Label: XTV-CD 122
Audio Source: acetate
Notes:
The bulk of the songs that would become The Velvet Underground & Nico were recorded in mid-April, 1966, during a four-day stint at Scepter Studios, a decrepit recording studio in New York City. This recording session was financed by Warhol and Columbia Records' sales executive Norman Dolph, who also acted as an engineer with John Licata. Though exact total cost of the project is unknown, estimates vary from $1500 to $3000
Actual recording at Scepter was done rather quickly in about two business days (roughly 8-10 hours) while the third was spent listening to the material and the fourth was spent mixing. Soon after, Dolph sent an acetate disc of the recordings to Columbia in an attempt to interest them in distributing the album, but they declined, as did Atlantic Records and Elektra Records. Eventually, the MGM Records-owned Verve Records accepted the recordings with the help of Verve staff producer Tom Wilson, who had recently moved from a job at Columbia.
Scepter Studios acetate version
Norman Dolph's original acetate pressing of the Scepter Studios material contains several recordings that would make it onto the final album, though many are different mixes of those recordings and three are different takes entirely.
The acetate was pressed on April 25, 1966, shortly after the recording sessions. It would resurface decades later when it was bought by collector Warren Hill of Montreal, Canada in September 2002 at a flea market in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City for $0.75. Hill put the album up for auction on eBay in November. On December 8, 2006, a winning bid for $155,401 was placed, but not honored. The album was again placed for auction on eBay and was successfully sold on December 16, 2006 for $25,200.
It is important to note that ten songs were recorded during the Scepter sessions and only nine appear on the acetate cut. Dolph recalls "There She Goes Again" being the missing song (and, indeed, the version of "There She Goes Again" that appears on the final LP is attributed to the Scepter Studios session).
Though rumors have circulated concerning an eventual official release of this version of the album, this has yet to be confirmed or announced by any major record label.
However, a ripped version of the acetate began circulating the internet in January 2007. Bootleg versions of the acetate tracks have also become available on vinyl and CD
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND & NICO UNRIPENED
CD, XTVCD-122, ?, 2007
1-9: Scepter Studios, New York City, New York, April 1966.
Cleaned-up version of the Norman Dolph acetate.