Art, original “Velvet Underground” tapes discovered in Warhol’s archives

Pittsburgh’s Andy Warhol Museum has discovered and digitized rare magnetic tapes of the rock band Velvet Underground’s landmark debut album, “The Velvet Underground & Nico,” released in March 1967 by Verve Records. The monophonic tapes contain alternate and mixed versions of the nine initial songs that formed the basis of the disc.

“You can listen to the album as the band originally intended to make it,” said Matt Gray, head of the Warhol Archives. «The tracklist alone is a reinterpretation of the album. The sound quality is remarkable, it offers a new perspective ». In 1965 the King of Pop Art Andy Warhol and the Velvet Underground, led by Lou Reed, gave birth to one of the most iconic artistic collaborations of the 20th century.

Warhol discovered avant-garde rockers and, acting as the band’s manager, consecrated them to fame. Warhol added the singer Nico to the group and made them the home band of his star-studded Factory, so much so that he was very present in his multimedia production “Exploding Plastic Inevitable”. In April 1966 Warhol guaranteed the group to record their first album at Scepter Studios. The first professional recording session was an experimental triumph with a sonic oomph that was softened in the subsequent analogue copy. The band signed a contract with Verve Records in 1966 and the tapes recorded were remixed and re-recorded as “The Velvet Underground & Nico”, with the banana designed by Warhol on the cover.

The band despite all its immense influence on American pop culture was short lived: in a controversial decision, Lou Reed fired Warhol as manager in 1967 and shortly thereafter the band quickly disbanded. The original tapes were delivered to Warhol after the band’s official debut and have remained unheard until now. The recording will make its public debut in a new exhibition at the Andy Warhol Museum in 2023.