Rare master tapes of the Velvet Underground’s 1967 debut studio album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, have been discovered and digitalized by the team at The Warhol in Pittsburgh. The recordings featuring alternate versions and mixes of songs were recently found while processing Andy Warhol’s archive at The Warhol and will be premiered next year during an upcoming exhibition at the facility.
The nine tracks were recorded in April 1966 with Andy Warhol, the band’s benefactor during those early days, behind the board at New York City’s battered Scepter Studios. While the group wasn’t attached to a label at the time, they wound up signing with MGM/Verve Records the next month. Three songs (“I’m Waiting For The Man,” “Venus In Furs” and “Heroin”) were re-recorded at Hollywood’s TTG Studios in May 1966 and another (“Sunday Morning”) was tacked on in November 1966 at Manhattan’s Mayfair Recording Studios in time for the release of The Velvet Underground & Nico. Plus, the tracks used from the Scepter sessions were re-mixed and re-recorded. Warhol designed the iconic cover art used for the LP.
“You’re hearing the album as the band originally intended,” said Matt Gray, manager of archives at The Warhol. “The track listing alone is a retelling of the album; the quality of sound is remarkable; it gives you a new perspective.”
An acetate recording from the master tapes was released in 2012 as part of a 45th anniversary reissue. However, the fidelity of what was issued suffers from generation loss, leaving the newly discovered monophonic reel-to-reel 1/4″ tapes as the best possible quality recordings to emerge from the legendary Scepter sessions. Warhol received the original master tapes shortly after The Velvet Underground & Nico was issued and have yet to be heard publicly ever since.
