New VU Discovered

Here's something pretty incredible from the globeandmail.com:

When he paid 75 cents at a Manhattan street sale for this shellacked aluminum record with a handwritten label, Montreal student Warren Hill had no idea it was a master recording of Lou Reed's legendary Velvet Underground that would go on to change the course of rock 'n' roll. Next month, JAMES ADAMS reports, Hill's sensational find hits eBay -- with an opening bid of $40,000

...The item, as you can see, isn't much to look at -- just a circular hunk of shellacked blackness with a hole in its middle and some handwriting on a nondescript label. It is, in fact, an acetate recording of the Velvet Underground's first studio session at Scepter Studios in New York in late April, 1966. The acetate -- a sort of master recording or preliminary pressing done on brittle, cheap aluminum, covered with acetone -- contains nine songs by the Velvets that the group, which was formed in November, 1965, later rerecorded or remixed in California, then released in March, 1967, as its first official recording, The Velvet Underground & Nico.

...What makes Hill's acetate so valuable is that four of its nine songs are different takes (versions or arrangements) of the ones found on The Velvet Underground & Nico, while the remaining five feature different mixes (the balance between and among the instruments and vocals) than those officially issued. Moreover, all nine versions have never seen the light of day, either as after-the-fact recordings or bootlegs, and whatever master tapes there were have long since disappeared.
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This is pretty amazing, and I can't wait to hear them. This reminds me: If you're in a band and make any kind of recording, never throw away that recording, no matter how lousy it is. One day, someone will find it interesting, even if it's just you.