The Privitives: The Ostrich 1964

This is the single by Lou Reed and John Cale’s pre-Velvet Underground band, The Primitives. Lou Reed wrote The Ostrich while working as an in-house songwriter for Pickwick Records in 1964. It was a cash-in on the ‘dance craze’ records like The Twist and Monster Mash. It was a minor hit. They also wrote a B-Side for the All Night Workers. For the recording Lou Reed tuned all the strings of his guitar to the same note (which sounds like D to me). He used the same technique on a few of the Velvets recordings like Venus in Furs. Sneaky Pete is the rarely heard b-side.

The Ostrich
Sneaky Pete