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The Velvet Underground & Nico

post #1 of 8
8/30/08 at 4:14pm
Thread Starter 
I should just PM Rachael about this, something tells me she's going to be the resident expert.
I let a friend gift me with "The Velvet Underground & Nico" recently while we were in a record store.
It was so sweet because this particular friend was born 8 years after the album was recorded.
She asked me if I had it and I replied that I had always had it, starting with the LP, but that right now I was "between copies".
I was wrong, I still had at least the CD version.
One problem with having several thousand albums is that you're not always sure what all is in there.

You know, there was actually a point to this thread and I'd like to get there.
My TWO versions of TVU&N are on different labels.
Maybe one is considered BETTER!

I've got Verve 823 290-2 and Polydor 31453 1250 2.

This would be where we separate the real hipsters from the boys.

For you youngsters out there, we're talking about the Andy Warhol banana album cover.

At this stage, Polydor is ahead just because their cover has the little note, "Peel Slowly And See".
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post #2 of 8
8/30/08 at 8:41pm

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Gale
I should just PM Rachael about this, something tells me she's going to be the resident expert.
I let a friend gift me with "The Velvet Underground & Nico" recently while we were in a record store.
It was so sweet because this particular friend was born 8 years after the album was recorded.
She asked me if I had it and I replied that I had always had it, starting with the LP, but that right now I was "between copies".
I was wrong, I still had at least the CD version.
One problem with having several thousand albums is that you're not always sure what all is in there.

You know, there was actually a point to this thread and I'd like to get there.
My TWO versions of TVU&N are on different labels.
Maybe one is considered BETTER!

I've got Verve 823 290-2 and Polydor 31453 1250 2.

This would be where we separate the real hipsters from the boys.

For you youngsters out there, we're talking about the Andy Warhol banana album cover.

At this stage, Polydor is ahead just because their cover has the little note, "Peel Slowly And See".
Henry,

Well, I own two copies--one on LP, and one on CD. The CD copy has a music publisher's no. of: 31453 1250 2 Polydor, and the LP number matches yours as well. I don't know if either copy is better in any way, as I have not compared them sonically. However, I will say that All Tomorrow's Parties and Venus In Furs--both which made it to the 3-CD set of my favorite 1960s hits ever recorded--are first-rate tunes for a number of reasons. I love Nico's vocals in the former (it's haunting in many ways) and John Cale's wonderfully original string work in the latter. And Mo Tucker's percussive innovations (and overall sound and positioning of her bass drum) in this particular genre are for me quite interesting.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Henry Gale
One problem with having several thousand albums is that you're not always sure what all is in there.
True enough. I'm one of those who own thousands of LPs and CDs. And the collection continues to grow each day (and truth be told, much faster than my DVD collection). Years ago, I wanted to catalog everything (including complete contents notes) I own--books, CDs, DVDs, LPs, SCs, serials, tapes, realia, etc.--but realized it would take too long. I'm just too busy writing books these days to have any time left over to catalog them at home.
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post #3 of 8
8/31/08 at 11:27am

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Hey, you guys sound like you'd know: what is Nico's best best-of cd? Is "Innocent & Vain: An Introduction to Nico" good?
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post #4 of 8
8/31/08 at 8:17pm

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_B
Hey, you guys sound like you'd know: what is Nico's best best-of cd? Is "Innocent & Vain: An Introduction to Nico" good?
Will,

I wish I could help you there. I love the album first mentioned above, and a couple of others of the Lou Reed-led group. I don't really know all that much about Nico musically (assuming you are speaking of her as a solo artist); I also don't really have much knowledge of Warhol, esp. musically. But I do love The Velvet Undergound & Nico, and rank that album very near the top of my list of greatest albums of that era (together with two or three albums by the Fab Four, including Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band). Maybe Henry or others may know?
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post #5 of 8
8/31/08 at 9:19pm

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Thanks. I am, curiously, not a fan of the VU, so I'm looking for a collection that is focused on her. VU is just so dark and druggy, all the worst parts of the sixties (or what the 60s turned into, in the 70s) wrapped into one. I guess that was the point, but, I don't like it! Nico on the other hand, she reminds me of Dietrich or others who can't really sing but sing-talk through and succeed.
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post #6 of 8
9/1/08 at 6:50am

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_B
Thanks. I am, curiously, not a fan of the VU, so I'm looking for a collection that is focused on her. VU is just so dark and druggy, all the worst parts of the sixties (or what the 60s turned into, in the 70s) wrapped into one. I guess that was the point, but, I don't like it! Nico on the other hand, she reminds me of Dietrich or others who can't really sing but sing-talk through and succeed.
Will,

I agree about Nico's voice to some extent. There is something unusual about the overall timbre (specifically with regard to the lower-registered quality) which adds to the wonderful sonic experience that is in part The Velvet Underground.
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post #7 of 8
9/3/08 at 3:07pm

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Quote:
Originally Posted by Will_B
Thanks. I am, curiously, not a fan of the VU, so I'm looking for a collection that is focused on her. VU is just so dark and druggy, all the worst parts of the sixties (or what the 60s turned into, in the 70s) wrapped into one. .

It's funny, I can't argue that with you, and I typically can't stand "druggy " jam bands like THE GREATFUL DEAD and that. I frickin love the Velvets though, and Lou Reed. THE VELVET UNDERGROUND might be one of the all time great albums.
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post #8 of 8
9/3/08 at 5:58pm

Re: The Velvet Underground & Nico

Yeah its no slam on the band, they're tight. Just not my style. Any input on a good Nico disc to start with?
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