NICO – CHELSEA GIRL LP – Nr MINT A3/B2 UK VELVET UNDERGROUND

Nico – Chelsea Girl
(Polydor Records  1986  2353025)
Matrix No’s: A3/B2 – UK Pressing

Sleeve in Nr MINT/Excellent+ condition
– some slight wear to edges

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
(there are some light surface marks visible on the vinyl when held up to the light but they don’t affect the sound quality)

Christa Päffgen (16 October 1938 – 18 July 1988), known by her stage name Nico, was a German singer, songwriter, musician, model, and actress. She had roles in several films, including Federico Fellini’s La Dolce Vita (1960) and Andy Warhol’s Chelsea Girls (1966).

At the insistence of Warhol, she sang on four songs of the Velvet Underground’s debut album The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967). At the same time, she started a solo career and released Chelsea Girl. Nico’s friend, Jim Morrison, suggested that she start writing her own material. She then composed songs on a harmonium, not traditionally a rock instrument. John Cale became her musical arranger and produced  The Marble Index, Desertshore, The End… and other subsequent albums.

In the 1980s, she toured extensively in Europe, United States, Australia and Japan. After a concert in Berlin in June 1988, she went on holiday in Ibiza to rest and died as the result of a cycling accident.

Chelsea Girl is the debut solo album by Nico. It was released in October 1967 by Verve Records, also home to The Velvet Underground. The name of the album is a reference to Andy Warhol’s 1966 film Chelsea Girls, in which Nico starred. The sixth track of the album (or first on Side B on vinyl) is titled “Chelsea Girls”.

Many of the songs on the album have instrumental work from The Velvet Underground, whom Nico had previously collaborated with the year before on The Velvet Underground & Nico, as well as song writing credits from members of the band. The song “I’ll Keep It with Mine”, which is also featured on the album, was written by Bob Dylan, and the album also features three songs by Jackson Browne, who also contributes guitar to the album.

Track listing

Side A

1. “The Fairest of the Seasons” (Jackson Browne, Gregory Copeland) – 4:06
2. “These Days” (Browne) – 3:30
3. “Little Sister” (John Cale, Lou Reed) – 4:22
4. “Winter Song” (Cale) – 3:17
5. “It Was a Pleasure Then” (Reed, Cale, Päffgen) – 8:02

Side B

1. “Chelsea Girls” (Reed, Sterling Morrison) – 7:22
2. “I’ll Keep It With Mine” (Bob Dylan) – 3:17 Note: this song was recorded by Dylan in 1965 but remained unreleased on any of his own albums until the 1985 Biograph set.
3. “Somewhere There’s a Feather” (Browne) – 2:16
4. “Wrap Your Troubles in Dreams” (Reed) – 5:07
5. “Eulogy to Lenny Bruce” (Tim Hardin) – 3:45

Personnel

• Nico Päffgen – vocals
• Jackson Browne – electric guitar (A1-2, B2-3, B5)
• Lou Reed – electric guitar (A3, A5, B1, B4)
• John Cale – viola, organ, guitar (A3-5)
• Sterling Morrison – electric guitar (B1, B4)
• Tom Wilson – producer
• Larry Fallon – string and flute arrangements