Beatles Please Please Me UK Parlophone LP Mono No *Recording 1st Published* M-

$

1,000

I am a 40 year collector of LPs and 45s from the 50s and 60s. I have been collecting The Beatles UK LPs for 25 years. The Beatles LPs I have listed on eBay are from my personal collection.

I have also been an audiophile for 40 years (analog only). The unsealed LPs listed have been play-graded on high quality equipment (turntable, tone-arm, cartridge, pre-amp, amp, speakers, and subwoofers). My system picks up the slightest surface noise on vinyl; i.e., ticks, pops, hiss, and sibilants due to groove wear. The standard I have used in adding a record to my collection has been how well it played (no surface noise present) in addition to how it looked. Over my years of collecting I have continuously upgraded my personal collection of Beatles LPs to where almost all of them play as new. To me, this means quiet surfaces; i.e., no ticks, pops, crackle, or hiss in the music or the dead wax.

The outer sleeves/covers of these LPs have been stored in polyethylene sleeve protectors since I acquired them. I also removed the LPs from the original Emitex inner sleeves and stored the LP in a custom rice paper sleeve while keeping the original Emitex inner sleeve in the LP jacket.

I have used strict grading standards of the UK publication Record Collector. I will use a mint grade only if I know a record has never been played. Unless a record is sealed, M- is my highest grade. I have described the flaws, if any, on the labels, vinyl, and sleeves. All the LPs I have listed will play as good as, or better than, they look. If you wish to see larger pictures than those shown on Ebay, I can send you much larger photos attached to an e-mail. I hope you find something you can add to your collection and enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed listening to vinyl records for the last 57 years.

This is the rare transitional label variation of the Beatles’ Please Please Me to have Parlophone’s second yellow and black label. This label eliminated the small 33 1/3 on the left side of the label but did not yet add the “Recording First Published 1963” language to the left side of the label. This was the second label to follow the black and gold labels and was used for a very short period of time (a period of days rather than weeks) when EMI was transitioning the labels on Please Please Me in early 1963 from the black and gold labels to the yellow and black labels that included the statement “Recording First Published 1963” on the left side of the label. It is a mono LP, catalog # PMC 1202.

When considering the value of this label variation of Please Please Me it is important to know that EMI did not start with a second master lacquer (Matrix) or different mothers and stampers when it changed the label on Please Please Me from the black with gold lettering to the black with yellow lettering of this LP. This yellow and black label pressing was a continuation of the pressing cycle that produced the black and gold label LPs in the early months of 1963. EMI merely changed the labels it used on the LP during the early months of 1963. This LP was in the same pressing run as the black and gold label pressings regarding matrices, mothers, and stampers; thus, it is an early pressing of the Beatles first LP.

As most Beatles’ fans know, this album was recorded in one day, February 11, 1963. It is considered the most productive 585 minutes in the history of recorded music. Today, it can take weeks just to mic the instruments before any recording session begins. The Beatles were able to accomplish this unequaled feat because the album is the songs from their live stage performances.

There were very few edits to the original music the Beatles laid down on tape that day. 99% of this LP is the Beatles live in the studio….. minus the screaming audience. The Please Please Me LP is the closest you can get to a live Beatles performance that can actually be heard and this flawless, early pressing is stunning for its sonic quality.

This was the Beatles first LP and is now 50 years old. From the perspective of 2013 it’s easy to forget that on February 11, 1963 John and Ringo were 22, Paul was 20, and George was just 19 but, despite their youth, they were veteran performers. They had been performing throughout the UK for two years including two long runs in Hamburg, Germany. This LP showcases the young Beatles live show as nothing else they ever recorded.

Matrix #s:

Side 1: XEX 421-1N

Side 2: XEX 422-1N

Mothers:

Side 1: 2

Side 2: 2

Stamper letters:

Side 1: MT 

Side 2: AT

Labels: M-

There are two small and very light spindle tracks to each side of the label. Otherwise the label is flawless and shows no signs of handling. The spindle hole itself shows no signs of wear.

Vinyl: M-

The vinyl is flawless. It looks like it just came out of a record store in 1963 and has never been played.  I could easily grade this vinyl as mint; however, the two spindle tracks on the labels are evidence it has been played twice so I have graded it as M-. This LP has the most perfect vinyl of a 1963 pressing of Please Please Me I have ever seen. It looks and plays mint; a truly stunning example of this 50 years old LP.

Sleeve: M-

I have graded the sleeve M- due to a very small crease on the upper right corner and a small laminate crease on the lower right side of the front. The sleeve is unmarked with no seam splits and no hint of ring wear. It is the second version of the Ernest J. Day sleeve with the indented Angus McBean credit in the lower right corner of the front. As with the vinyl, this sleeve is a truly stunning example of this 50 years old LP.

The Emitex inner sleeve is M-. It is intact with no splits.

Payment, Shipping, and Returns:

Please do not remit payment until you receive an invoice. The buyer is responsible for all shipping costs. All boxes and other shipping materials are new. Each LP is carefully packaged in custom made LP mailing boxes with the disc removed from the sleeve cover. This LP will be double-boxed. The LP mailing box will be placed inside a larger box filled with Styrofoam material. Shipping costs include only the actual costs of shipping and the required shipping materials. Shipping services within the US are USPS Priority Mail. The shipping cost for this LP within the US is $19.00.

I will ship to any location in the world. Shipping costs vary widely outside the US. International shipping services are either USPS International or Federal Express International. For all locations outside the US please contact me for an exact shipping cost. The buyer is responsible for any customs or import duties. Shipping costs include a signed-for receipt.

Satisfaction guaranteed. Notification of intent to return an LP must be made within 48 hours of receiving the LP and must be returned to me within 7 days of receipt. Shipping costs are not refundable and the buyer pays return shipping. A returned LP must be packaged in the same manner in which it was received and I must receive it in the same condition as it was received by the buyer.

Other Listings:

I have many other Beatles UK LPs listed on Ebay, including Factory Samples and export LPs.