Original 1967 Velvet Underground & Nico First West Coast US Torso LP V6-5008 VG+

	£		946
	$		1,253

NO RESERVE AUCTION + PENNY START
UNPEELED VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO LP 
EARLY MARCH 1967 FIRST US WEST COAST PRESSING (STEREO) "TORSO" LP V6-5008
WITH COMPLETE BANANA & ORIGINAL VERVE RECORD BAG
PRODUCED BY ANDY WARHOL

Eric Emerson (torso) image projected upside down on the rear cover. This image was removed/covered on later pressings.

LOT DESCRIPTION, PLEASE READ 
A now very seldom seen early original unpeeled 1967 "Torso Sleeve" first US West Coast pressing of The Velvet Underground & Nico LP produced by Andy Warhol in VG+ / VG condition with the all important first pressing identifiers and still with its original Verve record bag. One of the earliest March 1967 pressings without the Sailors Cap or "S" pressing plant ID which was added to later pressings.
This LP is an early 1st State of the 1st Pressing being the so called "Torso Cover" - which is the earliest iteration of the LP. 
The 2nd State is the so called "Lawsuit Sticker" version and the 3rd State is also known as the "Airbrushed" version and was issued in late 1967 when the rear LP sleeve was officially airbrushed by MGM to remove the image of Eric Emerson which had been printed upside down on the rear cover of the very earliest issue LP's.
BIOGRAPHY
The Exploding Plastic Inevitable (EPI) was a groundbreaking multimedia performance series created by Andy Warhol in 1966 that fused art, music, film, and live performance into a chaotic and immersive sensory experience. 
Central to the EPI were The Velvet Underground, Warhol's protégé band known for their raw, experimental sound, and Nico, a German singer and model who Warhol insisted join the group, adding an icy, hypnotic vocal presence. 
The performances featured live music accompanied by strobing lights, multiple overlapping Warhol film projections, mirrored balls, and provocative dancing by Factory regulars like Gerard Malanga and Mary Woronov, creating a hallucinatory environment that mirrored the psychedelic and avant-garde spirit of the era. 
The EPI toured various venues including The Dom in New York and The Fillmore in San Francisco, confronting audiences with a radical blend of art and music that broke down traditional performance boundaries and laid the foundation for the multimedia concert experiences of the future. 
It was at an early EPI gig that amongst the multi media showcase, New York actor Eric Emerson's image was projected onto a screen behind the band. 
A still photo of the band taken by Hugo and with Eric in the background, would later become the (notorious) rear sleeve artwork for what would become the most influential LP in rock history, The Velvet Underground & Nico. 
A law suit brought by Emerson against the record company would hamper sales of the LP's first pressing (that very same LP for sale here) and his face would be covered/removed from subsequent pressings of the LP until a legal solution was found.  
Meanwhile The Velvet Underground and Nico's cult status was cemented while Andy Warhol’s influence redefined the intersection of pop culture and experimental art.
Leo Castelli opened an art gallery on New York’s 77th Street in 1957 with the intention of showing the best of contemporary American art. It was here that Andy Warhol debuted his Flowers paintings in November 1964, mere months after having had a major show at Ileana’s Galerie in Paris. 
In 1966 Warhol's iconic screen print of a banana on laminated plastic was exhibited.  The laminated plastic peelable banana was widely featured in Warhol catalogue raisonné of the time. 
Soon after the same laminated plastic "peelable banana" would appear with Warhol's name on the front cover of the Velvet Underground & Nico's debut LP. 
Warhol would go on to exhibit his iconic banana as a serigraph while debuting other new projects such as his Silver Clouds and Mao portraits at Castelli’s New York gallery well into the late 80s.  
Castelli himself would earn a reputation as one of the foremost publicists of contemporary American art.
TRACK LIST
A1 Sunday Morning (2:53) A2 I'm Waiting For The Man (4:37) A3 Femme Fatale (2:35) A4 Venus In Furs (5:07) A5 Run Run Run (4:18) A6 All Tomorrow's Parties (5:55)
B1 Heroin (7:05) B2 There She Goes Again (2:30) B3 I'll Be Your Mirror (2:01) B4 The Black Angel's Death Song (3:10) B5 European Son (7:40)
MATRIX NUMBERS & SELECTED CREDITS
Matrix / Runout (Side 1 etched): V6 - 5008 SIDE 1 MGS 558-Rev Matrix / Runout (Side 2 etched): V6 - 5008 SIDE 2 MGS 559
First US pressing with Eric Emerson 'torso' image projected upside down on the back cover. This image was removed/covered on later pressings.
COVER DESIGN: ACY R. LEHMAN DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING: VAL VALENTIN LINER PHOTOS BY: NAT FINKELSTEIN & BILLY LINICH COLOR SHOW PHOTO BY: HUGO  PORTRAITS BY: PAUL MORRISSEY  Cover Painting BANANA by: ANDY WARHOL
"MGM RECORDS - A DIVISION OF METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER, INC. - Made in U.S.A." ®© METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER, INC. / Printed in U.S.A.
THE BAND
Vocals, Guitar, Piano – Lou Reed Vocals, Guitar, Bass Guitar – Sterling Morrison Vocals, Organ, Bass Guitar – Doug Yule Percussion – Maureen Tucker Vocals - Nico
CONDITION
VG+ / VG
Reassure yourself of condition by referring to the many large photographs provided which are not library shots but photographs of the actual LP you are buying. 
Worth remembering this is one of the earliest 1967 pressings, prior to the use of pressing plant ID marks which were added to later copies.
The gatefold sleeve is still in very good condition with some age related general wear and tear front and rear, some foxing and discoloration, spine credits intact with wear and minor separation and alignment, see photographs. LP edges experiencing general bumps and scuffs and an internal repair to the top of one side of the gatefold, which also has some signs of previous tape repair/removal along edge of seam.  Sticker residue front top right corner. 
The peelable banana is complete with some surface rubbing, wear and very minor splitting. 
The LP labels are very clean, highly original with no notable spindle wear, no handwriting or graffiti, see large photographs provided.   The vinyl appears highly original, lustrous with only occasional sign of previous playing under certain light and plays through fine with only light surface noise in quieter sections. 
The original Verve inner record bag is in good condition with age related discoloration.
The vinyl is supplied stored separately in an anti-static sleeve. 
PAYMENT, SHIPPING & INSURANCE
Please pay within four days of winning the auction. 
If you fail to pay in that time eBay may automatically cancel the sale and start a non-paying bidder procedure. 
Securely consigned fully insured under eBay Buyer Protection, packaged and protected in a reinforced record mailer with stiffeners and shipped using tracked international postal service.
Please note any import duty is the buyers responsibility.  
Please note UK sellers do not control shipping costs, which are set, managed and administered by eBay.
My previous four UPS deliveries to my US customers arrived door to door in 4 days.  
QUESTIONS - GET TO KNOW EXACTLY WHAT YOU ARE BUYING
Please ask questions you might have before purchase.
If you purchase promotional items, drafts, hand made preparatory work or "not for sale" editions frequently these objects are very different in quality and presentation to later factory made or mass produced retail editions - so please ask questions if you are uncertain before you commit to buying. 
Take a moment to understand exactly what you are buying, ask questions and reassure yourself of condition by referring to the video and the many large photographs which accompany the listing and which are of the actual item you are buying. 
Please note I CANNOT provide an AUDIO play through grading, so if by chance this is not satisfactory please do not purchase. 
FEEDBACK
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