The Velvet underground & Nico – what have I bought?

I have been looking for a decent lp of Velvet underground & Nico for a long time and yesterday I finally bought a copy. I wonder of the age of the pressing.
It’s a UK Verve deluxe 24590 159, the dead wax is:

2490159A A//1V420 and 2490159B B//2V420

The strange part is that you can find the dead wax numbers of an earlier pressing there as well. But these are crossed over (the numbers are 2315056 / 231505-6). What does this mean?

The lp it self was in stunning condition (true NM) and the gatefold cover was nice as well.

 

It's certainly a reissue, the UK original did not have a gatefold cover. Probably mid-80s.

 

No barcode.

 

I have a UK Verve Super 2315 056 Super from early 80's. Matrix A side: 2315056 A//1V420 11 31
Matrix B side: 2315056 B//1V420 12 2 5

 

Thanks for the info.

 

The 31 and 2 5 is far to the right of the stamped matrix.

 

Of course this depends on what you would consider the UK original. I bought this album in the UK back in 1971, and my copy is in a gatefold cover. Not only that but the gatefold cover has the peelable banana. This is because Polydor Records Ltd. originally imported Verve US made copies and simply slapped a sticker with their own catalogue number (2315 056) on over the Verve number (V6-5008) on the back cover.

 

That was later. The first UK release was in a single sleeve with the back cover of the US edition on the front and some of the text from the inside on the back.

 

I would have thought that it was the other way around. First Polydor imported these early Verve gatefold copies (with the original peelable banana) and slapped their own catalogue number on them, then when they eventually sold out a UK edition was pressed up and sold in that single sleeve. That is certainly how I remember it from looking in record shops back then. I don't recall seeing the single sleeve version until after the gatefold copies like mine had finally gone.

 

Not according to the Record Collector Price Guide or M.C. Kostek's Velvet Underground Handbook, the two references I just checked. Both say the 1967 original issue was in a single sleeve with a different catalogue number (Verve VLP 9184 mono or SVLP for stereo) and refer to the 1971 gatefold issue with the number you cite as a reissue.

 

Thanks again for all the info, intriguing to say the least.

My gut feeling says my copy is from the mid 70-ties (quality and thickness of the vinyl and that the gatefold cover doesn’t have a barcode). But I have been wrong before.

 

I listen to my vinyl today and I think it sounded really good. I wonder what release mine is? I got it new 5-6 years ago. The dead wax says:
"S 35947" "BOS" and O have a line splitting it. It also have "UE" or something like that .

It have the Verve records label and it says "Manufactured by MGM records, inc, 7165 sunset boulevard, hollywood, calif. 90046"

Do anyone knows more about this release? Is there an better stereo LP release somewhere?

 

That's the 1998 stereo vinyl reissue. Sounds great!

They also reissued the mono version on vinyl in 2001.

 

Yes, it does. Do anyone knows if its from analog source or digital?
I maybe crazy but the couple of tracks I have compared to a Flac of the MFSL UDCD, I prefer the vinyl!

Does the 2001 mono version sound good too?

 

Yes!

Cheers,
Chris

 

I bought my UK stereo copy of the LP around 1975. It's a gatefold (mfg in the UK... not imported from the US). Never had a peelable banana on it, though.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Is it hard to get the 2001 mono vinyl?

OT; I also have White light/White heat, the same reissue serie. Does it also sound good comparing to other releases?

 

I don't think so. I saw it at a local shop just this past weekend.

Cheers,
Chris

 

Yeah the 2001 mono vinyl is readily available. If not in shops, you can definitely find it brand new on eBay "Buy it Now". And yes, the vinyl reissue of White Light/White Heat sounds awesome too. The vinyl reissue of the 3rd album does too for that matter.

 

I picked up a sealed mono copy yesterday, apparently of recent vintage but other than the sticker on the shrinkwrap ("Finally, the original MONO VERSION"), nothing printed anywhere to indicate that this is a reissue. Gatefold sleeve, no barcode, apparently the original catalog number (V-5008), and the label (blue Verve) even says "manufactured by MGM records". Is this the 2001 mono vinyl? A 35th anniversary facsimile of the original from 1966? BTW the price was $13.99 at Newbury Comics in sales-tax-free New Hampshire.

The sticker on the shrinkwrap also says:
- Limited Edition Classic LP
- High-Defintion Premium Virgin Vinyl Pressing For Super Fidelity
- The Nicest Thing You Can Do For Your Stylus And Your Ears

Last night I had time to clean records (another wild and crazy Friday night at the McCann house - not) and this was the first one of the evening. I don't always clean brand new LPs but it was very dusty right out of the sleeve and definitely needed a cleaning before the first play.

 

It's a Scorpio reissue. They are known for digital sources (often a CD) as masters. Often vinyl is flakey noisy.

However, most like the mono VU pressing as it was cut from the CD mono master which sounded very good. So digital but done well for a change.

 

Here's one that sold on ebay
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=230199794472&ssPageName=STRK:MEWA:IT&ih=013

The original Canadian cover was almost exactly the same as the UK one, except the back cover more closely resembled the inside gatefold of the US edition

 

Gotta love those carefully crafted eBay descriptions!


(For the benefit of the archive readers after the item has fallen off the eBay database, the seller said not one word about the record or its condition in the listing, just put up a couple of pictures, and he got over GBP200 for it.)

 

The Canadian is to be avoided. Pressed on garbage vinyl. My copy looks NM, but plays like rice crispies. Anything pressed by "Quality of Canada" is bad, i.e., Verve and MGM pressings.

 

Hi,

Sorry to dig up an old thread but I am confused by all the different V.U. pressings going around right now. I ordered the V.U. LPs from Circuit City. The first three are "Four Men With Beards" pressings, 'Loaded' is on Cotillion label. I gave them a spin and they sound fine, but I was wondering how they stacked up compared to other editions. I see on eBay they got some that are colored, some with a gold 180 gram sticker, some with a red and white sticker.....are the 4MWB editions recognized as being decent?

Thanks.