Editing The Velvet Underground & Nico (section)

==Recording==
[[File:Warhol's Exploding Plastic Inevitable with Nico.png|thumb|left|200x200px|[[Nico]] sang lead vocals on three tracks, including the [[single (music)|single]] "[[All Tomorrow's Parties]]".]]

''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' was recorded with the first professional line-up of the Velvet Underground: [[Lou Reed]], [[John Cale]], [[Sterling Morrison]] and [[Moe Tucker|Maureen Tucker]]. At the instigation of their [[mentor]] and manager Andy Warhol, and his collaborator [[Paul Morrissey]], [[People of Germany|German]] singer [[Nico]] was also featured; she had occasionally performed lead vocals for the band.<ref name="wilcox">{{cite web |title=The Unlikely Making of ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' |url=http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1463-the-unlikely-making-of-the-velvet-underground-nico |website=The Pitch |publisher=[[Pitchfork (website)|Pitchfork]] |last=Wilcox |first=Tyler |date=March 13, 2017 |access-date=August 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819061048/http://pitchfork.com/thepitch/1463-the-unlikely-making-of-the-velvet-underground-nico/ |archive-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref> She sang lead on three of the album's tracks—"[[Femme Fatale (The Velvet Underground song)|Femme Fatale]]", "[[All Tomorrow's Parties]]" and "[[I'll Be Your Mirror]]"—and back-up on "[[Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)|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]].<ref>{{cite magazine |title=The Velvet Underground Bio |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-velvet-underground/biography |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |date=August 18, 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923080701/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/artists/the-velvet-underground/biography |archive-date=September 23, 2017}}</ref>

The bulk of the songs that would become ''The Velvet Underground & Nico'' were recorded in four days in mid-April 1966 at [[Scepter Records|Scepter Studios]], a [[recording studio]] in [[Manhattan]]. This was financed by Warhol and [[Columbia Records]]' sales executive [[Norman Dolph]], who also acted as an [[audio engineering|engineer]] with John Licata. The cost of the project is unknown. Estimates vary from [[United States dollar|$]]1,500 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|1500|1966}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars){{inflation-fn|US}} to $3,000 (US${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|3000|1966}}}} in {{Inflation-year|US}} dollars).{{inflation-fn|US}}{{sfn|Harvard|2004}}

Soon after, Dolph sent an [[acetate disc]] of the recordings to [[Columbia Records]] in an attempt to interest them in distributing the album, but they declined, as did [[Atlantic Records]] and [[Elektra Records]]—according to Morrison, Atlantic objected to the references to drugs in Reed's songs, while Elektra disliked Cale's viola.<ref>{{harvnb|Irvin|McLear|2007|p=80}}</ref> Finally, the [[MGM Records]]-owned [[Verve Records]] accepted the recordings, with the help of Verve staff producer [[Tom Wilson (record producer)|Tom Wilson]] who had recently moved from a job at Columbia.<ref>{{cite magazine |title=Remembering Bob Dylan and Velvet Underground's Pioneering Producer |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/remembering-bob-dylan-velvet-undergrounds-pioneering-producer-20151104 |magazine=[[Rolling Stone]] |last=Browne |first=David |date=November 4, 2015 |access-date=August 18, 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170819021115/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/remembering-bob-dylan-velvet-undergrounds-pioneering-producer-20151104 |archive-date=August 19, 2017}}</ref>

With the backing of a label, one month later in May 1966 three of the songs, "[[I'm Waiting for the Man]]", "[[Venus in Furs (song)|Venus in Furs]]" and "[[Heroin (The Velvet Underground song)|Heroin]]", were re-recorded in two days at [[TTG Studios]] during a stay in [[Hollywood, Los Angeles|Hollywood]]. When the record's release date was postponed, Wilson brought the band into [[Atlantic Studios#Technical Engineers|Mayfair Recording Studios]] in [[Manhattan]] in November 1966, to add a final song to the album: the single "[[Sunday Morning (The Velvet Underground song)|Sunday Morning]]".<ref name="Bockris1994"/>
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