Maps of Music

The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967)

Where the lyrics of The Velvet Underground & Nico take you, and where it was really made.

The banana on the cover was a peelable sticker, and the special machine needed to make it helped delay the album's release.

Key places

Ludlow Street rehearsal studio (1967)

Recording site Ludlow Street — The album was recorded in a rehearsal studio on Ludlow Street in New York while the band toured with Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

TTG Studios, Hollywood (1967)

Recording site The Music Grinder (Hollywood) — Three songs were re-recorded here in two days in May 1966. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Debut studio album by the American rock band the Velvet Underground and German singer Nico
• Released by Verve Records in March 1967; the exact release date is uncertain
• Often called The Banana Album after its cover design
• Lou Reed's lyrics cover drug abuse, prostitution, sadomasochism and urban life
• Andy Warhol designed the record sleeve and served as co-producer alongside Tom Wilson

Background

• The album was recorded in 1966 while the band performed on Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable tour
• Warhol and his collaborator Paul Morrissey brought German singer Nico into the line-up
• Nico sang lead on 'Femme Fatale', 'All Tomorrow's Parties' and 'I'll Be Your Mirror'
• Warhol and Columbia Records sales executive Norman Dolph financed the first sessions
• Columbia, Atlantic and Elektra declined the recordings before Verve accepted them, with help from Tom Wilson

Recording

• Recorded in a rehearsal studio on Ludlow Street, New York
• Most of the songs were recorded in four days in mid-April 1966 at Scepter Studios in Manhattan
• In May 1966, 'I'm Waiting for the Man', 'Venus in Furs' and 'Heroin' were re-recorded in two days at TTG Studios in Hollywood
• When the release was postponed, Tom Wilson brought the band to Mayfair Recording Studios in November 1966 to add 'Sunday Morning'

Cover

• The sleeve shows a Warhol-designed banana; early pressings had a peelable sticker reading 'Peel slowly and see'
• Under the sticker was a flesh-coloured banana
• Making the covers required a special machine, one cause of the delayed release
• MGM paid the extra costs, expecting that a Warhol link would boost sales

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Formed in New York City in 1964; took the name The Velvet Underground in November 1965, from a 1963 book on atypical sexual behavior.
• Classic lineup: Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, Moe Tucker.
• Andy Warhol became the band's manager in 1966 and they were the house band at The Factory.

Members

• Lou Reed (singer, guitarist) and John Cale (multi-instrumentalist, Welsh) were the core partnership.
• Sterling Morrison (guitar) and Moe Tucker (drums) completed the classic four-piece.
• Doug Yule replaced Cale in 1968 and later led the band's final lineups.

Career

• Performed with Warhol's multimedia show Exploding Plastic Inevitable from 1966 to 1967.
• Debut The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967) sold poorly at release but is now widely hailed as one of the greatest albums.
• Ranked 19th on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time (2004).
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996; received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Commercial failure: the controversial content led to bans in record stores
• Many radio stations refused to play it, and magazines refused to carry its advertisements
• Verve's modest promotion is also cited as a cause of the poor sales
• Due to its abrasive, unconventional sound and controversial lyrical content, the album underperformed commercially and polarized critics upon release
• Billboard: a pre-release capsule review praised Nico's haunting vocals and the band's powerful lyrics
• Vibrations: a mostly positive review in its second issue, noting the dark lyrics
• Tampa Tribune's Vance Johnston dismissed the album as confusing

Reappraisal

• Robert Christgau, 1977 retrospective: hard to understand in 1967, yet still being learned from
• Colin Larkin, The Encyclopedia of Popular Music (1998): called it a 'powerful collection'
• Spin, April 2003: led its 'Top Fifteen Most Influential Albums of All Time' list with this album
• Rolling Stone: placed it at number 13 on its 500 Greatest Albums list in 2003, kept in 2012, re-ranked at number 23 in 2020
• The Observer: placed it at number 1 on its '50 Albums That Changed Music' list in July 2006
• Pitchfork: placed it at the top of 'The 200 Best Albums of the 1960s' in 2017

Records

• Billboard album chart debut on May 13, 1967 at number 199; peaked at number 171 on December 16, 1967
• UK certification: platinum for sales of over 300,000 copies
• Nielsen SoundScan: 560,000 copies sold between 1991 and 2013
• National Recording Registry, Library of Congress: inducted in 2006
• Grammy Hall of Fame: inducted in 2008
• Billboard 2023: ranked number 1 on 'The 100 Best Album Covers of All Time'

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• Norman Dolph asked for one of Warhol's paintings instead of a cash fee; he sold it around 1975 for $17,000.
• A special machine was needed to make the banana covers, one cause of the delayed release.
• Eric Emerson threatened to sue over an unauthorized image on the back cover; MGM recalled copies and sold the rest with a black sticker over the image.
• Nico was forced out of the group and began a solo career; her debut solo album Chelsea Girl came out in October 1967.
• Brian Eno said in 1982 that the album sold about 30,000 copies in its first five years, and that everyone who bought one of them started a band.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

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