Description
Offered for sale is a U.S. stereo pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico, the debut LP by the Velvet Underground & Nico, featuring the cover that originally included the peelable banana sticker.
About this copy: This copy is a 1968 East Coast U.S. pressing on the Verve label of an LP that was originally released in 1967. The torso of actor Eric Emerson has been airbrushed out of the back cover photo.
The cover is VG+ with light general wear, but with no writing, splits, or punch holes. The banana sticker has been removed.
The original generic Verve inner sleeve is missing.
The record is VG+ on side one with a couple of light marks. Side two is VG with a few light scratches, but no deep marks. It should play well.
This is an East Coast pressing, with sides designated as “Side 1” and “Side 2,” rather than “Side A” and “Side B.”
Matrix numbers in the dead wax are:
v6-5008 SIDE 1 M&S558-REV.
v6–5008 SIDE 2 MGS-559-RE1
This is not the ultra-rare pressing that is missing the song, “Sunday Morning.”
We have included a color laser-printed reproduction sticker of the original banana. It’s not attached to the cover; you may apply it if you like. See photo for example.
While not mint, it’s an nice example of a record that should be in everyone’s collection. Most copies have badly damaged covers and discs that are nearly unplayable and mint copies usually sell for more than $1000.
Background: The 1967 debut by the Velvet Underground, The Velvet Underground & Nico, sold poorly in its initial release, and given that the record company had to make multiple changes to the already-expensive, Andy Warhol-designed cover, the album almost certainly lost money for the record company. Despite that, people, especially other musicians, managed to hear it, and today, the album is rightly regarded as one of the most influential albums in rock history.
AllMusic.com gave The Velvet Underground & Nico five stars, saying:
One would be hard-pressed to name a rock album whose influence has been as broad and pervasive as The Velvet Underground & Nico. While it reportedly took over a decade for the album’s sales to crack six figures, glam, punk, new wave, goth, noise, and nearly every other left-of-center rock movement owes an audible debt to this set. While The Velvet Underground had as distinctive a sound as any band, what’s most surprising about this album is its diversity….
While the significance of Nico’s contributions have been debated over the years, she meshes with the band’s outlook in that she hardly sounds like a typical rock vocalist, and if Andy Warhol’s presence as producer was primarily a matter of signing the checks, his notoriety allowed The Velvet Underground to record their material without compromise, which would have been impossible under most other circumstances. Few rock albums are as important as The Velvet Underground & Nico, and fewer still have lost so little of their power to surprise and intrigue more than 40 years after first hitting the racks.
The album drew attention for a number of reasons, including the cover art, which depicted a banana with the curious caption, “Peel slowly and see.” Most buyers peeled the sticker back to see what was underneath, and were probably disappointed to realize that what was underneath was essentially an image of a peeled banana, albeit a pink one. Finding original pressings today with the banana intact can be a chore, especially if you’re looking for a copy that isn’t a cutout.
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| Country of origin: | U.S. |
| Size: | 12″ |
| Record Label: | Verve |
| Catalog Number: |
V6-5008 |
| Year of Release: | 1968 |
| Format: | Stereo |
| Share: |       |
