Velvet Underground – Sterling Morrison’s Student ID and Signed Truck Driving Permit
A University of Texas Student ID and a Texas Department of Public Safety truck driving permit issued to Velvet Underground guitarist Sterling Morrison, under his legal name, Holmes Sterling Morrison, Jr. The permit is signed by Morrison using his legal name.
After the Velvet Underground broke up, Morrison moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, where he taught and earned a PHD in medieval literature. Wikipedia notes Morrison began to work on Houston tugboats as a deckhand to supplement his income in the mid-1970s; when he was forced to relinquish his teaching assistantship some years later, he was licensed as a master mariner and became the captain of a Houston tugboat, a vocation he pursued throughout the 1980s. After leaving the Velvet Underground, Morrison’s musical career was primarily limited to informal sessions for personal enjoyment, though he played in a few bands around Austin, Texas, most notably the Bizarros. Morrison’s tenure in the capital of Texas made him a well-loved and admired member of the local music community as well as an influential voice. During John Cale’s renaissance in the late 1970s, Morrison occasionally sat in with his former bandmate. From the mid-1980s on, he occasionally recorded or performed with Cale, Reed, and particularly Tucker [and was part of the Velvet Underground reunion of 1993.]
The laminated UT Student ID has Morrison’s photograph, and is dated 1973-1974. The truck driver’s license (actually an endorsement meant to be accompanies by Morrison’s driver’s license) expires on August 29, 1989.
In 1993 the Velvet Underground reunited with Morrison, and toured Europe to great acclaim; in 1994 Morrison was diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma, which claimed his life in August 1995.
We acquired these documents from Sterling Morrison’s widow, Martha Morrison; her letter of authenticity is included, as is Recordmecca’s written lifetime guarantee of authenticity. Two unique Velvet Underground collectibles.
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