VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO Warhol cover 3rd variation banana peel intact Lou Reed

$

261

The Velvet Underground and Nico - The Velvet Underground and Nico (Verve V6-5008), 1967.
Original pressing of this highly influential rock record.  This is the 3rd variation of album cover art.  The 1st had a photo of the upside-down torso of actor Eric Emerson super-imposed over the photo of Lou Reed above the band as they played at The Exploding Plastic Inevitable.  Emerson sued over the use of his image and Verve countered by placing a large black label over the photo (2nd variation).  This one, the 3rd variation, has Emerson's image airbrushed out of the rear cover photo.
The front cover Andy Warhol art features a banana peel which is intact on the front cover although there are signs of it having been removed at one time or another.  The stem area shows creasing and partial tearing and the underneath image of a peeled pink banana is peeking out at the bottom left side of the banana sticker.  All in all, a really great copy.
Great band, featuring Lou Reed, John Cale, Maureen Tucker, Sterling Morrison and Nico.  Produced (ostensibly) by Andy Warhol.  Magical.
Condition:  Record is a strong VG+; cover is VG+.   A fine copy.
All records are visually graded unless stated otherwise.   Extremely conservative (and ACCURATE) grading.  
****    SEE GRADING GUIDELINES BELOW     ****
Packaged in professional heavy cardboard mailers.  Records are removed from covers for shipping; cardboard inserts are provided for extra protection.
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GRADING GUIDELINES:
Mint (M)   Absolutely perfect in every way.  Appears to have never been played, possibly even still sealed.
Near Mint (NM or M-)   A nearly perfect record showing no obvious signs of wear. A 45 RPM or EP sleeve should have no more than the most minor defects, such as almost invisible ring wear or other signs of slight handling. 
An LP cover should have no creases, folds, seam splits or other noticeable similar defects.  Basically, an LP in near mint condition looks as if you just got it home from a new record store and removed the shrink wrap. 
Very Good Plus (VG+)   A Very Good Plus record will show some signs that it was played and otherwise handled by a previous owner who took good care of it.  Record surfaces may show some signs of wear and may have slight scuffs or very light scratches that don't affect one's listening experiences. Slight warps that do not affect the sound are "OK". 
The label may have some ring wear or discoloration, but it should be barely noticeable. The center hole will not have been misshapen by repeated play. 
Picture sleeves and LP inner sleeves will have some slight wear, lightly turned up corners, or a minor, slight seam split. An LP cover may have slight signs of wear also and may be marred by a cut-out hole, saw-cut, cut corner, grommet hole or another sign indicating that this may have been a remaindered album.
Very Good (VG)   On the disc, groove wear will start to be noticeable, as with light scratches (deep enough to feel with a fingernail) that will affect the sound. 
Labels may be marred by writing, or have tape or stickers (or their residue) attached. The same will be true of picture sleeves or LP covers. However, it will not have all of these problems at the same time, only two or three of them.  Records with an abundance of these defects are considered Very Good Minus (VG-).
Good (G)   A record in Good condition can be put onto a turntable and will play through without skipping. But it will have significant surface noise and scratches and visible groove wear (on a styrene record, the groove will be starting to turn white). 
A cover or sleeve may have major seam splits, tape, writing, fading, stains, major ring wear, foxing, storage grime or other such defects. 
Poor (P)   The record may be badly warped or scratched to the point that it won't play through without skipping or repeating. The picture sleeve is water damaged, split on all three seams and heavily marred by wear and writing. The LP cover has severe wear and damage to its integrity.