THE BEATLES-WHITE ALBUM APPLE 1ST PRESS MONO 1968-FACTORY SAMPLE-WITH INSERTS

	£		311
	$		412

THE BEATLES-THE BEATLES TYPE DOUBLE LP-MONO LABEL/PRESSING INFO

APPLE 1ST PRESS WITH DARKER LABEL PRINTING AND "SOLD IN U.K." LABEL TEXT and MATRIX NUMBERS: XEX 709-1 XEX 710-1 XEX 711-1 and XEX 712-1 Record One omits "An E.M.I. Recording" above the Mfd in U.K. on the left centre of the label, and is the darker brownish green colour. Record 2 is the greener label type with "An E.M.I. Recording" and has authentic bayonet ended EMI "FACTORY SAMPLE NOT FOR SALE" sticker on the side one label

EXCELLENT TO EXCELLENT+ (BY 1968 MONO had become the poor relation of the record listening public and the new wondrous STEREO was the thing to have, even though like me the majority of people were still listening on Dansettes and stereograms left over from the 1950's, and you could go into a record shop and flick endlessly looking for a MONO record only to see the ubiquitous "this record can be played on a machine fitted with a compatible etc etc" and by 1970 they had virtually stopped pressing the format, which is why any MONO pressing of anything from the latter of the decade has to be a must, if only to listen to the music as it was intended straight at your head and not flowing from one ear to the other at the whim and behest of an engineer or band member with an exotic woodbine in hand, and there is so much more to hear even the subtle differences are immediately apparent such as the drumming on Dear Prudence and the monotonous beat on Blackbird. So it has to be MONO then, that's good as this is a MONO set isn't it.

BOTH RECORDS are in good shape clean an black and very shiny pressed as they are on nice thick original 60's vinyl and with VERY LIGHT playwear. Record one is the better of the pair with just a few very light surface marks and great uncluttered trouble free reproduction. Record 2 is also lightly played, again with just a few very light handling marks, however there a light surface scuff on the A side which is a bit more than a smudge, and could be a pressing flaw and possibly why it was pulled out and stickered in the first place, the consequence though is minor with just some light clicks during the beginning of Mother Natures Son.

EXCELLENT+ (NICE CLEAN LABELS with NO writing rips tears repairs user stickers and NO spindlewear as such and just LIGHT and tightly packed spindlemarks.)

NICE CLEAN ORIGINAL SLEEVE-There are NO rips or tears stickers or removal marks or evidence of ever been written on-The front laminate is clean uncreased and shiny with only VERY LIGHT ageing and handling wear, NO ringwear and just a LIGHT pressure mark. The embossed "The BEATLES" is proud and unworn and the stamped number is complete and very visible. INNER GATEFOLD is clean and unworn with nice clear writing and the internal spine is unworn and unflattened, there is a very light hardly noticeable watermark on the boards at the bottom of the spine.

PHOTOS AND SEPERATOR: EXCELLENT+ (ALL 4 are clean and unmarked with nice glossy finish NO creases folded corners or pin holes. WHITE separator sheet is clean and unmarked with light ageing and handling).

POSTER: EXCELLENT (CLEAN and unmarked with NO writing rips tears seam splits pin holes etc and some light handling wear, the only thing to note is someone has used the photo of Ringo at the bottom to trace around and you can see light impression on the reverse side.

INNER SLEEVES: EXCELLENT (Reasonable pair of inner sleeves considering the condition a lot of them turn up in, with no repairs or splits to the edges and no daylight indicating wear,the bodies have some pressure marking and some wear to the tops, one more than the other and a small tear to one diecut centre only. The records have been transferred to plain white sleeves for storage and shipment.

Each song on the sprawling double album The Beatles is an entity to itself, as the band touches on anything and everything it can. This makes for a frustratingly scattershot record or a singularly gripping musical experience, depending on your view, but what makes the so-called White Album interesting is its mess.

Never before had a rock record been so self-reflective, or so ironic; the Beach Boys send-up "Back in the U.S.S.R." and the British blooze parody "Yer Blues" are delivered straight-faced, so it's never clear if these are affectionate tributes or wicked satires. Lennon turns in two of his best ballads with "Dear Prudence" and "Julia"; scours the Abbey Road vaults for the musique concrète collage "Revolution 9"; pours on the schmaltz for Ringo's closing number, "Good Night"; celebrates the Beatles cult with "Glass Onion"; and, with "Cry Baby Cry," rivals Syd Barrett. McCartney doesn't reach quite as far, yet his songs are stunning -- the music hall romp "Honey Pie," the mock country of "Rocky Raccoon," the ska-inflected "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and the proto-metal roar of "Helter Skelter." Clearly, the Beatles' two main songwriting forces were no longer on the same page, but neither were George and Ringo.

Harrison still had just two songs per LP, but it's clear from "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," the canned soul of "Savoy Truffle," the haunting "Long, Long, Long," and even the silly "Piggies" that he had developed into a songwriter who deserved wider exposure. And Ringo turns in a delight with his first original, the lumbering country-carnival stomp "Don't Pass Me By." None of it sounds like it was meant to share album space together, but somehow The Beatles creates its own style and sound through its mess.