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Released in 1967, “The Velvet Underground and Nico” was the debut album from New York band, The Velvet Underground. Taken under the wing of pop art icon, Andy Warhol, The Velvet Underground created one of the most revered records in rock & roll, landing the #13 spot in Rolling Stone Magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list. The album was not highly regarded at the time of its release, garnering poor sales and little exposure. However, the album's influence was such, that it has famously been noted time and time again that “they only sold a few thousand records, but everyone who bought one started a band.”
Made up of Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison, and Maureen Tucker - along with German singer, Nico - The Velvet Underground released their debut on Verve Records, after being turned down by other big-name companies. The album's lyrics, written by Reed, dealt with subjects such as drug abuse and sadomasochism, among others. The sound was unique and engaging, with Cale's viola adding a mantra-like drone to such songs as the hypnotic, “Venus in furs”. “Waiting for the man” tells the story of somebody waiting for a drug dealer with “twenty-six dollars in my hand”, and a song with a title like “Heroin” should speak for itself, with its uncensored lyrics about addiction, engulfed in ever shifting time signatures that could make the listener feel like he or she is... well, on drugs.
“The Velvet Underground and Nico”, or 'The Banana album' as its commonly referred to, has a legacy that expands beyond its sales numbers. Lou Reed's twisted vision of dark lyrics mixed in with song craftsmanship, has endured longer than any other below-the-radar album released in the late 60s. Artists ranging from David Bowie to Beck, have covered songs from this seminal debut, and modern day rockers like The Strokes' Julian Casablancas have sung its praises. To this day, it remains as a cult classic and as a landmark album that established a much needed precedent in the world of experimental rock & roll.
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