NICO "DESERT SHORE" 1970 US WHITE LABEL RADIO/PROMOTIONAL LP w/DJ CHECKLIST NM

$

115

Up for sale is a highly collectible, original 1970 US First Pressing White Label Promotional copy of Nico’s avant-garde masterpiece, Desertshore (Reprise Records, RS 6424). 
This incredibly rare copy is an authentic Radio Station Service version, featuring the original textured timing strip cleanly pasted across the bottom front cover detailing track runtimes for Side 1 and Side 2 alongside a bold "NOT FOR RESALE" stamp, and was manufactured at the legendary Columbia Records Pressing Plant in Santa Maria, California, designated for restricted distribution to West Coast radio programmers and music critics prior to the commercial release in December 1970.

Following her stark 1968 classic The Marble Index, iconic German singer-songwriter, model, and Warhol superstar Nico returned to the studio in 1970 to record Desertshore. Celebrated as a foundational blueprint for gothic rock, darkwave, and neoclassical ambient music, the album stands as a bleak, hauntingly beautiful tour de force. The striking artwork on the cover features a film still of Nico riding a white horse in a vast desert landscape alongside her young son, Ari Boulogne. The image is taken from the 1972 avant-garde film La Cicatrice Intérieure (The Inner Scar), directed by her artistic partner Philippe Garrel, for which this groundbreaking music partially served as a soundtrack.

Desertshore was tracked in London during 1970 and co-produced by the visionary Joe Boyd (Witchseason Productions) and Nico's former bandmate from The Velvet Underground, John Cale. Cale’s brilliant, classically trained multi-instrumental arrangements form the dark, majestic spine of the album. He heavily layered Nico's droning, liturgical harmonium melodies with his own intricate arrangements of viola, piano, harpsichord, and multi-tracked backing harmony vocals. Notable highlights from these historic sessions include the chilling, grief-laden "Janitor of Lunacy" (written as an elegy for her late friend Brian Jones), the cinematic and sweeping "The Falconer," and the starkly fragile "Afraid."

Condition Report Vinyl (Disc): Near Mint (NM). The vinyl retains its brilliant, high original factory gloss. The surfaces show only minor faint, purely cosmetic paper wisps from sleeve removal. Label paths are exceptionally clean with no writing or spindle wear. The disc plays beautifully, offering a warm and powerful, clear audio playback true to its first-press master lineage. Sounds haunting, dark and just simply brilliant. 
Jacket (Sleeve): EXCELLENT (EX). The jacket is structurally rigid and vibrant. The front timing strip remains entirely intact, clean, and perfectly legible with no severe staining or peeling. The corners show very minimal light shelf wear, the seams are strong and completely split-free, and the spine text is fully legible. The original period-accurate factory paper inner sleeve is fully intact, clean, and included.

Matrix & Pressing Details  This copy features the earliest West Coast lacquer cuts sourced straight from the original master reels. The dead wax area contains the definitive etched backwards "S" signature from the Santa Maria plant. Side 1 Matrix: 31134 RS6424A-1B Ƨ Side 2 Matrix: 31135 RS6424B-1B Ƨ Pressing Characteristics: True white promotional labels with the Reprise "r" box logo, "Radio Station Service" front cover cue strip, and original 1970 first-generation cutting indicators (-1B).

Please see photos for condition and runout markings.