The Velvet Underground & Nico US Orig'67 Verve V5008 Mono 1st State Torso Cover

$

6,767

ORIGINAL 1st US VERVE RECORDS V-5008 MONO PRESSING DJ RADIO STATION COPY

THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO (1967)

ORIGINAL 1st PRINT UNCENSORED  1st STATE “TORSO” COVER

HOLY GRAIL ICONIC UNPEELED ANDY WARHOL'S BANANA STICKER

INCREDIBLY RARE COPY WITH THE SUDDEN INCREASE OF VOLUME IN THE "VENUS IN FURS" TRACK

1st RUN WEST COAST DEEP GROOVE LABELS WITH TWO TIMING MISPRINTS

WEST COAST PRESSING BY H.V. WADDELL, BURBANK, CALIFORNIA

ORIGINAL “THIS IS A MONAURAL RECORD FOR RADIO STATION PLAY ONLY” STICKER

ONE OF THE LAST SURVIVING COPIES OF THE ORIGINAL MAY 21, 1966 "KRLA BEAT" 11½” x 15” NEWSPAPER WITH AN EVENT ADVERT FOR ANDY WARHOL'S "THE PLASTIC INEVITABLE SHOW" AT "THE TRIP" HOLLYWOOD NIGHT CLUB

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Original 1st US West Coast pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico’s debut album released by Verve Records on March 12, 1967. This is the second time we’ve come across a copy of this album with the cover containing a round “This is a Monaural record for radio stations play only” sticker affixed to the front. This copy can’t be called promotional to a full extent as it has the regular commercial labels. Nevertheless, this is a legitimate DJ copy from a radio station in Los Angeles. Not all of the radio stations received a promo copy with the original promotional labels with some of the radio stations using the regular commercial copies having previously affixed their sticker to the cover. The currently listed set is absolutely unique. Please make sure to read the whole description till the end. Let’s begin with this copy’s vinyl. It’s one of those rare pressing which contains the sudden increase in volume on the “Venus in Furs” track right after Lou Reed sings "Comes in bells, your servant, don't forsake him...". This mysterious circumstance has several interpretations with one of them being an assumption that someone in the recording studio accidentally moved the master volume knob during the mastering session. There’re only few copies like this exist. The second unique item in this set is one of the last surviving original copies of Los Angeles’ “KRLA BEAT” weekly newspaper published on May 21, 1966, which is no less rare than the album itself. Right away, it would be worth noting that both items come from the archive of KRLA radio station, one of the oldest radio stations in Los Angeles, which had a direct relation to the publishing of KRLA Beat, one of America’s earliest rock-n-roll newspapers. The back side of the newspaper contains an event advert for Andy Warhol’s “Smash Scene from N.Y. THE PLASTIC INEVITABLE SHOW” featuring “The Velvet Underground and Nico, and the M.F.Q.” at the legendary “The Trip” Hollywood night club. The Exploding Plastic Inevitable, sometimes simply called Plastic Inevitable or EPI, was a series of multimedia events organized by Andy Warhol in 1966 and 1967, featuring musical performances by The Velvet Underground & Nico, screenings of Warhol's films, and dancing and performances by regulars of Warhol's Factory. Once in a while you could come across a reprint of this advert, but the original listed up for an auction here is an incredible rarity and it belongs in a museum. The band’s visit to Los Angeles wasn’t only limited to The Plastic Inevitable Show as it was during this time when The Velvet Underground & Nico signed the contract with MGM / Verve Records and returned to a studio, the TTG in Hollywood, where for reasons unknown they rerecorded “Heroine”, “Venus in Furs”, “I’m Waiting For The Man” and recorded the new song “Sunday Morning”. (You can also find the 45 RPM 7” 1st pressing copy of this single among our currently listed items) This insanely rare “KRLA BEAT” 11½” x 15” 16-page newspaper example with an advert for Andy Warhol’s “The Plastic Inevitable Show” is an integral part of these historic events. Original 1st print uncensored 1st State, so-called “Torso”, gatefold cover with an unpeeled Andy Warhol’s banana sticker and a fully visible flipped image of the actor Eric Emerson on the back. This photo of the performing band and the projection of the footage with Eric Emerson was taken at one of Andy Warhol’s “The Plastic Inevitable” shows. Incredibly rare 1st run West Coast blue and silver misprint labels that come across much rarer than the East Coast copies. Large 2.75” deep groove pressing ring present only on the copies pressed by H.V. Waddell in Burbank, CA, just like the two-timing misprints, also unique to this pressing, mistakenly indicating the running time of 2:01 for “I’ll Be Your Mirror” and 3:01 for “Black Angel’s Death Song”. 1st pressing matrix numbers: V-5008-S-1  MG-558-Rev / V-5008-S-2 MG-559. The album comes with the original “The Jazz of America is on Verve / The Wit of America is on Verve” paper inner sleeve. 

★

We grade the cover of this DJ radio station copy as Excellent Minus. It's very clean but has some light age discoloration and foxing on the front and back cover. The banana sticker is fully intact only having a light crease where the tip is. The interior gatefold is in Near Mint condition, very clean and doesn't have any age discoloration. The rigid spine contains a fully readable text. The cover doesn't have any splits, writing, residue, soiling or ring wear, perhaps just a very light hint of it at the bottom on the front and back. The glossy vinyl is graded as Excellent Minus for Side A and Very Good Plus for Side 2. It retains its shiny factory lacquer only having some very light non-feelable surface marks and hairlines as well as scuffs from the original inner sleeve, which is in Near Mint Minus condition and doesn't have any splits or tears. The labels are very clean and are in Excellent Minus condition, scuff- and wear-free, only having a couple of very light spindle marks. The vinyl sounds great only having some very light static which most likely would get reduced or go away if the record was professionally cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine. The original "KRLA Beat" newspaper is in stunning vintage condition with all of the pages fully intact and without any writing.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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