VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO ? clean orig '67 Verve banana Andy Warhol heroin psych

$

200

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Original first stereo press of their monumental debut by the first line-up ( Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker), from theExploding Plastic Inevitableera. German singer Nico was also present on four tracks, having sporadically performed with them at the instigation of their mentor and manager, Andy Warhol. The bulk of the songs were recorded in mid-April, 1966, over four days at Scepter in NYC. The acetates were declined by Columbia, Atlantic and Elektra, but eventually Verve signed them upon the advice of staff producer Tom Wilson (Bob Dylan and Simon And Garfunkel et al), who had recently left Columbia. "I'm Waiting For The Man", "Venus In Furs" and "Heroin" were re-recorded in two days at T.T.G. in Hollywood later in 1966, and when the release date was postponed Wilson brought the band into a NYC studio in November to add "Sunday Morning", which was also issued as a single. The resultant LP was notable for its overt descriptions of heroin abuse, prostitution, sadism and masochism, and sexual deviancy. Certain songs were written as observations of the members of Warhol's Factory Superstars, and the album's dark subject matter is considered revolutionary. Much of the album's sound was conceived by Cale who stressed the experimental qualities of the band, having been influenced by his work with La Monte Young, John Cage and the early Fluxus movement. Reed was already experimenting with alternative tunings (including all the strings to the same note), and often tuneddown a whole step. Cale's viola featured guitar and mandolin strings, often layered intodrones. The cover features a Warhol print of a banana, one could"Peel slowly and see" a flesh-colored banana underneath. Frustrated by the album's year-long delay and subsequentfailure, Reed's relationship with Warhol grew tense until he fired him as manager in favor of Steve Sesnick. Nico was also forced out of the group; shereleased her debut Chelsea Girlin October 1967, featuring five songs written by VU members (who also played on most of it along with Jackson Browne, who wrote three tracks as well). Tom Wilson remained working with them through 1967, producing their 1968 album White Light/White Heatas well as Chelsea Girl. But this debut will always be the original line-up'shigh point.



Artist: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND

Title: THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO

Year: 1967

Label: Verve

Catalog Number: V6-5008

Mono/Stereo/Quadro: stereo

Country: USA

Dead Wax Numbers: V6-5008 SIDE-1 MGS-558-REV.  / 

V6-5008 SIDE-2 MGS-559  (hand-etched)

Weight: 129 grams

Cover Format: thick gatefold, wrap-around outside with paste-on inner slick, mostly unpeeled banana on front

Cover Condition: VG (sharp, crisp, vivid & tight, slight touch of shelf wear, nearly perfect bottom seams, great spine but mild mildew spotting up top which also affects the front near the lower half of the spine, top rear seam has mild wear plus 4" split from the opening, rear is close to EX, inside is EX, clean overall)

Vinyl Condition: PLAY GRADED VG+ (nearly perfect gloss, no groove wear, some mild scuffing which looks inconsequential but it is such a quiet pressing there is mild background crackle in some of the quietest spots, there are a few inaudible little marks on s2 that look significant but don't affect play, each side has about 30 seconds of mild clicks & the occasional tick but it plays perfectly 90% of the time overall, most of the crackle is completely obscured by the music)

Label Condition: a few faint spindle marks

We clean every record on a VPI HW-17F using Audio Intelligent Vinyl Solutions multi-step process (every disc goes into a brand-new poly-lined inner sleeve).

Everything is strictly graded using the classic Goldmine Standards that we have been applying since 1983: 

M (rarely ever used unless still sealed)/ NM / EX / VG+ / VG / VG- / G+ / G (please see bottom of auction for specific grading information).

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Each (non-sealed) record is removed from its cover before shipping, and both are inserted into a new 3 mm sleeve before they are secured, with bubble wrap if necessary, in the highest-quality cruciform LP mailer.  No time or effort is spared to insure that your disc, cover and inner sleeve / inserts all arrive in exactly the same condition as they were listed.

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We visually grade all records using the classic Goldmine Standard, to which we have added EX (as have many others), but we do not use any other variant from the classic scale.  No NM- or EX+ (which are both EX), EX- VG+++ or Near Excellent (which are all VG+), or any such other nebulous grades here!  We feel that nearly every collector will be more than pleased with anything listed EX or above in our auctions; they will all be top-shelf, archive quality items which will play M- throughout.  A VG+ record will truly satisfy all but the most critical curator.  On the very rare occasion we actually grade an opened LP as straight MINT, we can guarantee you’ll never find a nicer copy anywhere!

We will play-grade any LP if there is any reason to do so; any questionable mark, scuff or noteworthy artifact of any kind will be sampled to determine its true significance (which may obviously impact the grade ).  We will also gladly play-grade anything upon request; if you are curious about the actual pressing characteristics or any have other questions about its actual performance please feel free to ask.

MINT :  Absolutely perfect.

This record looks like it has just left the plant, with no flaws whatsoever.  It appears unhandled and unplayed, with no marks of any sort.  Usually only sealed or (sometimes) unplayed LPs will warrant this grade.

The cover does not appear to have had a record inside it; there is no wear or distraction of any kind.

 NM : Virtually flawless, top copy.

The record is virtually identical to the moment it was opened, but may have a few faint paper, packaging or pressing scuffs which will produce no sound whatsoever and are very hard to see without critical inspection.  It was very carefully handled and played, likely only once or twice.

The cover is as close to perfect as can be expected given its age.  There may be minor impressions due to the outer edge of the vinyl (no ring wear), the lightest possible corner bumps, or a few tiny laminate creases (mainly on imports), but no wear or whitening of any kind whatsoever.

EX : A beautiful specimen, which will please most critical collectors and not need to be upgraded.

The record has no scratches or significant blemishes, and will play NM throughout.  It retains 100% of the gloss, sheen and luster, but may have a handful of faint superficial scuffs, hairlines or light spindle marks which will not produce any sound whatsoever.

The cover is nearly perfect.  There may be the absolute faintest suggestion of ring wear or possibly a light touch of dulling on the corners (nothing wrinkled or obtrusive in any way), but no notable seam or spine wear, writing or sign of tape anywhere.

 VG+ : Plays perfectly nearly all of the time, with only a few minor distractions.

The record still retains nearly all of the gloss, sheen and luster, but there may be a handful of inaudible superficial marks or scuffs, a mild scattering of light hairlines (which would only be faintly audible between tracks or in some very quiet passages), or a few stray marks which may mildly sound for a few revolutions. Each flaw is very minor, barely noticeable to the naked eye, and will not detract from the enjoyment in any way.

The cover is still very clean and crisp, but may look slightly more aged and have a few minor flaws such as small unobtrusive writing, minor wear to the seams and spine (no splits), slightly worn corners, very light ring wear or minor creasing.  No flaw is at all distracting in and of itself.

 VG : A nice play copy, which will perform without much significant distraction.

The record appears well played, but still has the majority of the luster.  It will not have been abused, though there will be some audible sound defects which will not overpower the dynamics of the music, such as mild surface noise in the quietest sections, a handful of stray isolated pops and clicks (which are brief and occasional), or possibly some very mild groove wear; still no skips, repeats, or anything deep or seriously pronounced.  It will play through quite nicely most of the time, with very minimal distraction.

The cover looks somewhat used and shows some mild wear.  There may be some minor seam splitting, ring wear (which still doesn’t overwhelm the cover), discreet writing (not large magic marker), or mild yellowing due to air contaminants. It is still nice, just a few notable flaws away from VG+.

We will never sell anything less than VG, so the rest of the scale is unnecessary.  We absolutely detest groove wear, so we will almost never list anything lacking the overwhelming majority of the luster, sheen and gloss.  Anything of significance will always be noted. 

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