FIRST PICTURES: Velvet Underground & Nico super deluxe

The Velvet Underground & Nico 45th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition is released this week (North America and Canada, next week) and here we bring you some exclusive pictures of this new set.

This edition is simply a very elegant 92-page book, with the six CDs contained within two thick pages at the rear. The book itself is just under 12 inches wide but only ten inches high, which makes it much easier to hold and read than the large 12 x 12-inch books, such as the one included with the Sex Pistols Never Mind the Bollocks… super deluxe edition.

Although the content within lacks any contribution from the likes of Lou Reed or John Cale, the essay by Richie Unterberger (VU author/expert) is a detailed and fascinating look at how the album came to be, and the sessions and movements of the band during that period. Superb photos enhance his words.

The only let down with this presentation is the way the discs are stored. Although it has become fairly standard to have discs housed in pockets glued to strengthen leaves within these books, there is something rather inelegant about this solution and someone really needs to come up with a better way to house discs within a book soon. I know that many fans don’t like the ‘rubbing’ of the discs in these pockets and some have reported scratched CDs as a result.

The music within will be looked at on another day, but this book feels superb in the hands, and for once a truly influential record deserves this treatment. The volume is both tasteful and serious in approach, which is what you’d expect with The Velvet Underground.

What I really want to know is can I risk ‘peeling’ the banana on the front?

Full track listing below.

• • UK Order: Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • USA Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • CANADA Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • GERMANY Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)

Track listing

Disc 1: Stereo LP (released as Verve V6-5008, 1967) and extras

• Sunday Morning
• I’m Waiting for the Man
• Femme Fatale
• Venus in Furs
• Run Run Run
• All Tomorrow’s PartiesHeroin
• There She Goes Again
• I’ll Be Your Mirror
• The Black Angel’s Death Song
• European Son
• All Tomorrow’s Parties (Alternate Single Voice Version) (from Verve CD 823 290-2, 1986)
• European Son (Alternate)
• Heroin (Alternate)
• All Tomorrow’s Parties (Alternate Instrumental Mix)
• I’ll Be Your Mirror (Alternate Mix)

Disc 2: Mono LP (released as Verve V-5008, 1967) and single mixes

• Sunday Morning
• I’m Waiting for the Man
• Femme Fatale
• Venus in Furs
• Run Run Run
• All Tomorrow’s Parties
• Heroin
• There She Goes Again
• I’ll Be Your Mirror
• The Black Angel’s Death Song
• European Son
• All Tomorrow’s Parties (Single Mix)
• (Verve VK-10427-A, 1966)
• I’ll Be Your Mirror (Single Mix) (Verve VK-10427-B, 1966)
• Sunday Morning (Single Mix) (Verve VK-10466-A, 1966)
• Femme Fatale (Single Mix) (Verve VK-10466-B, 1966)

Disc 3: Chelsea Girl (released as Verve V6-5032, 1967)

• The Fairest of the Seasons
• These Days
• Little Sister
• Winter Song
• It Was a Pleasure Then
• Chelsea Girls
• I’ll Keep It with Mine
• Somewhere There’s a Feather
• Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams
• Eulogy to Lenny Bruce

Disc 4: Scepter Studios acetate and Factory rehearsals

• European Son *
• The Black Angel’s Death Song *
• All Tomorrow’s Parties *
• I’ll Be Your Mirror **
• Heroin *
• Femme Fatale **
• Venus in Furs **
• I’m Waiting for the Man **
• Run Run Run **
• Walk Alone (Factory Rehearsal)
• Cracking Up / Venus in Furs (Factory Rehearsal)
• Miss Joanie Lee (Factory Rehearsal)
• Heroin (Factory Rehearsal)
• There She Goes Again (with Nico) (Factory Rehearsal)
• There She Goes Again (Factory Rehearsal)

* indicates track sourced from original tape.

** indicates track sourced from acetate disc.

Discs 5-6: Live at the Valleydale Ballroom, Columbus, OH – 11/4/1966

• Melody Laughter
• Femme Fatale
• Venus in Furs
• The Black Angel’s Death Song
• All Tomorrow’s Parties
• I’m Waiting for the Man
• Heroin
• Run Run Run
• The Nothing Song

• • UK Order: Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • USA Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • CANADA Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)
• • GERMANY Order: The Velvet Underground & Nico (Super Deluxe Edition)