaced that Lalaurie was performing strange and horrific mutilations on human bodies in the cabinet located next to the kitchen. The slaves were not permitted to enter into this part of the house. One brave slave ventured into the forbidden lair and claims to have seen what can only be described as animal consisting of half human parts and half crab parts. 

On April 11, 1834 a few slaves, sick of Lalaurie's awful treatment, chained themselves to the furnace located in the kitchen in protest, refusing to move until the police came to investigate. Knowing full well Lalaurie would not succumb to their civil protest, the slaves sacrificed themselves and lit their bodies on fire. The police arrived and discovered the horrific experiments Madam Lalaurie had been performing, confirming the rumors of torture and abuse. Lalaurie fled and was never seen again. Some say she bribed a boatsman to take her up the Mississippi, others say she was killed by an angry mob, and some go so far as to claim she was poisoned by Madam Lavaeu. Though there are two grave sites for Lalaurie, her final resting place still remains a mystery. 

The plot thickens!

After the house was recovered and the fire damage had been repaired, a traveling furniture salesman decided to buy the house and turn it into a shop. He loaded all of his goods into the house and set up shop and retired to his home. The next morning, he arrived at the house anxious to get selling. What he discovered was an unidentifiable green goo covering all of his furniture. Outraged  he called the local authorities, convinced he was being pranked. The police found no sign of a break in and could not tell him what exactly was covering his products. That night he decided to stay in the house and wait for the pranksters to return. He slept through the night, awaking to the same green goo. It was all over him and all over his furniture. Thoroughly spooked, he declared the house haunted. He packed up his stuff and went on his way, telling everyone he knew to stay away from the evil Lalaurie home. To this day it is regarded as haunted and is a must-see-destination for anyone traveling to New Orleans. 

So that folks is the story of Madam Lalaurie. Take it or leave it but note that she was in fact a real person who did do a lot of terrible things to her slaves. 

Personally I am very excited to see where this season of AHS takes this legend and how Lalaurie's end finally comes.