March 12th, 1967 –
The Velvet Underground released their debut album, The Velvet Underground & Nico, on this date.
The album’s back cover originally featured a shot of the band playing with an image of Eric Emerson’s face from The Chelsea Girls projected prominently in the background. Emerson either needed drug money or was simply broke, so he threatened to sue the record label because he hadn’t signed a photo release. Verve Records pulled the album from record stores and redacted Emerson’s face from the back cover, which was a disaster for the band.
The Haus of Dcaligari 