BEATLES 1965 "4 by The Beatles" 7" 45 RARE

$ 178

$ 178 Sold For

Aug 3, 2003 Sold Date

Jul 24, 2003 Start Date

$ 5 Start price

10 Number Of Bids

USA Country Of Seller

eBay Auctioned at

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Description

4 BY THE BEATLES, Capitol Records R-5365, one of the rarest US Beatles releases. 7" vinyl, 45 RPM, Mono.

This four-song EP (I think it was made for the juke box market) includes "Honey Don't," "I'm a Loser," "Mr. Moonlight," and "Everybody's Trying to be my Baby." Released in 1965, though it bears no copyright date, it uses the same cover photo Capitol put on the LP "Beatles '65."

I've owned this since the late sixties, and I guarantee that it is original, not a reprint.

Both the record and the sleeve show wear: I just test played the record, and it played though very well, with just a little benign background crackle, except for a few seconds of "popping" near the beginning of "Mr. Moonlight." I was impressed how good it sounded: hearing those mono, mixed-for-a-cheesy-AM-radio versions of these songs, there's no doubt that this is the most accurate experience of this music as it was originally intended. I was surprised how thrilling it was to listen to this. And as long as I'm digressing, "I'm a Loser" is one of the very greatest Beatles' recordings, one that seems to have been a bit lost in the shuffle.

The sleeve is in "VG" or VG+" condition: some seam splitting is started on two sides, and there are places where small bits of the cover are torn or soiled. Still, it remains an attractive copy of a very hard-to-find record.

Judging from the scans I've seen, this copy is in better condition than some that have been advertised as "near mint" on eBay. It's almost impossible to find a truly "near mint" copy of this record, and I would prefer to understate the condition than to mislead and ultimately disappoint a buyer.

The back cover is identical to the front, in comparable condition. If you have questions about the condition of the record or want to see a scan of the back, or of some detail, please request it by email. The horizontal lines that appear in the background of the cover photo are artifacts produced by my scanner--there are no such lines on the cover.

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