BEATLES Please Please Me UK LP Mono 63 MINT- RARE PRESS

	£		426
	$		564

The Beatles  - Please Please Me

A MOST AMAZING COPY IN AWESOME CONDITION. PLEASE READ ON!!!

• PARLOPHONE YELLOW AND BLACK LABELS
• PMC 1202
• MATRIX: XEX 421-1N / 422-1N
• STAMPERS: 1 AD / 4 OM

THE FIRST BEATLES LP IS PRBABLY ONE OF THE MOST SOUGHT AFTER COLLECTIBLE LP'S IN THE WHOLE WORLD. THIS IS MAINLY BECAUSE THERE ARE SO MANY DIFFERENT PRESSINGS OF THIS CLASSIC DEBUT LP, AND SOME ARE ALMOST WORTH THE COST OF MORTGAGE.

SO BEFORE I DESCRIBE THIS ONE IT IS WORTH GOING THROUGH THE RUNNING ORDER OF THE LABEL VARIATIONS

PLEASE PLEASE ME WAS FIRST RELEASED IN THE UK ON 22ND MARCH 1963, STRANGELY ENOUGH THE STEREO VERSION WAS RELEASED SOME 4 WEEKS LATER ON APRIL 26TH. BOTH COPIES WERE RELEASED ON THE NOW VERY COLLECTIBLE BLACK AND GOLD LABEL. AT THE TIME THIS LP WAS RELEASED PARLOPHONE WAS IN TRANSIION WITH ITS LABELS AND THEY WRE SOON TO BE CHANGED. NOT BEFORE HOWEVER A PROBLEM WAS NOTICED WITH THE FIRST BATCH PRESSED, IN THAT CERTAIN SHONGS WERE CREDITED TO DICK JAMES, WHEN IN FACT THEY SHOULD HAVE BEEN CREDITED TO NORTHERN SONGS. THEREFORE THE MISTAKE WAS CORRECTED AND A SECOND PRESS WAS INTRODUCED WITH THE CORRECT CREDITS ON THE GOLD AND BLACK LABEL.

BOTH 1ST AND SECOND PRESSINGS ARE IN GREAT DEMAND BY COLLECTORS, AND THE TEREOPRESSING ON THIS LABEL CAN FETCH ASTRONOMICAL SUMS. THE LABELS CHANGED TO THE MORE FAMILIAR YELLOW AND BLACK STYLE WHICH PARLOPHONE USED RIGHT THROUGH THE 60'S. THE CHDANGE OCCURRED ABOUT 2 MONTHS AFTER THE GOLD AND BLACK ONES HAD BEEN RELEASED, AND ONCE AGAIN THERE WAS AN ERROR WITH THE FIRST BATCH THAT WAS ISSUED. THERE WAS SUPHPOSED TO BE A STATEMENT AT 9.0'CLOCK ON THE LABEL SAYING "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED IN 1963" HOWEVER IT WAS MISSED OFF, BUT NOTICED ALMOST IMMEDIATELY AND A SUBSEQUENT PRESSING WAS PRODUCED TO CORRECT THIS MISTAKE. THESE ARE KNOWN AS THE 3RD AND 4TH PRESSES.

THE 4TH BEING THE MOST COMMON PRESSING OF ALL HE VARIANTS OF PLEASE PLEASE ME.

THE THIRD PRESSING WHICH HAS THE LABEL ERROR, ALSO HAD A VARIANT IN THAT SOME OF THESE LABELS HAD A SMALL 33 1/3 NEXT TO THE MATRIX NUMBER AT 9.0'CLOCK, AND SOME JUST HAD THE MATRIX NUMBER IN BRACKETS. EITHER WAY THIS LABEL WAS ONLY IN CIRCULATION FOR ABOUT A WEEK BEFORE IT WAS CHANGED TO THE 4TH DESIGN. REALISTICALLY THE THIRD PRESS LBEL IS RARER THAN THE 1ST TWO PRESSINGS IN VIEW OF THE TIME THEY WERE AVAILABLE.

SO NOW ONTO WHAT THIS PRESSING IS EXACTLY. SIDE 1 SHOWS ALL THE MARKINGS ON THE LABEL OF A THIRD PRESS. NO RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED, JUST THE MATRIX NUMBER IN BRACKETS. SIDE TWO HOWEVER DOES HAVE THE RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED STATEMENT, AND THEREFORE SHOWS THE MARKING FOR A 4TH PRESS.

I CAN ONLY SUMISE THAT SOMETHING WENT WRONG IN THE PRESSING PLANT ON THE DAY THIS HYBRID WAS CREATED, OR SOMEONE WAS NOT PAYING ATTENTION, BUT EITHER WAY WHAT YOU HAVE HERE IS ANOTHER VARIANT THAT IS NOT LISTED IN ANY CATALOGUE THAT I KNOW OF, AND MAY EVEN BE ONE OF A KIND. I HAD TO LOOK THREE TIMES MYSELF, AS I THOUGHT I WAS MISTAKEN.

OK NOW THAT YOU HAVE THE PICTURE CLEAR ON WHAT THE LABEL SITUATION IS, LETS TAKE A REALLY CLOSE LOOK AT THIS MOST AMAZING OF SLEEVES. THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF SLEEVE. ONE PRODUCED BY THE E.J DAY CO, AND THE SECOND AND FAR MORE COMMON PRODUCED BY GARROD AND LOFTHOUSE. IT IS FAR MORE COLLECTIBLE TO HAVE THE EARLY ISSUE, AND THIS ONE IS AN E.J DAY SLEEVE. TO SAY IT IS IN PRISTINE CONDITION IS ALMOST AN UNDERSTATEMENT, AS I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS SLEEVE IN SUCH FANTASTIC CONDITION BEFORE. YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. YOU HAVE SEEN WHAT IS USUALLY ON OFFER, CREASES, ROUNDED CORNERS, FEATHERD OPENING, SPLITS, PEN MARKS, OWNERS NAMES ETC ETC ETC...

THE FRONT SRFACE IS ABSOLUTELY FLAT AND TOTALLY UNCREASED, EVEN THE USUAL TINY LAMINATE LINES NEAR THE SPINE ARE NOT THERE. THE CORNERS ARE SHARP AND SQUARE. THERE IS NOT 1 JOT OF SHELF WEAR TO EITHER OF THE TOP OR BOTTOM EDGES.

THE OPENING EDGE IS 100% AS NEW, RAZOR SHARP, AND NOT EVEN A FINGERNAIL MARK. IT IS TRULY INCREDIBLE.I AM ALMOST SCARED TO TAKE THE RECORD OUT.

THE SPINE IS ALSO AS NEW AND PERFECTLY LEGIBLE.

TURNING THE SLEEVE OVER THE FIRST THING TO NOTICE IS THE FLIPBACKS, WHICH ARE INCREDIBLY WHITE AND PERFECTLY STUCK IN PLACE, AND THEN THERE IS THE CENTRE SURFACE. NEVER HAVE I SEEN A 1963 PRESSING WITH SUCH A WHITE SURFACE. IT IS JUST FANTASTIC. YOU HAVE TO SEE IT TO BELIEVE IT BUT THIS SLEEVE REALLY LOOKS ONE DAY OLD NOT 43 YEARS OLD

UNDER THE CIRCUMSTANCES IT JUST HAS TO GRADE MINT!!!

THE LABELS I HAVE ALREADY MENTIONED WITH REGARD TO THEIR PRESSING DATE, BUT NOW IT IS IMPORTNAT O DESCRIBE THE CONDITION. I HAVE VERY CLOSELY EXAMINED THE LABELS FOR ANY SIGNS OF SPIDER LINES WHICH WOULD GIVE ME AN INDICATION OF HOW MANY TIMES THE RECORD HAD BEEN PLAYED, BUT I CANNOT SEE EVEN ONE. NOW I KNOW THE LP HAS BEEN PLAYED, BUT THIS DETAIL DOES NOT GIVE THE GAME AWAY. WHAT I CAN SAY FOR SURE IS THAT WHOEVER OWNED THIS TREATED IT IWTH THE UTMOST RESPECT, AND ANY PLAY THAT IT DID HAVE THEY MADE SURE THAT THE SPINDLE HOLE FITTED PRECISELY OVER THE SPINDLE WITHOUT TOUCHING THE LABELS SURFACE. THIS IS ALSO MOST UNSUAL TO FIND.

THE RECORD ITSLEF GLEAMS LIKE A BRAND NEW DISK, AND THERE ARE NO VISIBLE MARKS ANYWHERE ON THE SURFACE OF THE LP. I EVEN TOOK IT AND PUT IT UNDER A PIN SPOT BULB, AND STILL THERE ARE NO MORE THAN A COUPLE OF VERY FAINT WISPY HAIRLINES.

GENTLY LOWERING THE STYLUS OF MY REGA DECK ONTO THE SURFACE OF THE RECORD REVEALS TOTAL SILENCE IN THE RUN IN GROOVE, AND WHEN THE OPENING TRACK BURSTS INTO LIFE, THE SOUND IS AS CLEAR NAS A BELL, AND THERE IS NOT ANY BACKGROUND CRACKLE OR DISTROTION AT ALL. THE LINKING GROOVES ARE ALL AS QUIET AS THE NEXT, AND SIDE TWO IS MORE OF THE SAME. NATURALLY I WAS LISTENING FOR ANY SIGNS OF UNWANTED NOISE, AND THE ONLY THING I CAN SAY IS THAT THERE WERE A COUPLE OF REALLY LIGHT (AND I DO MEAN LIGHT) POPS WHICH IS PROBABLY A BIT OF DUST IN A GROOVE, AND THE VERY ODD BIT OF STATIC.

THIS IS JUST AN INCREDIBLE LP, WHICH WILL NEVER EVER NEED UPGRADING.

A HIGH GRADE COLLECTIBLE AT MINT MINUS