VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO RARE 1967 PSYCH ROCK w/BANANA

$

56

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO [self-titled]
Produced by Andy Warhol
Verve V6-5008/stereo

Few rock groups can claim to have broken so much new territory, and maintain such consistent brilliance on record, as the Velvet Underground during their brief lifespan. It was the group's lot to be ahead of, or at least out of step with, their time. The mid- to late '60s was an era of explosive growth and experimentation in rock, but the Velvets' innovations -- which blended the energy of rock with the sonic adventurism of the avant-garde, and introduced a new degree of social realism and sexual kinkiness into rock lyrics -- were too abrasive for the mainstream to handle. During their time, the group experienced little commercial success; though they were hugely appreciated by a cult audience and some critics, the larger public treated them with indifference or, occasionally, scorn. The Velvets' music was too important to languish in obscurity, though; their cult only grew larger and larger in the years following their demise, and continued to mushroom through the years. By the 1980s, they were acknowledged not just as one of the most important rock bands of the '60s, but one of the best of all time, and one whose immense significance cannot be measured by their relatively modest sales.

The Velvets got an unexpected benefactor when artist and all-around pop-art icon Andy Warhol caught the band at a club around the end of 1965. Warhol quickly assumed management of the group, incorporating them into his mixed-media/performance art ensemble, the Exploding Plastic Inevitable. By spring 1966, Warhol was producing their debut album. Warhol was also responsible for embellishing the quartet with Nico, a mysterious European model/chanteuse with a deep voice whom the band accepted rather reluctantly, viewing her spectral presence as rather ornamental. Reed remained the principal lead vocalist, but Nico did sing three of the best songs on the group's debut, often known as "the banana album" because of its distinctive Warhol -designed cover. Recognized today as one of the core classic albums of rock, it featured an extraordinarily strong set of songs. The sensational drug-and-sex items (especially "Heroin") got most of the ink, but the more conventional numbers showed Reed to be a songwriter capable of considerable melodicism, sensitivity, and almost naked introspection.

Track listing: Side 1                                                                     Track listing: Side 2
Sunday Morning'                                                                         Heroin
I'm Waiting For The Man                                                              There She Goes Again
Femme Fatale                                                                             I'll Be Your Mirror
Venue In Furs                                                                             The Black Angel's Death Song
Run Run Run                                                                               European Son
All Tomorrow's Parties

Condition:
Cover: cover is in VG condition
Banana is partially torn and some seams are fraying/split.  No torso on this example
Record: in vg condition.