Velvet Underground Banana LP 1st Pressing No Airbrush & Stickers Verve V6-5008

$

176

Ok, time for me to thin out my own collection of some of the more valuable items I didn’t want to sell at total discount prices at the record conventions I sold most of my extra unwanted vinyl at.  I’m down to 650 or so keepers with only a few duplicates and that is how I want it to stay.

I ship only to the continental US.  No exceptions.  I don’t have the time or interest to ship elsewhere and I am willing to take whatever the market dictates at the time of sale.

All of my albums have been previously played by me and probably, but not always, by the previous owners, so I will never list any of my albums as Mint or even A condition.  B++ is as high as I’ll go no matter how clean it looks and plays.  If you require perfect mint condition records, my sales are not what you are looking for. All the records that I sell will play straight through without skipping-I don’t keep or sell records that are warped or skip during playback.

Velvet Underground Banana LP No Airbrush w/Rare Sticker Verve V6-5008 Good Condition Vinyl

Ok, this is gonna take a while, so sit back, crank up the monoblock’s, and relax while I write this up and listen to this copy of the Banana album for perhaps the second last time.

Here is my original copy of the Banana album that I bought in 1971 for $2.50 at Schroeder’s Used Books and Records on Wisconsin Avenue in downtown Milwaukee. 

Well used, to say the least.  I’ve probably listened to this copy somewhere around 75+/- times.  But I’ve always been particular with both my equipment and records, so this thing is still in amazing shape for its age and usage level.  Plenty of normal scuff marks and plenty of minor hairline scratches and a few more aggressive scratches throughout.  But it still looks and sounds good somehow.  No skips whatsoever.  You'll definately hear the overall wear when doing a even a casual listening.  The record today would grade “good” more or less, but sounds way better than it would appear to play with only a very minimal loss of fidelity.  Still has a decent amount of surface sheen.  But then again, I’ve never played this record with a bad or worn out stylus.  The second picture of the actual piece of vinyl has tons of dust on it--I took the picture of the other side first and then flipped it over after it had picked up tons of dust that I didn't see until looking at the pic--but that'll do for now. But this is being sold far more as a collectable than a player.

So, if you should win this, definitely give it a listen before putting it away as a collectable.  If you don’t listen to it, may you suffer the consequences of not honoring the value of this pressing.  I bought this when I was 13, and the spirit of my 13 year old body will pay you a very unwanted visit if you don’t play this copy straight through before putting it away for safekeeping.  Remember that.

I have other clean pressings of this from the ‘70’s by the way, which will be sold only at my estate sale.

Cover:  Best to look at the pictures for the condition, but I’ll describe the features which you might not be able to see from the pictures.  There are three pieces of Scotch tape that I put on this album probably 30 or more years ago.  One is along the length of the spine and has saved the spine exactly as it was intended to do.  Another is on a three in strip along the top front of the gatefold cover to keep the inner printed paper from separating—today I would just re-glue that section and no one would ever be the wiser, but it’s too late now.  The last piece of tape is a small ¾” square that is place over the top of the banana to keep a small segment from separating from the album.  It might be possible to remove that but then again it’s been on there so long I doubt if it could be done safely without damaging the banana sticker.  The 250 on the back represents the store’s price I got if for.  Other than that, just normal indications of wear and tear from usage.

This copy is the version that was distributed after the original cover was recalled due to the guy who is pictured upside down threatening to sue Warhol for unapproved use of his image on the original distribution.  They retrieved the recalled copies and put this sticker on to cover up the upside down guy.  His hands are still visible.  I don’t hunt albums anymore but I don’t believe this version of the cover comes up for sale very often.  I don’t know how many of this version made it out before even this one was recalled (if I remember the facts correctly), but not many.  Then Andy had it airbrushed to remove the guy completely and those are the common versions usually for sale.  This info is based on info from 35 year ago and modern research may or may not re-affirm this info, in which case believe the modern research, not my incorrect memory. 

Inner Sleeve:  Original standard promo Verve paper inner sleeve featuring Verve jazz artists arranged in a circular pattern .  There is about a 6" piece of Scotch tape on the bottom edge of the inner sleeve.  There are slight split seems along the bottom and side edges of the inner sleeve.  That tape was put on probably 35 years ago.

Release Date:  1967

Please refer to the pictures -- what you see is what you get.  Whatever you see in the pictures should be taken as a final statement of the record condition/identifying info. in case I didn’t include it in the description.

All record sales are final subject to eBay/PayPal return policies.  All albums are sold in as-is conditions based on descriptions and pictures.  Returns at buyer’s expense and must be received in the exact condition as pictured and described. 

My object is to just sell my excess vinyl at as reasonable a price as I can manage with as little effort as possible which is why I will do no international shipping.  

This is the only album I will be selling by the auction method.  I have no idea what the actual resale value of this would be today and it appears there are enough V.U. and Lou Reed fans around to sell this at around its reasonable value through the auction method. 

Shipping is by USPS only.  No materials and handling charges--I have access to used/recycled high quality shipping containers/foam/bubble wrap and pack extremely well.  This will be insured and shipped Priority or First Class instead of Media Mail using double ply cardboard for safety and fully insured.  I'll take pictures of the package at the Post Office just for proof of package fitness and condition.

Please ask questions before bidding.  Questions are appreciated since I will be adjusting my Lp selling template according to the questions I get asked.

Please do not ask me for a "Buy-It-Now" price.  When I do an auction listing I let it run to the end.  I take whatever I get. 

As Nancy Reagan used to say, "Just Bid on It!!!"