The Velvet Underground & Nico

The Velvet Underground & Nico
Studio album by The Velvet Underground and Nico
Released	March 12, 1967
Recorded	April–May 1966; November 1966
Studio	Scepter Studios, Manhattan T.T.G. Studios, Hollywood Mayfair Recording Studios, Manhattan
Genre	Art rock[1][2] psychedelic rock[3] proto-punk[4]
Length	48:51
Label	Verve
Producer	Andy Warhol Tom Wilson
The Velvet Underground chronology
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) White Light/White Heat (1968)
Nico chronology
The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) Chelsea Girl (1967)
Singles from The Velvet Underground & Nico
"All Tomorrow's Parties" / "I'll Be Your Mirror" Released: 1966 07 "Sunday Morning" / "Femme Fatale" Released: 1966 12
Alternative cover
The early LP edition with the banana-skin sticker peeled off.

The Velvet Underground & Nico is the debut album by American rock band the Velvet Underground and vocal collaborator Nico, released in March 1967 by Verve Records. Recorded in 1966 during Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia event tour, The Velvet Underground & Nico would gain attention for its experimental performance sensibilities, as well as the focus on controversial subject matter expressed in many of its songs including drug abuse, prostitution, sadism and masochism and sexual deviancy.

In 1982, musician Brian Eno famously stated that while The Velvet Underground & Nico initially only sold 30,000 copies, "everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band."^[5][6][7] Though it was a commercial failure upon release and was almost completely ignored by critics at the time, the record has since become one of the most influential and critically acclaimed rock albums in history, appearing at number thirteen on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time^[8] as well as being added to the 2006 National Recording Registry by the Library of Congress.^[9]

Recording

Collaborator Nico sang lead vocals on three tracks, including the single "All Tomorrow's Parties".

The Velvet Underground & Nico was recorded with the first professional line-up of the Velvet Underground: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen Tucker. German singer Nico was also featured, having occasionally performed lead vocals for the band at the instigation of their mentor and manager, Andy Warhol. Nico sang lead on three of the album's tracks—"Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "I'll Be Your Mirror"—and back-up on "Sunday Morning". In 1966, as the album was being recorded, this was also the line-up for their live performances as a part of Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable.

The bulk of the songs that would become The Velvet Underground & Nico were recorded in mid-April 1966, during a four-day stint at Scepter Studios, a decrepit recording studio in Manhattan. This recording session was financed by Warhol and Columbia Records' sales executive Norman Dolph, who also acted as an engineer with John Licata. Though the exact total cost of the project is unknown, estimates vary from $1,500 to $3,000.^[10]

Soon after recording, Dolph sent an acetate disc of the recordings to Columbia in an attempt to interest them in distributing the album, but they declined, as did Atlantic Records and Elektra Records—according to Morrison, Atlantic objected to the references to drugs in Reed's songs while Elektra disliked Cale's viola.^[11] Eventually, the MGM Records-owned Verve Records accepted the recordings with the help of Verve staff producer Tom Wilson, who had recently moved from a job at Columbia.

With the affirmation of a label, three of the songs, "I'm Waiting for the Man", "Venus in Furs" and "Heroin", were re-recorded in two days at T.T.G. Studios during a stay in Hollywood, one month later in May 1966. When the record's release date was postponed, Wilson brought the band into Mayfair Recording Studios in Manhattan in November 1966, to add a final song to the track listing: the single "Sunday Morning".

Production

Artist Andy Warhol designed the album's cover and played a major role in its production.

There is some confusion as to who actually produced The Velvet Underground & Nico. Although Andy Warhol was the only formally credited producer, he had very little direct influence or authority over the album beyond paying for the recording sessions. In fact, several other individuals who worked on the album are often mentioned as the album's technical producer.

Norman Dolph and John Licata are sometimes attributed to producing the Scepter Studios sessions, considering they were responsible for recording and engineering them (despite the fact that neither of the two were ever mentioned in the original album's credits).^[10] Dolph himself, however, admits John Cale as the album's rightful creative producer, as he handled the majority of the album's musical arrangements.^[10] And yet, Cale later recalled that it was Tom Wilson who actually produced nearly all the tracks on The Velvet Underground & Nico. "The band never again had as good a producer as Tom Wilson", Cale told an interviewer. "Andy Warhol didn't do anything."^[12]

However, others cite Warhol's lack of manipulation as a legitimate means of production.^[10] Sterling Morrison described Warhol as the album's producer "in the sense of producing a film."^[13] Lou Reed further discussed the matter in an interview:

He just made it possible for us to be ourselves and go right ahead with it because he was Andy Warhol. In a sense, he really did produce it, because he was this umbrella that absorbed all the attacks when we weren't large enough to be attacked... and as a consequence of him being the producer, we'd just walk in and set up and do what we always did and no one would stop it because Andy was the producer. Of course he didn't know anything about record production—but he didn't have to. He just sat there and said "Oooh, that's fantastic," and the engineer would say, "Oh yeah! Right! It is fantastic, isn't it?"^[14]

Music and lyrics

	"I'm Waiting for the Man" The second track of The Velvet Underground & Nico. The percussive, "barrelhouse"-style piano is heard behind Lou Reed's descriptive lyrics. This sample contains the first verse.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

	"Venus in Furs" The fourth track from The Velvet Underground & Nico. The droning electric viola accompanies the "ostrich"-tuned guitar. This sample contains the second verse.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Subject matter

The Velvet Underground & Nico was notable for its overt descriptions of topics such as drug abuse, prostitution, sadism and masochism and sexual deviancy. "I'm Waiting for the Man" describes a man's efforts to obtain heroin while "Venus in Furs" is a nearly literal interpretation of the nineteenth century novel of the same name (which itself prominently features accounts of BDSM). "Heroin" details an individual's use of the drug and the experience of feeling its effects.

Lou Reed, who wrote the majority of the album's lyrics, never intended to write about such topics for shock value. Reed, a fan of poets and authors such as Raymond Chandler, Nelson Algren, William S. Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, and Hubert Selby, Jr., saw no reason the content in their works couldn't translate well to rock and roll music. An English major who studied for a B.A. at Syracuse University, Reed said in an interview that he thought joining the two (gritty subject matter and music) was "obvious".^[15] "That's the kind of stuff you might read. Why wouldn't you listen to it? You have the fun of reading that, and you get the fun of rock on top of it."^[15]

Though the album's dark subject matter is today considered revolutionary,^[16] several of the album's songs are centered on themes more typical of popular music. Certain songs were written by Reed as observations of the members of Andy Warhol's "Factory Superstars". "Femme Fatale" in particular was written about Edie Sedgwick at Warhol's request. "I'll Be Your Mirror", inspired by Nico,^[17] is a tender and affectionate song; in stark contrast to a song like "Heroin". A common misperception is that "All Tomorrow's Parties" was written by Reed at Warhol's request (as stated in Victor Bockris and Gerard Malanga's Velvet Underground biography Up-Tight: The Velvet Underground Story). While the song does seem to be another observation of Factory denizens, Reed had written the song (and even recorded a demo version in 1965) before meeting Warhol.

Instrumentation and performance

	"Heroin" The seventh track from The Velvet Underground & Nico. As the song nears its final crescendo, the percussion quickens and the electric viola produces feedback.
Problems playing this file? See media help.

Much of the album's sound was conceived by John Cale, who stressed the experimental qualities of the band. Cale, who was influenced greatly by his work with La Monte Young, John Cage and the early Fluxus movement, encouraged the use of alternative ways of producing sound in music. Cale thought his sensibilities meshed well with Lou Reed's, who was already experimenting with alternative tunings. For instance, Reed had "invented" the ostrich guitar tuning for a song he wrote called "The Ostrich" for the short-lived band the Primitives. Ostrich guitar tuning consists of all strings being tuned to the same note. The method was utilized on songs "Venus in Furs" and "All Tomorrow's Parties". Often, the guitars were also tuned down a whole step, which produced a lower, fuller sound that Cale considered "sexy".^[10]

Cale's viola was used on several of the album's songs, notably "Venus in Furs" and "Black Angel's Death Song". The viola used guitar and mandolin strings, and when played loudly, Cale would liken its sound to that of an airplane engine.^[16] Cale's viola technique usually involved drones, or single notes sustained over long periods of time. He would, however, vary his attack, speed, or even add other notes on top to create differing tones while maintaining a consistent pitch.

Cover artwork

The album cover for The Velvet Underground & Nico is recognizable for featuring a Warhol print of a banana. Early copies of the album invited the owner to "Peel slowly and see"; peeling back the banana skin revealed a flesh-colored banana underneath. A special machine was needed to manufacture these covers (one of the causes of the album's delayed release), but MGM paid for costs figuring that any ties to Warhol would boost sales of the album.^[10][15] Most reissued vinyl editions of the album do not feature the peel-off sticker; the original copies of the album with the peel-sticker feature are now rare collector's items. A Japanese re-issue LP in the early 1980s was the only re-issue version to include the banana sticker for many years. On the 1996 CD reissue, the banana image is on the front cover while the image of the peeled banana is on the inside of the jewel case, beneath the CD itself. The album was re-pressed onto heavyweight vinyl in 2008 and this edition also features the banana sticker.^[18] The original British release was a single sleeve and did not have a banana on the front but featured the reverse of the American issue.

Back cover lawsuit

Original back cover

When the album was first issued, the main back cover photo (taken at an Exploding Plastic Inevitable performance) featured an image of actor Eric Emerson projected upside-down on the wall behind the band. Having recently been arrested for drug possession and desperate for money, Emerson threatened to sue over this unauthorized use of his image, unless he was paid.^[10] Rather than complying, MGM recalled copies of the album and halted its distribution until Emerson's image could be airbrushed from the photo on subsequent pressings. Copies that had already been printed were sold with a large black sticker covering the actor's image. The image was restored for the 1996 CD reissue. More recently, a reissue of the vinyl via Newbury Comics features both the peel-able banana as well as the original back cover featuring Eric Emerson's image.

Front cover lawsuit

In January 2012, the "Velvet Underground" business partnership (of which John Cale and Lou Reed were general partners) sued The Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts, Inc. in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York after the Foundation licensed the cover's banana design to Incase Designs for use on a line of iPhone and iPad cases. The partnership's complaint contained four claims: one involving copyright law, and three relating to trademark law.

Alleging that the Foundation had earlier claimed it "may" own the design's copyright, the partnership asked the court for a declaratory judgment that the Foundation did not have such rights.^[19] In response, the Foundation gave the partnership a "Covenant Not to Sue" — a written and binding promise that, even if the partnership and certain other parties continued to use the design commercially, the Foundation would never invoke its professed copyright ownership against them in court. On the Foundation's motion, Judge Alison J. Nathan severed and dismissed from the lawsuit the partnership's copyright claim. According to Judge Nathan, the Constitution allows federal courts to decide only "Cases" or "Controversies", which means ongoing or imminent disputes over legal rights, involving concrete facts and specific acts, that require court intervention in order to shield the plaintiff from harm or interference with its rights. The judge held that the partnership's complaint fell short of that standard because even if the Foundation continued to claim ownership of the design's copyright — and even if its claim was invalid — that claim would not legally harm the partnership or prevent it from making its own lawful uses of the design. The partnership did not claim that it owned the design's copyright, only that the Foundation did not. Since, according to the court, the Foundation promised not to sue the partnership for any "potentially copyright-infringing uses of the Banana Design", the partnership could continue using the design and there would be no legal action that the Foundation could take (under copyright law^[20]) to stop it. And if, the court concluded, the partnership could continue with business as usual (as far as copyright was concerned) regardless of whether the Foundation actually owned the design's copyright, a court decision would have no practical consequences for the partnership; it would be a purely academic (or "advisory") opinion, which federal courts may not issue. The court therefore dismissed the partnership's request that it resolve whether the Foundation owned the design's copyright.

The remaining trademark claims were settled out of court with a confidential agreement, and the partnership's suit was dismissed in late May 2013.^[21]

Reception and sales

Professional ratings
Retrospective reviews
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[22]
Chicago Tribune	[23]
Robert Christgau	A[24]
Encyclopedia of Popular Music	[25]
Pitchfork Media	10/10[26]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[27]
Sputnikmusic	4.5/5[28]

Upon its original release, The Velvet Underground & Nico was largely unsuccessful by popular music standards and was a financial failure. The controversial content of the album led to its almost instantaneous ban from various record stores. Many radio stations declined to play the album and magazines declined to carry advertisements for it.^[10] Its lack of success can also be attributed to Verve, who failed to promote or distribute the album with anything but modest attention.^[10][16] However, Richie Unterberger of AllMusic also notes that:

... the music was simply too daring to fit onto commercial radio; "underground" rock radio was barely getting started at this point, and in any case may well have overlooked the record at a time when psychedelic music was approaching its peak.^[29]

The album first entered the Billboard album charts on May 13, 1967 at number 199 and left the charts on June 10, 1967 at number 195. It then re-entered the charts on November 18, 1967 at number 182, peaked at number 171 on December 16, 1967 and finally left the charts on January 6, 1968 at number 193. When Verve recalled the album in June due to Eric Emerson's lawsuit, it disappeared from the charts for five months.^[15]

The critical world also took little notice of the album. One of the few print reviews of the album in 1967 was a mostly positive review in the second issue of Vibrations, a small rock music magazine.^[16] The review described the music as "a full-fledged attack on the ears and on the brain" and took note of the dark subject matter to be found in the majority of the song's lyrics.^[30]

Reappraisal

It was not until a decade later that the album started to receive almost unanimous praise by numerous rock critics, many of whom made particular note of its influence in modern rock music. Robert Christgau in his 1977 retrospective review of 1967 said "it never stops getting better".^[24] In The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (1998), Colin Larkin called it a "powerful collection" that "introduced Reed's decidedly urban infatuations, a fascination for street culture and amorality bordering on voyeurism."^[25] In April 2003, Spin led their "Top Fifteen Most Influential Albums of All Time" list with the album.^[31] On November 12, 2000, NPR included it in their "NPR 100" series of "the most important American musical works of the 20th century".^[32] Rolling Stone placed it at number 13 on their list of the 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time in November 2003, calling it the most prophetic rock album ever made.

In 1997, Velvet Underground & Nico was named the 22nd greatest album of all time in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted in the United Kingdom by HMV Group, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM.^[33] In his 1995 book, The Alternative Music Almanac, Alan Cross placed the album in the number 1 spot on the list of "10 Classic Alternative Albums". In 2006, Q magazine readers voted it into 42nd place in the "2006 Q Magazine Readers' 100 Greatest Albums Ever" poll, while The Observer placed it at number 1 in a list of "50 Albums That Changed Music" in July of that year.^[34] Also in 2006, the album was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.^[35]

Tributes

In 2009, the American musician Beck recorded a track-for-track cover of The Velvet Underground & Nico and released it online in video form on his website, as part of a project called Record Club. Musicians involved in the recording include Beck plus Nigel Godrich, Joey Waronker, Brian LeBarton, Bram Inscore, Yo, Giovanni Ribisi, Chris Holmes, and Thorunn Magnusdottir.^[36]

Also in 2009, various artists from Argentina collaborated to produce a track-for-track cover of the record. They played a number of concerts in Buenos Aires to celebrate the release of the album, which was made available online for free.^[37]

The Velvet Underground album was released in March 1967. In April, "The Electrical Banana" recorded the first known cover of "There She Goes Again". They recorded in a tent in Vietnam and sent the master tape to California to have 45RPM records pressed (The subject of the HarperCollins book "Rock 'N' Roll Soldier", 2009, by Dean Ellis Kohler & Susan Vanhecke).

Aftermath

Frustrated by the album's year-long delay and unsuccessful release, Lou Reed's relationship with Andy Warhol grew tense until Reed finally fired Warhol as manager in favor of Steve Sesnick. Nico was also forced out of the group, and began a moderately successful career as a solo artist, releasing her debut solo album, Chelsea Girl, in October 1967. Chelsea Girl features five songs written by members of the Velvet Underground, including "Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams", a song Reed had written and recorded earlier with the aid of John Cale and Sterling Morrison in 1965.

Tom Wilson continued working with the group through 1967, producing their 1968 album White Light/White Heat and Nico's Chelsea Girl.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Lou Reed unless otherwise noted. 

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Sunday Morning"	Lou Reed, John Cale	2:54
2.	"I'm Waiting for the Man"		4:39
3.	"Femme Fatale"		2:38
4.	"Venus in Furs"		5:12
5.	"Run Run Run"		4:22
6.	"All Tomorrow's Parties"		6:00

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Heroin"		7:12
8.	"There She Goes Again"		2:41
9.	"I'll Be Your Mirror"		2:14
10.	"The Black Angel's Death Song"	Lou Reed, John Cale	3:11
11.	"European Son"	Reed, Cale, Sterling Morrison, Maureen Tucker	7:46

Reissues

Compact disc

The first CD edition of the album was released in 1986 and featured slight changes. The title of the album was featured on the cover, unlike the original LP release. In addition, the album contained an alternate mix of "All Tomorrow's Parties" which featured a single track of lead vocals as opposed to the double-tracked vocal version on the original LP. Apparently, the decision to use the double-tracked version on the original LP was made at the last minute. Bill Levenson, who was overseeing the initial CD issues of the VU's Verve/MGM catalog, wanted to keep the single-voice version a secret as a surprise to fans, but was dismayed to find out that the alternate version was revealed as such on the CD's back cover (and noted as "previously unreleased").^[38]

The subsequent 1996 remastered CD reissue removed these changes, keeping the original album art and double-tracked mix of "All Tomorrow's Parties" found on the LP.

Peel Slowly and See box set

The Velvet Underground & Nico was released in its entirety on the five-year spanning box set, Peel Slowly and See, in 1995. The album was featured on the second disc of the set along with the single version of "All Tomorrow's Parties", two Nico tracks from Chelsea Girl and a ten-minute excerpt of the 45-minute "Melody Laughter" performance. Also included in the set (on the first disc) are the band's 1965 Ludlow Street loft demos. Among these demos are early versions of "Venus in Furs", "Heroin", "I'm Waiting for the Man" and "All Tomorrow's Parties".

Deluxe Edition

In 2002, Universal released a two-disc "Deluxe Edition" set containing the stereo version of the album along with the five tracks from Nico's Chelsea Girl written by members of the band on disc one, and the mono version of the album along with the mono single mixes of "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "Sunday Morning" and their b-sides "I'll Be Your Mirror" and "Femme Fatale" on disc two. A studio demo of the unreleased track "Miss Joanie Lee" had been planned for inclusion on the set, but a dispute over royalties between the band and Universal canceled these plans. This contractual dispute apparently also led to the cancellation of further installments of the band's official Bootleg Series. In April 2010, Universal re-released the second disc of the "Deluxe Edition" as a single CD "Rarities Edition".

Disc 1 additional tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"Little Sister" (John Cale, Lou Reed)	4:27
13.	"Winter Song" (Cale)	3:23
14.	"It Was a Pleasure Then" (Reed, Cale, Nico Päffgen)	8:09
15.	"Chelsea Girls" (Reed, Sterling Morrison)	7:29
16.	"Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams" (Reed)	5:09

Disc 2 additional tracks
No.	Title	Length
12.	"All Tomorrow's Parties" (Verve single VE 10427)	2:53
13.	"I'll Be Your Mirror" (Verve single VE 10427 b-side)	2:18
14.	"Sunday Morning" (Verve single VE 10466)	3:00
15.	"Femme Fatale" (Verve single VE 10466 b-side)	2:38

45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition

On October 1, 2012, Universal released a 6-CD box set of the album,^[39] intended as its definitive edition. It features the previously available mono and stereo mixes as discs 1 and 2 . Disc 1 contains as bonus tracks additional alternate versions of "All Tomorrow's Parties", "European Son", "Heroin", "All Tomorrow's Parties" (alternate instrumental version), and "I'll Be Your Mirror". Disc 2 contains the same bonus tracks as the prior deluxe version's second disc. Nico's Chelsea Girl in its entirety as disc 3 and the Scepter Studios acetate (see below) in its entirety as disc 4. Discs 5 and 6 contain a previously unreleased live performance from 1966. According to the essay by music critic and historian Richie Unterberger contained within the set, the source for the show is the only audio tape of acceptable quality recording during singer Nico's tenure in the band. The essay also clarifies that the absence of any DVD materials in the box set is due to the fact that none of the band's shows were filmed, in spite of their heavy reliance on multimedia visuals.

Disc 5: Live at Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, November 4, 1966 (Part 1)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Melody Laughter" (Instrumental jam)	28:26
2.	"Femme Fatale"	2:37
3.	"Venus in Furs"	4:45
4.	"The Black Angel's Death Song"	4:45
5.	"All Tomorrow's Parties"	5:03

Disc 6: Live at Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus, Ohio, November 4, 1966 (Part 2)
No.	Title	Length
1.	"I'm Waiting for the Man"	4:50
2.	"Heroin"	6:42
3.	"Run Run Run"	8:43
4.	"The Nothing Song" (Instrumental jam)	27:56

Scepter Studios acetate version

Label of the Norman Dolph acetate

Norman Dolph's original acetate recording of the Scepter Studios material contains several recordings that would make it onto the final album, though many are different mixes of those recordings and three are different takes entirely. The acetate was cut on April 25, 1966, shortly after the recording sessions. It would resurface decades later when it was bought by collector Warren Hill of Montreal, Canada in September 2002 at a flea market in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City for $0.75.^[40] Hill put the album up for auction on eBay in November. On December 8, 2006, a winning bid for $155,401 was placed, but not honored.^[41] The album was again placed for auction on eBay and was successfully sold on December 16, 2006 for $25,200.^[42]

Although ten songs were recorded during the Scepter sessions,^[10] only nine appear on the acetate cut. Dolph recalls "There She Goes Again" being the missing song^[43] (and, indeed, the version of "There She Goes Again" that appears on the final LP is attributed to the Scepter Studios session).

In 2012, the acetate was officially released as disc 4 of the omnicomprehensive "45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition" box set of the album (see above). The disc also includes six previously unreleased bonus tracks, recorded during the band's rehearsals at The Factory on January 3, 1966. However, a ripped version of the acetate began circulating the internet in January 2007.^[44][45] Bootleg versions of the acetate tracks have also become available on vinyl and CD.^[46]

The acetate was issued on vinyl in 2013 as a limited edition for Record Store Day.

Box set, disc 4 track listing

1. "European Son" (Alternate version) – 9:02
2. "The Black Angel's Death Song" (Alternate mix) – 3:16
3. "All Tomorrow's Parties" (Alternate version) – 5:53
4. "I'll Be Your Mirror" (Alternate mix) – 2:11
5. "Heroin" (Alternate version) – 6:16
6. "Femme Fatale" (Alternate mix) – 2:36
7. "Venus in Furs" (Alternate version) – 4:29
8. "I'm Waiting for the Man" (Alternate version, here titled "Waiting for the Man") – 4:10
9. "Run Run Run" (Alternate mix) – 4:23
10. "Walk Alone" – 3:27
11. "Crackin' Up/Venus in Furs" – 3:52
12. "Miss Joanie Lee" – 11:49
13. "Heroin" – 6:14
14. "There She Goes Again" (with Nico) – 2:09
15. "There She Goes Again" – 2:56

• Tracks 1–9 are the original Scepter Studios acetate. Tracks 1, 2, 3, and 5 are sourced from tape; tracks 4, 6, 7, 8, and 9 are from the actual acetate.
• Tracks 10–15 are the January 3, 1966 Factory rehearsals, also from tape, previously unreleased.

Charts and certifications

Peak positions Chart (1967–2014) Peak position Italian Albums (FIMI)[47] 84 UK Albums (OCC)[48] 59 US Billboard 200[49] 129

Certifications Region Certification Italy (FIMI)[50] Gold United Kingdom (BPI)[51] Platinum

Personnel

On the original album:

• Lou Reed – lead vocals (1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 10, 11), backing vocals (3), lead guitar (1-5, 7-11), ostrich guitar (4, 6)
• Sterling Morrison – rhythm guitar (2, 5, 7, 8, 9), lead guitar (3, 10, 11), bass guitar (1, 4, 6), backing vocals (3, 5, 8)
• John Cale – electric viola (1, 4, 6, 7, 10), piano (1, 2, 3, 6), bass guitar (2, 3, 5, 8-11), backing vocals (8), celesta (1), hissing (10), sound effects (11)
• Maureen Tucker – percussion (1, 3, 7-11), drums (2, 5), tambourine (2, 4, 6, 9), bass drum (4, 6)
• Nico – chanteuse (3, 6, 9), backing vocals (1)

Production personnel

• Andy Warhol – producer
• Tom Wilson – post-production supervisor, "Sunday Morning" producer
• Ami Hadami (credited as Omi Haden) – T.T.G. Studios engineer
• Gary Kellgren, Norman Dolph and John Licata – Scepter Studios engineers (uncredited)
• Gene Radice and David Greene – post-production editors, remixers

References

1. DeRogatis, Jim (February 14, 2003). "Gettin' Your Groove On". Chicago Sun-Times. p. 26. Retrieved August 1, 2013. ...this enduring art-rock masterpiece...
2. "Classic Albums: The Velvet Underground - The Velvet Underground & Nico". Clash Music. December 11, 2009. Retrieved March 28, 2015. ...the original art-rock record...
3. DeRogatis, Jim (2003). Turn on Your Mind: Four Decades of Great Psychedelic Rock. Hal Leonard Corporation. p. 79. ISBN 1617802158. Retrieved August 1, 2013. ...psychedelic rock masterpiece...
4. Goodman, William (August 16, 2011). "Listen: Feist & Friends Cover Velvet Underground". Spin. Retrieved October 6, 2013.
5. Schinder 2007, p. 308.
6. McKenna, Kristine (October 1982). "Eno: Voyages in Time & Perception". Musician. Retrieved November 8, 2012. I was talking to Lou Reed the other day and he said that the first Velvet Underground record sold 30,000 copies in the first five years. The sales have picked up in the past few years, but I mean, that record was such an important record for so many people. I think everyone who bought one of those 30,000 copies started a band!
7. Gensler, Andy (October 28, 2013). "Lou Reed RIP: What If Everyone Who Bought The First Velvet Underground Album Did Start A Band?". Billboard. New York.
8. "Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone (937). December 11, 2003. Archived from the original on January 4, 2009. Retrieved July 18, 2006.
9. March 6, 2007 – Recordings by Historical Figures and Musical Legends Added to the 2006 National Recording Registry, News from the Library of Congress, 2006 National Recording Registry – The Library Today (Library of Congress).
10. Harvard, Joe (2007) [2004]. The Velvet Underground and Nico. 33⅓. New York, NY: Continuum International Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8264-1550-4.
11. Irvin, Jim; McLear, Colin, eds. (2007). "The Velvet Underground". The MOJO Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion (4th ed.). Edinburgh: Canongate Books. p. 80.
12. Bockris, Victor & Malanga, Gerard (1996) [1983]. Up-tight: The Velvet Underground Story. Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-5223-X.
13. "An Interview with Sterling Morrison", Fusion, March 6, 1970. Reproduced in All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966–1971, edited by Clinton Heylin (2005, Da Capo Press), p. 146.
14. Flanagan, Bill (April 1989). "White Light White Heat: Lou Reed and John Cale remember Andy Warhol". Musician Magazine.
15. Bockris, Victor (2002). Uptight: The Velvet Underground Story. London: Omnibus Press. ISBN 0-7119-9170-7.
16. Heylin, Clinton, ed. (2005). All Yesterday's Parties: The Velvet Underground in Print 1966–1971 (first ed.). De Capo Press. ISBN 0-306-81477-3.
17. Bockris, Victor (1994). Transformer: The Lou Reed Story. New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 106. ISBN 0-306-80752-1.
18. "Copyright Portion of Velvet Underground Banana Lawsuit Dismissed, Trademark Part Goes Forward". Pitchfork. Retrieved 2016-01-10.
19. "Opinion & Order". Velvet Underground v. Andy Warhol Found. for the Visual Arts, Inc., 12 Civ. 00201 (AJN) (S.D.N.Y. Sept. 7, 2012). Retrieved September 7, 2012.
20. Note, however, that the language of the covenant covers only copyright lawsuits and claims; it does not cover trademark or unfair competition claims, which, as noted below, the Foundation has indeed filed against the Partnership.
21. Mervis, Scott (30 May 2013). "Andy Warhol Foundation, Velvet Underground settle lawsuit over iconic banana". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 30 May 2013.
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26. Raymer, Miles (November 20, 2012). "The Velvet Underground: The Velvet Underground & Nico". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved June 5, 2015.
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36. Jurgensen, John (August 20, 2009). "Beck Remakes the Classics". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on August 24, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
37. Argentina Artists Cover Velvet Underground & Nico at Sounds and Colours
38. The Velvet Underground CDs at The Velvet Underground Web Page
39. Online article about the release at Uncut
40. Insanely Rare Velvet Underground LP on eBay for $19K at Pitchfork Media
41. Adams, James (December 11, 2006). "Rare acetate still seeks buyer". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on December 14, 2006. Retrieved April 5, 2016.
42. Second auction, ended December 16, 2006
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45. Velvet Underground Acetate MP3s at WFMU
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48. "Velvet Underground - Artist". Official Charts Company. Retrieved July 4, 2014.
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50. "Italian album certifications – Velvet Underground – Velvet Underground" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Select Album e Compilation in the field Sezione. Enter Velvet Underground in the field Filtra. Select 2014 in the field Anno. The certification will load automatically
51. "British album certifications – The Velvet Underground – The Velvet Underground & Nico". British Phonographic Industry. Enter The Velvet Underground & Nico in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search

Bibliography

• Schinder, Scott (2007). "The Velvet Underground". In Schinder, Scott; Schwartz, Andy. Icons of Rock: An Encyclopedia of the Legends Who Changed Music Forever. Westport, Connecticut: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0313338458.

External links

• The Velvet Underground & Nico at Discogs (list of releases)