hey, remember that guy that found that velvet underground acetate for 75 cents...

(in the questions):

"Does ownership of the acetate come with a copyright to manufacture?"

answer:

"I do not know the answer to this question. Any intellectual copyright attorney should be able to assess this for you once they learn of the situation. The facts are straighforward: this acetate contains unreleased performances and/or mixes of songs which, as compositions, are otherwise held property and for which only alternative published commercial performance recordings have been available for 40 years. As to whether the tracks which are primarily alternative mixes (and thus the same performances with perhaps the odd overdub) are covered under the publishing of the released mixes of those particular recordings, I do not know. Your attorney and those of the publishing holders will likely know best."

i.e. "uh, NO"

Exactly. I also found it curious in reading the accompanying article that it seemed like the first thing on this guy's mind after he got it was the idea of selling it. I mean sure, plenty of money will be had, but that would not have been the first thing on my mind.

-- sean gramophone (sea...), December 1st, 2006. (later)

otm

Presumably he's saved it to mp3?

some bowling shoes
an old 12 on rap-a-lot
couple of dollarbin smiths singles
and 2x attache cases (hmmmm!)

why arent u accusing 75 cent guy (and s1ocki even!) of the same?

kudos

This makes me so damn happy.

http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3495078

http://www.popsike.com/php/detaildatar.php?itemnr=4874863840

Personally, I would be. I'm surprised this wasn't done through some big auction house or something that vets bidders....

we're in six didgits now.

high bidder bought some home-gym and a violent femmes cd latley.

My understanding is that Eric and his friend *wanted* it to sell to a record label and give it a good home. As they early articles about the acetate surfaced and interest mounted, they shopped it to several labels and I think they were in last minute negotiations with one excellent reissue label, when that fell apart due to the sudden appearance of that crummy sounding Japanese bootleg. The idea being that the material had hit the marketplace and was then not something the hardcore fans would never have heard, even if in inferior quality.

Eric doesn't have a computer; he has to go to the co-op bike shop down the block and use theirs. I was in his shop yesterday and he was clearly really bummed out by the whole "eBay chicken" thing -- he is one of the raddest people and has immaculate cred. in the record buying/ selling community (not to mention his vinyl only record label is fucking ACES -- and as a caveat or whatever, we're doing an Anglin Bros. reissue together and getting started on a of Tony Schwartz collection). Dude is old school but not ridiculous about it; he never checks popsike or gemm before pricing his records, as far as I know.

Anyway, I guess my point is that I'm sure that no one would have guessedd this thing would get so out of hand. I think they thought this would be the most fair way to sell this thing, to just let the market decide or whatever. Eric's getting bombarded with hate mail over this thing and he can't figure why -- he's just helping his friend sell this record that the dude found, you know?

Now it's over a hundred thousand?! I guess it's more eBay chicken? Fucking bummer.

fair would have been to approach libraries / colleges / other cultural institutions, if selling it to a record label didnt pan out! at the very least, the record could be properly preserved, archived and made available to the public for educational purposes. right now, that's certainly not the case.

PS- I found a picture of Maria blogging about this record:

http://groups.msn.com/_Secure/0TAAlAOYYLQvbAtgNJJ7b4xkfKZhq*6gx*i0cF7VzIvFkvnonz17!j1!NReyP2vGP!lz8gvfrUhsA!xKhDwLk3qVyM80Vs6IhGstLPf0!3jX68LiDuC6qoA/idolgrab.jpg

What makes this money any different?

Dude, what kind of argument is this? Oh wait, it's not -- it's just you attacking me for the hell of it.

Do you want music to be researchable or not? 'Cause if you don't, there's no sense in universities spending the money on research about grime, mashups, rave or anything else. I never said that VU's recordings were any more or less important -- those are your implications/hangups. I think it would be great if artifacts from those genres/etc were preserved similarly.

what i meant was: if you wanted any music available for academic / scholarly use. unfortunately, i was interrupted by a phone call.

if my university spent $10k on studying mp3 fucking mashup culture i would demand my tuition back. what the hell is wrong with you?

good thing you're not a yacht salesman. the guilt would be terrible :-/

also, wtf: What weirds me out is that instead of getting this record, the winner could finance someone going through a college, masters, and PhD program.

have you even been to college before??

US $105,600 and 75 cents was too much, was it?

So when is this going to stop? It can't be for real anymore, right?

legislating what other people 'should' do with stuff they are lucky enough to find, and to know what it is when they do, seems a tad crazy to me, and reeks to me of jealousy/ sour grapes.

sound quality issues aside, it's not like you can't hear these version if you want to, on the japanese bootleg.

So... this is really happening? I still think it's some kind of board invasion thing, but I haven't found the originating forum yet. (googling a couple of bidder names did lead to a forum the last time something big like this went down, but now, not yet)

"the only one of its kind"

What's the story of that Japanese bootleg, by the way? I know there's a leaked recording out there, with lots of hiss and vinyl crackles, so is that from another copy of this "one of its kind" album?

it just seems weird that they wouldn't even grab the audio from the record first, in a mastering studio or whatever. and THEN sell it. would that be "illegal" maybe? i mean there's nothing stopping the weiner winner from using it as a coaster for his collection of rare german beer steins.

although, actually, I don't really care

http://tastetastetaste.blogspot.com/

What academic use is there for this? Seriously, spending $10 billion on big science pork grants is more useful. The only thing you can learn from a record like this is like "Lou Reed changed something OMG!@!!!" Furthermore, there even fucking exists a bootleg of this!!!

Dude, what kind of argument is this? Oh wait, it's not -- it's just you attacking me for the hell of it.

I'm totally attacking you!!! But you're the one who thinks it is a good idea for some money starved institution in the public interest to waste its money on a meaningless piece of acetate.

Indie rocker, go home.

i wrote my senior thesis on tony conrad, and there was a lot of stuff (obv.) about the velvet underground in it. i got an a, my project advisor said that i did "original and important" work about the fusing of avant-garde art music to that of pop music, and how that changed the culture of each.

not much. for an institution like the warhol museum, though, it'd be about having the physical object as part of the collection, not necessarily for "study."

if it were in your hands, would YOU make a copy just for yourself before selling it?

and i'd surmise that the japanese bootleg is from a reel to reel, from a source very close to the original acetate, who only released it after the multiple hoo-hah about the acetate had reached a boiling point, to make a little $. just my guess though.

After establishing the authenticity of Warren's find we photographed the item and made a high quality digital back-up copy of the material.

LOL. Hstencil's thesis is actually worth reading, IMHO.

Then the boot's probably the same source - there's a skip at 35 seconds into "European Son" just like the auction describes. Interestingly, there is no skip in "Waiting For The Man" (at 00:10), which differs from the eBay desription.

Doesn't sound so bad to me! I could easily write an essay on the many specific differences - the backing vocals in "Femme Fatale" are mixed way higher, for example.

offtopic but that sound gallery compilation is pretty cool. just in case anyone was wondering.

That's not a bad way to put it, actually.

http://tastetastetaste.blogspot.com/2006/12/velvet-underground-1966-4-scepter.html

What is the most expensive record ever sold? Anyone know offhand? I know those Hank Ballard & The Midnighters 10"s can get up there.

some folks on the waxidermy board are definitely fake bidding as well:

http://www.waxidermy.com/bbs/viewtopic.php?t=5853

http://www.collective-zine.co.uk/cboard/viewtopic.php?id=23670

Only a matter of time before this gets pulled and is done by a real auction house then?

Read that waxidermy thread, a lot of record collectors there have posted horror stories about trying to sell vinyl through auction houses, where rare recordings don't even get minimum bids.

i thought that too when i heard it. kinda hope this does get cleaned up and released. i'd buy it ;)

"This pendant was handcut from a US penny using a saw that in no way has no handle. This piece of jewelry may be the most important and significant symbol of symbology since Jesus turned fish into wine. I have been working on this project for over twelve long years and I am now ready to share this visionary metaphor for life itself with all god's creatures except for lobsters, which are the most vile and destestible of all bottom feeders. The choice to make this available for auction on ebay was was not an easy one. The original plan was to give this to my only daughter on the day of her Graduation from the Berkley school of music. Though over the years I realized I am likely to never have a daughter so I figure this piece should end up in the hands of a complete stranger. A master pan flautist perhaps. So as they say in the old country, "with a banjo on my knee"."

http://i17.ebayimg.com/04/i/000/77/d0/2427_1.JPG

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Record_collecting#Most_Valuable_Records

That European son: When the big crash happens, the music continues as before on this one. The LP version is therefore an edit and I KNEW IT!!!

A Similar "I Knew it" was the chorus drop-in on "RunRunRun" which masks a tentative first "run" as can be heard on this version.

Hasn't anyone tried to do this with the Japanese bootleg yet?

If that's a mono mix, surely 'crackle remove' would just be a matter of removing sound sources that are purely on one or other channel but not both.

place your bets

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200053059428

http://i3.ebayimg.com/06/i/000/7b/55/da8a_1.JPG

I have had many requests for this piece in a 69'. So, I finally found one. This 69 will make a great gift for you and your lover to curl up to. One might even bend over backwards for a good 69' like this one. Give the gift of 69 this year. Photo represents actual coin winner will receive. Thanks for looking.

Dear people with $150k to blow,

I always imagined you guys would have cooler nicknames.

haha OTM indeed. Guys in the office talk about the bears. I come in today talking about the VU record. They think I'm really, really weird.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=mechadaddy

surprised chelsea market dude looks that young, my mental image of him was +300 pounds, heartburn of psoriasis, and a ponytail laden with half a pound of dandruff.

http://www.obner.org/bb/viewtopic.php?t=26921

"Ish" says:

Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 9:08 pm

I was at the auctioner's store today and apparently the sale ended up being bogus.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20061211.UNDERGROUND11/TPStory

A "friend"? Yeah, right.

Here's a confused account of it!

OK, the final bid was fake.

The acetate contained the only definitive version, even.

(with a picture of Iggy Pop at the moment)

http://www.montrealmirror.com/2006/121406/news2.html

Oh boy, here we go again. As previously reported, Sunset Rubdown merch guy Warren Hill scored the supreme rock'n'roll artifact, an acetate test-pressing of an early version of the first Velvet Underground record, for $0.75. He put it on eBay, somebody named "mechadaddy" won it last Friday, and as mentioned in our year-end news wrap-up, "mechadaddy" turned out to be just some schmo whose buddy hacked into his eBay account. A deadbeat, as they call them on the wild frontiers of eBaynia.

But Warren's not daunted by one chump bidder, no no! He re-listed the acetate for auction today, but here's the catch: only pre-approved eBay users can bid, which means you have to e-mail Hill first. Info here.

And hot golly, it's only $0.99 right now! The best part: Dude's already making a profit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VELVET-UNDERGROUND-NICO-1966-Acetate-LP-ANDY-WARHOL_W0QQitemZ300060897304QQihZ020QQcategoryZ306QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6182113.stm

;-)

Maybe I ought to put on George Harrison.

http://download.yousendit.com/1B55CDDB4151B272

Shiny's the wrong word methinks... how about borderline listenable? It's tough to get rid of that much surface noise without warping the music a bit.

I wasn't planning to do them all but if there's a particular track you'd like to hear I'll give it a whirl.

13 hours to go, current high bid approx. $25K, bidder ID kept private

http://cgi.ebay.com/VELVET-UNDERGROUND-NICO-1966-Acetate-LP-ANDY-WARHOL_W0QQitemZ300060897304

US $25,200.00 - 0.75 = $25,199.25 for Mr. Hill! Sold for 33,599 times the amount he paid for it.

Which would have gotten a lot of headlines if only that fake crap hadn't happened last week. Now, it's "only 25,200"

This is amazing: http://open.spotify.com/user/andyzax/playlist/7Gk5LAmxjb92qrJtnwTueK
"I Couldn't Hit It Sideways: 12 Excruciatingly Bad Velvet Underground Covers" - a Spotify playlist

haha

dave navarro - venus in furs

yeeeeeeeeeeecchh

Best part of that list is that one of my favorite albums from 2010 in on it: The Voices Factory. Dude who made the list (and those who hear it) can think what they want, but I've been saying for a while that this Italian group has made the best Velvets tribute ever. So, um, fuck you Spotify Playlist idiot.

Sometimes they're better than the originals:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EAP6rACzWsU&feature=fvsr

...and have the good sense to cover some of the best VU songs that nobody ever bothers with:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX9wV1ePgPk&ob=av2e

Seriously, I played this album more than anything but Fucked Up in 2011. So there.

The Bettie Serveert all-VU covers album is worth tracking down too.

I'm pretty passionate about the Voices Factory thing, actually. Like it's allowed me to genuinely enjoy the VU catalog for the first time in years. I think at this point it's almost impossible for an American male to cover VU and do anything distinctive. Voices Factory hit it from this almost 1st-album-Slapp-Happy perspective that really kills. The band is far from perfunctory, and you never get a sense that they don't get it, or that they're being condescending. Song selection is generally perfect. They even do something worth hearing with Sister Ray. They ought to be getting awards, rather than snark...

I couldn't listen to it sideways

Forgot about that Bettie Serveert album

They ought to be getting awards, rather than snark...

http://www.imprintitems.com/sitewide/images/products/prodbigimgs/5860403.jpg

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/713EH3EFSSL._SL500_AA300_.gif

Anyway, this reminded me that I had a great album with some cool covers cued up on spotify Count's Rock Band: Do Not Listen If You Hate Coltrane or Maggot Brain

doug yule's tide

i don't think there's anything else i once liked that looking back brings me more shame than that dave navarro album. ta be fair to me i was 16 and a slow developer. can't remember if i liked the venus in furs cover in particular, but i did think it was cool he was covering the vu.