Please Please Me: The Beatles; Stereo; PCS 3042; 1963

	£		84
	$		111

Please Please Me

The Beatles

Parlophone Stereo

PCS 3042, 1963

This record is from my personal collection of vinyl bought new between the 1950s and the 1980s. They have been played on a Garrard AT6 deck until 1970 and from then on a Thorens TD 160 deck. In my description I will attempt to follow 'Record Collector' grading for the vinyl and I promise not to indulge in purple prose, multi-coloured exotic fonts and exclamation mark diarrhoea. Nor will I make wild claims of rarity or value, it's you, the good bidders of ebay, who decide these things. I guarded my vinyl fanatically, and have ex-friends to prove it! I will attempt to mention all the points that prevent the record being described as mint. Good luck to you in your bidding and I hope my old vinyl ends up in a good home where it will continue to be cherished! All records are cleaned and listened to carefully before being graded and put on ebay.

The Record

Parlophone Stereo 1963 PCS 3042

Matrix: YEX 94-1; YEX 95-1

Stamper: 1 RO; 1 RL

K T is embossed at the centre of side 2.

Appearance: I can't see any surface marks on this one, it looks as good as new. It sits flat and plays flat.

The sound: There is remarkably little background noise on this LP SIDE 1 - there is a very slight background crackle audible on the run-in and run-out and between tracks and the occasional background "snuffle" noise, but nothing in the tracks; SIDE 2 - the run-in, run-out and between tracks is much the same as side 1, maybe a bit less at the beginning and a bit more at the end; overall for both sides the sound is as fresh and clear as the day it was bought. The music itself is still as fresh as when I joined the heaving throng in the JCR to see The Beatles perform on tv for the first time, it's still a great sound, there is nothing comparable before or since.

Grading: I would rate side 1 as EX, side 2 as EX

Note on listening test: in addition to the pre-sale clean the record is cleaned with a carbon fibre brush before being played. The rig used for listening is the trusty Thorens deck with a Shure M75ED type 2 cartridge, an Arcam Alpha 8 amplifier and Sennheiser HD 455 headphones. The cartridge stylus is cleaned before playing each side. The volume is set quite high, but not ear-bleedingly so!

The Tracks

Side 1: I Saw Her Standing There; Misery; Anna (Go To Him); Chains; Boys; Ask Me Why; Please Please Me

Side 2: Love Me Do; P.S. I Love You; Baby It's You; Do You Want To Know A Secret; A Taste Of Honey; There's A Place; Twist And Shout

The Sleeve

Front of the triple flipback sleeve: some very minor crinkles down the right hand edge, a small number of very minor crinkles to the laminate round the other edges, a little bit of outer ring wear visible at certain angles at the top - but you do have to study the sleeve carefully to see these.

Rear of sleeve: at the top right hand corner the surface of the flip-over has been damaged (see photo), there are two numbers written at the top right corner, the sleeve is darkened round the outer edges

Grading: I would grade the front of the sleeve as EX and the rear as VG/VG+

The Inner Sleeve

The inner sleeve (the original) is also in excellent condition, it is very slightly darkened and slightly creased to the four corners. This sleeve will be included in the package but the record will be shipped in a new plain white sleeve.

Overall: obviously I must have played this quite a few times in the past, it just seems not to show this. Apart from the damage to the rear of the sleeve described above there's nothing. It's a stunner and I shall tape it before I let you have it! It's amazing what a good record cleaner will do.

Payment and Shipping

Preferred payment is through Paypal but UK buyers may pay by cheque if they don't mind the delay while the cheque is cleared. Non-UK buyers MUST use Paypal.

The record will be cleaned before packing then shipped in a new inner sleeve, outside the outer sleeve, and in a strong mailer reinforced with extra card. If you want extra postal services (such as recorded delivery or insurance cover) then ask for a quote: whatever you are prepared to pay for you may have.

Questions

Please email me via ebay if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.