THE VELVET UNDERGROUND SELF-TITLED LP ORIG. CLOSET MIX

    From 1969 comes this original vinyl pressing of The Velvet Underground's self-titled third LP (MGM SE-4617), featuring Lou Reed's "closet mix" - unavailable on vinyl now for over 40 years.  After MGM staff engineer Val Valentin mixed the album, Lou Reed went back into the studio to knock out his version, resulting in an even more intimate (and even somewhat claustrophobic to some ears) mix with no audible reverb or delay, Maureen Tucker's drums and percussion panned hard to the left, and the vocals very much up front to put special emphasis on the album's lyrics.  For fans who grew up listening to the mid-80's re-issue LP, any individual CD issue (excepting the version on the 1995 Peel Slowly And See box set, which brought the closet mix to the digital medium), or any recent vinyl pressing (all of which use Valentin's mix) hearing this version will be quite a revelation - not unlike listening to other lifelong favorites such as Blonde On Blonde, Something Else By The Kinks, or The White Album in mono for the first time - with "Some Kinda Love" standing out in particular, as it has a wholly different (and much more playful) vocal track from Lou.  Amazing stuff, this.
   The cover is very good plus due to some ring and edge wear in addition to a cut-out hole in its lower left-hand corner, a former owner's initials written in the upper right-hand corner of its back, and half-inch seam splits/frays in its upper and lower right-hand corners.  The LP itself is housed in its original stock MGM company innersleeve, has "SE4617 side 1 MGS1824 Rev. Bp." etched in the dead wax of side one and "W.C. SE-4617 S-2 MGS-1825 SPECIAL REV" etched in the dead wax of side two, and is very good plus as well.     
   To protect your investment, this LP - as with all vinyl purchased at The Great Escape Online - will be placed in a new plastic outer sleeve prior to packing and shipping.

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