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Nils Lofgren’s upcoming solo album, “Blue with Lou,” due in April; features five songs co-written with Lou Reed

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Cattle Track Road RecordsNils Lofgren has unveiled details of his upcoming solo album, Blue with Lou, which will be released April 26. The 12-track collection will include renditions of five unreleased songs that Lofgren co-wrote with Lou Reed during the late 1970s.

The collaborative tunes were among 13 compositions that Lofgren and Reed penned together after Nils contacted Lou in 1978 to help him with lyrics to music he’d written for his next solo album.

Three of the songs wound up on Lofgren’s 1979 release, Nils, while Reed recorded another three for his own ’79 album, The Bells. Lofgren later put two more of the collaborations on his 1995 and 2002 solo projects.

After Lou’s 2013 death, Nils decided to record the five unreleased songs he’d penned with Reed — “Attitude City,” “Give,” “Talk Thru the Tears,” “Don’t Let Your Guard Down” and “Cut Him Up” — for his next solo album.

“They got left by the wayside. Years went by, and it kept nagging at me,” Lofgren explains. “I thought, look, Lou’s not here to deliver these lyrics. He was inspired when he did this. It would be a shame not to share it.”

Blue with Lou also features a version of the Lofgren-Reed collaboration “City Lights,” which originally appeared on The Bells, plus six new Nils originals. Among those originals are the title track, an homage to Reed, and a tribute to his late friend Tom Petty called “Dear Heartbreaker.”

Lofgren recorded with Blue with Lou at his home studio with veteran session drummer Andy Newmark and bassist Kevin McCormick, as well as with one-time E Street Band backing singer Cindy Mizelle.

“Attitude City” currently is streaming at RollingStone.com.

As previously reported, Lofgren will launch a tour to support the album that kicks off May 10 in Minneapolis.

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