Warhol Museum discovers rare master tracks of Velvet Underground debut

NOV 10, 2022 6:09 AM
You never know what you’ll find when you dig through the Warhol archives.

The Andy Warhol Museum announced Wednesday that it had discovered and digitized rare master tapes of the Velvet Underground’s seminal 1967 debut album “The Velvet Underground & Nico” from Verve Records.

The monophonic reel-to-reel ¼-inch tapes feature alternate versions and mixes of songs later issued on the 1967 release.

“You’re hearing the album as the band originally intended,” Matt Gray, manager of archives at The Warhol, said in a statement. “The track listing alone is a retelling of the album. The quality of sound is remarkable; it gives you a new perspective.”

Warhol began his relationship in late 1965 with the Lou Reed-led band, which became part of his multi-sensory productions “Up-Tight” and “Exploding Plastic Inevitable.”

The Pittsburgh-born artist secured the studio time to record their first album at Scepter Studios in New York City in April 1966. The Velvets signed to MGM/Verse on May 2, 1966, and after some re-mixing and re-recording of the nine tracks, “The Velvet Underground & Nico” was released in March 1967, with Warhol’s iconic peelable banana on the cover.

Warhol obtained the album’s master tracks after the album’s creation and they have remained unheard by the public.

Although the album was not a commercial success, it’s considered to have inspired thousands of bands.

“Although an acetate version, which was made from these master tapes, was released for the 45th anniversary of the album, it is of a different sonic quality, given the generation loss inherent in an analog copy,” according to the museum press release,

The recording will premiere as part of an upcoming exhibition at The Warhol in 2023.

https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/music/2022/11/09/warhol-museum-master-tracks-velvet-underground-debut/stories/202211090082

So now a tape > "digitized" > vinyl is better than tape > acetate > vinyl? Hasn't "the industry" been saying just the opposite for the last couple decades?

I also might trust a 45 year old acetate to sound better than a 45 year old tape depending on how each was stored and handled.

Thankfully I am not a fan of this band. If I was, I probably wait for reviews before taking the plunge because lots of this seems like nonsense to try to sell people the same music they already have in their collection.

The press release says:

"“Although an acetate version, which was made from these master tapes, was released for the 45th anniversary of the album, it is of a different sonic quality, given the generation loss inherent in an analog copy,” according to the museum press release,"

I took that to mean that these versions have been released on the 45th anniversary edition of the album, it was just sourced from an acetate instead of the 1/4-inch tape. Is this not the case? I'm not a fan of the band, so I don't know for certain what is on that 45th anniversary release. But this part of the press release makes it sound like the alternative versions and mixes are already out there.