BEATLES - WHITE ALBUM, UK, MONO, TOP OPENING, No 161425

	£		69
	$		91

THE BEATLES – WHITE ALBUM

 Mono 1968 Original Double LP in Top Opening Numbered Gatefold Sleeve (Number 0161425)

with ‘lipstick kiss’ lyric poster, full set of four Beatles photos and original custom die-cut black paper inner sleeves

1968 UK 1st press APPLE RECORDS 

Catalogue Numbers PMC 7067 (Sides 1 & 2); PMC 7068 (Sides 3 & 4)

Pressing Details

Side 1

Side 2

Side 3

Side 4

Matrix Numbers

XEX 709-1

XEX 710-1

XEX 711-1

XEX 712-1

Mother Codes

1

7

4

8

Stamper Codes

RG

TD

GDR

AM

Dark Green Apple Labels (Sides 1 & 3), sliced Apple Labels (Sides 2 & 4) with ‘Sold In The U.K.’ and ‘An E.M.I. Recording’ text

SUMMARY:

This is an original 1968 Mono copy of the White Album by The Beatles. It’s official title is ‘The Beatles’ but has been generally known as ‘The White Album’ for as long as I can remember (and I remember it on its first release which rather dates me I’m afraid !). Taking the sleeve, the vinyl and the other contents as a complete package I’d give it an overall VG rating as defined by Record Collector. In the text below I have given gradings for each individual component.

CONDITION: (Gradings summary shown further down this listing)

VINYL: All sides have been play-checked and grade as VG+ (audio) as set out in the summarised Grading Notes below, but please note that Side 4 Track 1 (‘Revolution 1’) skips briefly twice. The playing quality of all the album’s vinyl is remarkably good but a minute or so into this track the stylus skips a fraction once and then once more some seconds later. The listening experience is barely interrupted and thereafter this side plays as well as the other three.

GATEFOLD SLEEVE: A very respectable VG with no tears or splits, no blistering around the embossed title ‘The BEATLES’, and a crisp and clear sleeve number ‘0161425’. The inside of the sleeve is very clean and while the outside is perfectly presentable, as the outer protection surface it inevitably shows a few signs of wear doubtless picked up as it has rubbed against other LP covers, table tops and the like. Even so it is well within the criteria for a VG grading. As is the case with so many of these sleeves there is a slight lifting of the laminate at points along the spine which is caused by flexing as the sleeve has been opened and closed over many years but again this is well within the boundary of a VG grading and the spine lettering is perfectly legible. There are a few minor brown spotting marks along the spine. On the outer cover near the centre at the bottom of the sleeve when fully opened there are also a very few faint brown marks, but they are not at all prominent (see pictures).

Lyric poster: Printed by Garrod and Lofthouse with lyrics on one side and a collage of photographs and an illustration on the other. There is no writing, sticky tape or blu-tak marking on the poster which is in nice VG+ condition. The ‘lipstick kiss’ reference refers to the pink imprint of a pair of lips through which was written ‘I love you’ in red (just below the naked couple outline illustration). The lips and text were omitted from later re-prints of this poster.

Photos: A complete set of four gloss colour photographs (one of each of the Beatles) is present, all of which are in good clean unmarked condition (grading at EX each).

Black inner sleeves: Both LP’s are housed in original black custom die-cut sleeves. Both have wear at the top edges but are without splits except for one edge split of about 4 centimetres on the side of one sleeve. One has suffered no tears while the other has a small torn section approximately 4 centimetres long which is in one piece still attached just below the die-cut centre. It may be possible to invisibly repair this. For safe transport I will pack the vinyl in fresh protective sleeves and enclose the black originals with no content. If I had to grade paper sleeves I’d say VG and G respectively.

Track Listings:

Side 1

Back In The USSR; Dear Prudence; Glass Onion; Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da; Wild Honey Pie; The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill; While My Guitar Gently Weeps; Happiness Is a Warm Gun

Side 2

Martha My Dear; I’m So Tired; Blackbird; Piggies; Rocky Raccoon; Don’t Pass Me By; Why Don’t We Do It In The Road ?; I Will; Julia

Side 3

Birthday; Yer Blues; Mother Nature’s Son; Everybody’s Got Something To Hide Except Me And My Monkey; Sexy Sadie; Helter Skelter; Long, Long, Long

Side 4

Revolution 1; Honey Pie; Savoy Truffle; Cry Baby Cry; Revolution 9; Good Night

For Payment Instructions and Returns Policy – Please Scroll Down

Notes about my Records

Record Gradings

The gradings I use are those defined by Record Collector, sometimes supplemented by + or – signs for fine-tuning.  For example an otherwise Excellent record with minimal very light scuff marks which are purely cosmetic and have no impact upon audio quality might merit an EX- rating rather than a wholesale downgrading to VG.   At the end of the day record gradings are always subjective, but I try hard to be accurate.  Record Collector defines seven gradings ranging from Mint down to Bad.  I seldom offer a record in anything less than Very Good condition unless it is particularly rare or collectable. These are the definitions I use:

Mint (M): The record is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality.  The cover and any extra items (eg booklet, poster, lyric sheet) are in perfect condition.  Sealed or unplayed items should be Mint.

Excellent (EX): The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality.  The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

Very Good (VG):  The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch.  Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

Good (G):  The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches.  The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discolouration, etc.

Lower grades are defined but I rarely use them.

My assessment of a record's condition is based on my experience of almost 25 years occasional trading (record fairs, mail order, shop stall sales and eBay).

PAYMENT INSTRUCTIONS

UK CUSTOMERS: Payment by PayPal preferred. Cheques or postal orders please make payable to Keith Ashford. Orders under £20 please pay by PayPal or UNCROSSED Postal Order ONLY. Cheque payments: (both paper AND eCheque) I regret dispatch must wait while the cheque is cleared. 

OVERSEAS CUSTOMERS: Payment by PayPal ONLY please.

ALL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: Items will be re-listed 7 days after the sale date if payment is still awaited unless I have agreed a time extension.

RETURNS POLICY

My buyers have seldom found it necessary to return items but you will find me courteous and considerate in my dealings with you if a problem arises.

In this event and once return has been agreed between us items must be returned in the condition received within 14 days of that agreement (28 days for non-UK customers). On receipt of returned items a refund will be made within three working days (sooner if possible).

Thank you for reading this.  Good luck with your bidding !