VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO ORIG MONO LP w/BANANA & TORSO

$

808

WE CURRENTLY HAVE MORE THAN 300 LISTED ITEMS. TO DISPLAY ALL OUR AUCTIONS LISTED IN ALPHABETICAL ORDER (BY ARTIST’S NAME) ►CLICK HERE

►Click here to see our ROCK auctions ►See our JAZZ auctions ►See our BLUES auctions►See our CLASSICAL auctions ► See our STILL SEALED ITEMS ►See our PROMO auctions►See our SOUL auctions ►See our AUDIOPHILE auctions

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·       VELVET UNDERGROUND - VELVET UNDERGROUND AND NICO (1ST ALBUM) - ORIGINAL 1967 VERVE MONO LP V-5008 WITH BANANA STICKER AND THE UNCENSORED, ORIGINAL "TORSO" BACK COVER (STEVEN EMERSON TORSO IS ON THE BACK COVER, BUT IS COVERED WITH A LARGE BLACK STICKER).

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

·       THE INFAMOUS PEELABLE BANANA STICKER IS ALMOST COMPLETELY INTACT – MORE THAN 99% OF THE STICKER IS UNPEELED (ONLY A MICROSCPIC SLIVER AT THE TIP OF BANANA IS MISSING)

·       NOTE: THIS IS A “STICKER” VERSION OF THE COVER: THE VERVE LABEL HAD APPLIED A LARGE STICKER WITH ALBUM TITLE ON THE BACK COVER TO CAMOUFLAGE THE PROBLEMATIC “TORSO” SECTION IN ORDER TO AVERT A COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT LAWSUIT. THE IMAGE OF THE BACK COVER WITH TORSO SHOWN BELOW IS FROM OUR PREVIOUS AUCTION AND IS SHOWN HERE ONLY TO ILLUSTRATE WHAT THE BUYER WILL FIND ONCE THE STICKER IS PEELED-OFF.

·       ORIGINAL BLUE VERVE LABEL WITH SILVER PRINT AND LARGE T-SHAPED VERVE LOGO

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       ORIGINAL GATEFOLD COVER, MADE OF THICK CARDBOARD (AMERICAN STYLE)

·       CLEAN, WEAR-FREE LABELS

·       THICK, HEAVY VINYL PRESSING

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get. GUARANTEED!)

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

This is the legendary - and much coveted - first version of the Velvet Underground's "Banana Cover" album, which, on reverse, includes the un-airbrushed image of the actor Steve Emerson's torso hanging upside-down, above the band performing on stage. As a result of the legal dispute between Verve Records and Emerson (who asked to be paid for his 'cameo' appearance), ALL subsequent pressings and reissues of this album have the superimposed image of Emerson's torso indelicately retouched and wiped out. These, first versions of the Velvet's legendary first album are infinitely harder to find than the 'standard', retouched covers.

Then, there is the classic Warhol cover: The mind-teasing cover is a sort of a Rorschach test: what exactly is this pink banana? Hmmmm… Andy, what were you thinking…?

What else can be said of this album that hasn’t already been told? The album which defined an era; the music that shattered conventions, the production that influenced everyone over the next three decades, the lyrics that sound fresher today than they did in 1967 and the Andy Warhol artwork which still captures the imagination.This is a sexy, moody, brilliant and occasionally violent work which would be impossible to reproduce today, in the age of political correctness gone amok. Most importantly, the music. THE MUSIC!!!. This is the only album which will make you a honorary resident of New York City, without you ever having to set foot in it. From the opening track ("Sunday Morning"), to the last one ("European son"), Lou Reed, John Cale, Nico and the rest of the crew take you through the kaleidoscope of emotions, settings, ambients, situations, moods and rhythms, not all of which are for the faint of heart. The album includes some of the most beautiful, poetic imagery ever committed to a disc (I’ll be your mirror; Famme Fatale; Venus in Furs). Whether you are into singers-songwriters, pre-punk, beatnik poetry, or ‘60’s rock, this is a must-have.

This is the album for all people, and all seasons, and one of the very few "Rock" albums that actually not only aged with dignity, but also improved with age. If you wish to know just how much meaningful this music was to the artists who followed in Velvets’ footsteps, just ask Jonathan Richman who, by his own admission, was present at every single one of the band’s East Coast concerts between 1969 and 1971 (some 70 or so concerts, in all). This may be your last opportunity to acquire this legendary album and a great piece of work.

***

For its extraordinary contribution to the contemporary music, superb production, craftsmanship, fine musicianship, revolutionary significance and influence it exerted on numerous generations of musicians, songwriters and general public, or for some other inherent quality, this album was voted one of top-200 albums of all time in one of the largest poll of critics, music reviewers, show business professionals and producers ever organized: the poll, which was conducted by Paul Gambaccini, the legendary BBC Radio A&R man, surveyed more than 50 top music professionals (including Roy Carr, Jonathan Cott, Robert Christgau, Cameron Crowe, Chet Flippo, Ben Fong-Torres, Charlie Gillett, Greil Marcus, Murray the K., Lenny Kaye, Bruce Morrow (a/k/a "Cousin Brucie"), Tim Rice , Lisa Robinson, Robert Shelton, Ed Ward, Joel Whitburn, Pete Wingfield, etc.). For more details, see: "Critics Choice: Top-200 albums" , Omnibus Press, Library of Congress Catalog No.7855565 (or ► click here for the complete album listing)

For additional historical information on this album, including track listing ►click here

THIS IS A NO-RESERVE AUCTION!

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

·                               CONDITION:

·                               RECORD

(IMPORTANT NOTE: unless otherwise noted, ALL records are graded visually, and NOT play-graded!; we grade records under the strong, diffuse room light or discrete sunlight)

WE GRADE THE VINYL AS VERY GOOD+ . CAUTION: The vinyl is NOT MINT or NEAR MINT, but is nevertheless in a very nice and clean condition. There are a lot of tiny, microscopic abrasion visible under the strong light, but nothing scarring, damaging, or serious. The record plays with sustained, but LIGHT and CONSISTENT surface noise, and WITHOUT distortion whatsoever. The surface noise is only audible on quieter parts of the record, which, as you can imagine, are few and far between. This record was play-graded.

(a)            The record is pressed on a beautiful, thick, inflexible vinyl, which was usually used for the first or very early pressings. Usually, the sound on such thick vinyl pressings is full-bodied, vivid, and even dramatic. Do not expect to obtain such a majestic analog sound from a digital recording!

(b)            Mono pressing of this title is much rarer, and by far more preferable to its stereo counterpart. We think that the mix is more natural, humane, "organic" and that the mixes are somewhat different than on the stereo version. We estimate that stereo copies of this album outnumber mono pressings by a ratio of at least 15:1.

(c)             Of course, this is a full-bodied ANALOG recording, and not an inferior, digital recording!!!

·       COVER

THE COVER IS ABOUT VERY GOOD+(+)

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-         Cover shows some light yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging.

-         Cover has a few tiny wrinkles along the spine

-         Cover has a small, neat, circular cutout hole in one of the corners

-         Cover has some light ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and 10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 3 (front side) and 5 (back side)

-         Tiny peel-off mark noted on banana sticker (less than 1/16th square inch in size)

-         Minor shelf wear noted on the seams (nothing significant)

-         The gatefold cover has partially split seams on 1 out of 4 "legs" of the cover (about 4 inches / 1 inch = 2.5 centimeters).

-         Cover has some fraying/wear along the opening slot.

-         A few light brownish stains noted on inside gatefold (nothing significant)

-         Cover has a minor 'bump' (dent) along the opening (VISIBLE ON INSIDE GATEFOLD ONLY)

NO OTHER IMPERFECTIONS ON THE COVER:

-         No cut-out corners

-         No saw-marks or indents

-         No dirt/dust rubbing stains (friction marks caused by rubbing against other covers)

-         No writing

-         No stamps

-         No mold or mildew spots

-         No stickers or labels

-         No water damage

-         No razor marks, scratches, pressure marks, lines, streaks, or cuts.

-         No warping

-         No wax, glue, paint or liquid drops on the cover

-         No glue traces or wax residue.

-         No bar codes

-         No RIAA stamps or stickers.

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

Generally, US POSTAGE is $5.80 FOR THE FIRST ITEM shipped via USPS PRIORITY MAIL (this includes a small $1.00 packaging surcharge).

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE- and insurance rates vary from country to country. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage and insurance rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note we are NOT responsible for uninsured items.

Media- and Surface Mail rates are available ONLY to orders of $200.00 or more. NO EXCEPTIONS.

WANT A DISCOUNT ?!?

IT’S EASY: CLICK ►HERE TO FIND OUT HOW.

FOR OTHER IMPORTANT INFORMATION, CLICK ON THE LINKS BELOW:

►VOLUME DISCOUNTS AND DISCOUNT RATES ►OUR GRADING POLICY ►ITEMS WE DO NOT GRADE ►HOW TO RESOLVE A DISPUTE ►ACKNOWLEDGING A WINNING BID ►OUR FEEDBACK POLICY ►ACCEPTABLE PAYMENT METHODS ►OUR REFUND POLICY ►POSTAGE AND INSURANCE RATES ►PAYMENT DEADLINES

♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫

OUR REFUND POLICY :

Cash refund will be granted only for DEFECTIVE items, but we are flexible and reasonable in reviewing the merits of each individual case. We do NOT play-grade records and can only make reasonable inference on the item's condition based on its visual appearance. Every bid carries a risk that purchased item might play worse than its visual grade may indicate. Still sealed items MUST be returned sealed in order to be eligible for a refund. Please read our complete refund policy before placing a bid. ►Click here for the full text of our policy .

© 2001,2004 MDJ. All rights reserved.