The Beatles Songs, Pictures & Stories of the Fabulous US Orig'64 VJ Stereo Sears

$

1,159

ORIGINAL REPACKAGING OF VEE-JAY RECORDS’ “INTRODUCING… THE BEATLES” ALBUM

THE BEATLES ~ SONGS, PICTURES AND STORIES OF THE FABULOUS BEATLES (1964)

UNIQUE ORIGINAL 1ST PRINT ¾, 8-INCH FOLD-OVER GATEFOLD COVER

ORIGINAL RED 2⅛" x ¼" “STEREO” DAY-GLO STICKER CONVERTING THE MONO COVER TO STEREO

1ST MISPRINT “COFFIN” AS OPPOSE TO “GOFFIN” VERSION 2 STEREO LABELS

ORIGINAL “SEARS, ROEBUCK AND CO.” PROTECTIVE STORE BAGGY

PRESSED BY THE LEGENDARY AMERICAN RECORD PRESSING CO. WITH THE “ARP” STAMP AND 1ST MATRIX NUMBERS FEATURING THE “1” SUFFIX IN THE RUNOUT GROOVE

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Before Vee-Jay’s license expired, the company repackaged the “Introducing… The Beatles” album several times. The first repackaged album was “Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles. It seems to me that unlike the other Vee-Jay’s project the design of this album is one of the most successful. The gatefold cover of the album is unique with the fold-over front panel being approximately ¼ shorter than the back panel. If thinking rationally about the design, it’s quite hard to understand why it was done. Perhaps, the answer lies in the fact that this album was created for the main target audience, teenagers. The top of the front panel contains an ultra-rare 2⅛" x ¼" red  Day-Glo sticker with the bold “Stereo” which converts the Mono cover to Stereo. The location of the sticker at the top is quite unique as this “Stereo” sticker is usually found at the bottom. It’s interesting that you might come across the opposite situation where the Stereo cover’s “Stereo” banner at the top is covered with the “Mono” sticker. The gatefold cover remains in its original loose-fitting protective Sears, Roebuck and Co. distributor baggy with the orange “Sears” logo in the opposite corners.  Not only the baggy, but also the careful handling, have preserved this album in condition that rarely can be seen. The vinyl of this copy was pressed by American Pressing Record Co. in Owosso, Michigan that was one of the most important record producing plants throughout two decades. This legendary plant not only worked with the biggest US record labels, including Vee-Jay Record, but was also the one to release the very 1st Beatles’ single to be released in the country. Original 2.75” deep groove Stereo labels contain the “Stereo” banner with a rare location at 12 o’clock, above the Vee-Jay Records brackets logo. The labels of this copy have a misprint in the authors credits of “Chains” on Side 1 indicating “Coffin-King” as oppose to the correct one “Goffin-King”. Weighing approximately 150g, the vinyl contains the “ARP” pressing identifier of American Record Pressing Co. plant in Owosso, Michigan, which was a subsidiary of Viewlex, Inc. along with Allentown Record Co. Inc., and Monarch Record Mfg. Co. The full matrix numbers containing the earlies -A1 / -A1 stampers are as follows: Side 1 - S 63-3402-1 URJ A1 1-24-64 ARP AudioMatrix; Side 2 - S 63-3403-1 URJ A1 1-24-64 ARP AudioMatrix. The album comes with original red background “The Greatest Gosepl Sound on Record is on Vee-Jay Records” with other 30 Vee-Jay adverts on each side. Unlike the inner sleeve with white background the red background inner sleeve was used on the later pressings of “Introducing… The Beatles and the repackaged versions of the album.

★

I grade the cover as Excellent. The Sears baggy has done a great job of protecting the cover over the years, but it still has some very light occasional scuffing along the edges and the spine. The cover is very clean and doesn't have any writing, ring wear or splits. The original Vee-Jay red background inner sleeve is in Near Mint Minus condition and doesn't have any splits. The vinyl is graded as somewhere strong Good and Very Good Plus. It retains its beautiful factory lacquer but has a few hairlines along with some scuffs from the inner sleeve. The shiny labels are super clean and are almost in Near Mint Minus condition, only having a couple of very light barely noticeable spindle marks that could be seen under a strong light source. The vinyl plays great with just some light static that could get reduced or go away if the record is cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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