THE BEATLES' FIRST w Tony Sheridan 1st UK press EARLY copy N MINT LP TOP LISTEN

$

50

This week I'm auctioning a batch of selected LPs. I have done my best to present and describe the albums accurately. I've spent several years doing a deep research dedicated to classic rock records so all the information collected about a particular album is listed below. I'm not going to call any record "megarareprereleaseearliestpossiblematrixnumberstamperscopy" just because it's the record I'm selling at the moment (like some sellers, sadly, do). Below you'll find just pure facts. 

THE ITEM IS LOCATED IN RUSSIAN FEDERATION, PLEASE CHECK POSTAGE COST AND DELIVERY TIME BELOW.

THE BEATLES' FIRST (recorded in Hamburg 1961 with Tony Sheridan and guests) TRUE FIRST UK PRESSING from 1967 on Polydor; textured labels, mistake

This album often overlooked by collectors actually is the first ever UK release of the studio 1961 Hamburg recordings with Tony Sheridan. Therefore no collection of original UK Beatles' albums would be complete without it! Hundreds of researches have been dedicated to Parlophone UK releases but very few researchers have paid enough attention to this release and the only good observation can be found at thebeatles-collection.com .

To begin with: the majority of the sources (except the one mentioned above) date this release 1968 but I believe that's a mistake! I'm not sure about the exact date but the album is advertised in the September 1967 issue of "The New Records" monthly bulletin! This allows us to date the actual release August 1967 (as there's a usual one month delay between actual release and "The New Records" publication.

Offered here is the TRUE EARLY COPY of the first UK pressing of the album as released in 1967. Details are below

Pressing details.

Record/label

Original UK Polydor labels with all the design details identical to other releases from the same period, I won't go into deep details here. More interesting are the TEXTURED LABELS of this copy, as pressed by the Philips record factory. The moulds producing such labels were in use since late 1959 but they started to replace them with new moulds in Summer 1966. The change was gradual. Starting with 1967 fewer and fewer textured label records are found, the majority of 1967 and later Philips pressed records have smooth labels. I have to admit though that the latest textured label LPs belong to 1970. Anyway getting back to "The Beatles' First" album a textured label copy definitely should belong to an early batch.

Another interesting detail: although the cover states "stereo" the LABELS STATE MONO while THE ACTUAL SOUND IS STEREO. So far I have not seen true mono copies of this UK release. A known second pressing has this mistake corrected and its labels state "STEREO SPECIAL".

The last detail confirming that the labels of this copy are the earliest ones is: the authors' society organization is printed as MCPS (no spacing) in a white box, later pressings have the letters divided by dots, this way: M.C.P.S.

Matrix numbers, other run-out info

Side A: 236201 237632-2 A -1     1  7   5  G6 ?V

Side A: 236201 237632-2 B  5     1 0  5  G6 ?V

A very interesting run-out legend indeed. The most important information it carries is: for this pressing Polydor has used original GERMAN METAL PARTS and therefore initially - original GERMAN lacquers. As long as Polydor is initially a German company its ties with the continent were still strong in the 1960-ies. So instead of acquiring the original master tapes and cutting new lacquers at Philips they just used the original German cut. By the way the same situation is found when we analyze the early Disraeli Gears UK pressing - indeed it's funny to me how some sellers describe the "true English sound" of the records they sell while in fact they sell German mastered LPs!

The crossed out matrix numbers in fact reflect the German catalogue numbers for this album and UK catalogue numbers 236201 are hand-written. All the other digits in the run-out also belong to the German metalwork, only machine stamped 7 (side A) and 10 (side B) were placed at the Philips plant and most likely stand for stampers' numbers.

Cover

The front laminated Ernest J. Day & Co. Ltd. cover is again the earliest version found for the album. The main distinctive feature is: under the first two songs THE BEATLES are credited in large font (other tracks credited respectively), later versions do not have The Beatles credits for the first two songs under the titles, etc.

Even later covers have "stereo record can be played on mono reproducers" statement. The copy offered here does not have this statement of course.

 Inner sleeve

The inner sleeve as I got it with the album is NOT original unfortunately ( it's an Orlake or Pye inner, I have enough knowledge about the 1960-ies factory inners).

But...  I am including A GUARANTEED ORIGINAL Philips factory inner sleeve dated November 1967 and this inner perfectly fits the copy on offer.

Condition

The cover has seen better days but is still solid. The front looks great with just a couple of hardly seen laminate wrinkles. The rear has a small piece of adhesive tape (?) in the bottom right corner, minimal general rubbing, a brownish spot near the spine, some general yellowing along the spine. The corners and seams are nice. The spine is extremely thin (just made this way) so the spine print almost went off. Having said that I assign the cover A VERY STRONG VG+ grade. Look at the pictures please.  

The record is FANTASTIC for a nearly 50-years-old Beatles' record. HIGH NEAR MINT visually with only a few sleeve removal marks.

Playback is SUPERB, the natural "vinyl" sound as is minimal as it can be. The run-ins are quiet. No real repeated clicks or pops. I've checked the quietest passages like Nobody's Child, etc. - they sound with crystal clarity. The mastering is so loud and detailed that you can't believe it's a 1961 recording. So TOP SOUNDING COPY in all ways!

BELOW ARE LINKS TO AUDIO CLIPS TAKEN FROM THE ACTUAL RECORD TO GET AN IDEA ABOUT ITS CONDITION. INCLUDED HAVE BEEN THE MOST "CRITICAl" AREAS LIKE RUN-INS AND QUIETER PASSAGES. NO AUDIO PROCESSING HAS BEEN APPLIED. 

Side A: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxjDlgWevhrqRzFURWJ6Vk9rYUU

Side B: https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BxjDlgWevhrqbk05aHdLWXdTazQ

Summary

Artist: The BEATLES

Title: THE BEATLES' FIRST

Country of origin: UK

Release and pressing year:  1967

Label: Polydor

Catalogue number: 236201

Pressing plant: Philips

Pressing: ORIGINAL, FIRST

Grading cover/record: Very Good + / Near Mint

Inner sleeve: ORIGINAL, CORRECT lyric / photo inner

Matrix numbers, other run-out info: 236201 237632-2 A -1      1  7   5  G6 ?V

                                                             236201 237632-2 B           5  1 0  5  G6 ?V

Play-testing setup

Thorens 125 table, MC type cartridge Kuzma  KC-1 (OEM manufactured by ZYX), Luxman L-560 amp, Harbeth HL-7 speakers.

Treating records

I always treat vinyl records with the greatest care - just because I love them. All the records I sell have been cleaned professionally with the isopropyl alcohol based solution and placed in brand new deluxe German made poly-lined inner sleeves. Original inners are surely preserved. For further packing I use re-sealable outer sleeves, custom German made LP mailers with cardboard stiffeners and I add extra protection for corners for heavy parcels.

Shipping

Shipping cost for this item is 13 USD WORLDWIDE. I ship worldwide by Registered Air Mail and obtain an internationally valid tracking number. If the postal service of your country allows tracing of incoming overseas parcels you'll be able to use the tracking number. I'm happy to offer combined shipping for multiple purchases, this allows to save quite a lot on postage. Feel free to contact me if you need to know shipping price for several items.

Payment

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A VERY IMPORTANT INFORMATION - PLEASE READ!!!!!

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