Sally Can't Dance

Aside from the title song, Sally Can't Dance includes "N.Y. Stars" (in which Reed pokes fun at "fourth-rate imitators" who tried to impress him by copying his style), "Kill Your Sons" (a reflection of his stay in a psychiatric hospital at his parents' insistence, during his teen years), and "Billy," about the fate of a schoolmate with more "normal" ambitions than he'd had. The latter track reunited Reed with erstwhile Velvet Underground bandmate Doug Yule, playing bass guitar. According to an interview with Yule, the call from Reed was "out of the blue", because Reed thought Yule's bass playing style would work well on the song "Billy", and Yule agreed to play on the song saying he "liked it" and that he had enjoyed the session.[6] More tracks featuring Yule have emerged on a CD re-issue. The album's tour featured Danny Weis, on guitar; Michael Fonfara, on keyboards; Prakash John, on bass and Pentti "Whitey" Glan, on drums on the European leg. Eric "Mouse" Johnson played drums on the Australian and U.S. sections. The sound engineer for all the live shows was Robin Mayhew, who had previously worked with David Bowie during his Ziggy Stardust period. The following year, Reed contacted Doug Yule again to play guitar on his 1975 world tour.[7]

While the record was a hit and elevated Reed's status as a star, he reportedly was disappointed in its production (in which he took a largely passive role) and the treatment of the songs. Reed remarked, "It seems like the less I'm involved with a record, the bigger a hit it becomes. If I weren't on the record at all next time around, it might go to Number One."

Following the relative critical successes of Transformer, Berlin and Rock 'n' Roll Animal, Sally Can't Dance was dismissed by critics and despite its commercial strength was deleted by the end of the Seventies.

In 1974, however, RCA insisted on a rapid follow-up album while Reed's career appeared to be peaking. Tiring of the pressure put on him, and with his contract requiring RCA to release whatever record he gave them, Reed handed over the master tape of Metal Machine Music—an hour of feedback and noise, with no hope of becoming a hit.

All tracks are written by Lou Reed.

Side one

1. "Ride Sally Ride" – 4:06
2. "Animal Language" – 3:05
3. "Baby Face" – 5:06
4. "N.Y. Stars" – 4:02

Side two

1. "Kill Your Sons" – 3:40
2. "Ennui" – 3:43
3. "Sally Can't Dance" – 4:12
4. "Billy" – 5:10

Bonus tracks

1. "Good Taste" – 3:30
2. "Sally Can't Dance" (single version) – 2:56

Credits are adapted from the Sally Can't Dance liner notes.[8]

• Lou Reed – vocals, acoustic guitar on "Billy"
• Danny Weis – guitar, tambourine, backing vocals, horn arrangement
• Paul Fleisher – saxophone on "Billy"
• David Taylor, Lou Marini, Trevor Koehler, Jon Faddis, Alan Rubin, Alex Foster, Lew Soloff – horns
• Steve Katz – harmonica, horn arrangement
• Michael Fonfara – piano, keyboards, Mellotron on "Ennui"
• Prakash John – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Doug Yule – bass guitar on "Billy"
• Ritchie Dharma – drums on "Kill Your Sons" and "Ennui"
• Pentti "Whitey" Glan – drums
• Doug Bartenfeld – guitar
• Michael Wendroff – backing vocals
• Joanne Vent – backing vocals
• Horn arrangements: Lew Soloff and Martin Sheller

Production

• Steve Katz – producer
• Lou Reed – producer
• Mike Stone – recording engineer
• Ralph Moss – remix engineer
• Dennis Katz – cover concept
• Acy Lehman – art direction
• David Byrd – artwork
• Mick Rock – front cover illustration

• List of albums released in 1974
• Lou Reed's discography

• Sally Can't Dance at Discogs (list of releases)