Have you ever stood in line outside a club, hoping and waiting for the bouncer to let you in? Have you felt the club doorkeeper’s eyes scrutinizing you through a peephole of a door without a handle, hoping your outfit is stylish enough for you to gain admittance? Andy Warhol didn’t…
The Velvet Underground & Nico was originally released in March 1967 by Verve Records. Recorded with the first professional line-up of The Velvet Underground, including Lou Reed, John Cale, Sterling Morrison and Maureen "Moe" Tucker; with Nico, who would occasionally sing lead with the band at the instigation of their mentor and manager, Andy Warhol. Recorded in 1966 during Andy Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable multimedia event tour, The Velvet Underground & Nico would gain notoriety for its experimentalist performance sensibilities, as well as its focus on controversial subject matter expressed in many of their songs.
Nico sang lead on three of the album's tracks—"Femme Fatale", "All Tomorrow's Parties" and "I'll Be Your Mirror"—and back-up on "Sunday Morning". In 1966, as the album was being recorded, this was also the line-up for their live performances as a part of Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable.
1. "Sunday Morning" (Reed, Cale) – 2:54
2. "I'm Waiting for the Man" – 4:39
3. "Femme Fatale" – 2:38
4. "Venus in Furs" – 5:12
5. "Run Run Run" – 4:22
6. "All Tomorrow's Parties" – 6:00
Side two
7. "Heroin" – 7:12
8. "There She Goes Again" – 2:41
9. "I'll Be Your Mirror" – 2:14
10. "The Black Angel's Death Song" (Reed, Cale) – 3:11
