THE BEATLES Help LOVELY ORIG UK 1965 ‘1st PRESS’ EX+ MONO LP, PLAYS SUPERBLY.

	£		65
	$		86

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all, and records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time as most record buyers will already know. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS including full side protection and bubble wrap, the records removed from the covers of course. All this very safe packing means I lose money on every box I post, but safe delivery is, and will always be paramount. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives. Also, I will pay for insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received if possible. PLEASE NOTE: I will NOT send any item, no matter what its value without a Royal Mail or courier tracking number. ALL my items must be signed and trackable to comply with Ebay delivery rules. Please do NOT ask me to make any exceptions to this rule as no country offers 100% reliable service without it.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take longer from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business.

ANY ITEM or ITEMS TO BE PAID WITHIN A MAXIMUM OF 6 DAYS or they will be cancelled – NO EXCEPTIONS.

FINALLY: Late payers, non-payers and ‘0’ bidders will now be blocked or cancelled at my discretion, as will any bidder who cancels a bid. Please only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: Help!

Producer(s): George Martin

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: Help!; The Night Before; You’ve Got to Hide Your Love Away; I Need You; Another Girl; You’re Going to Lose That Girl; Ticket to Ride.

Side 2: Act Naturally; It’s Only Love; You Like Me Too Much; Tell Me What You See; I’ve Just Seen a Face; Yesterday; Dizzy Miss Lizzy.

Label/Format: Parlophone with very gently textured matt surfaces. Side two has the embossed ‘K T’ tax codes, both of which are unworn. These labels meet the criteria for a ‘first’ pressing with the ‘Sold in U.K.’ text.

Label Conditions: Both clean, fresh and attractive with only moderately light and fine spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. Given the popularity, age and mode of this vintage record, these can be considered quite light and less than average for a 1960s Beatles album. This copy plays superbly as well and has suffered no traumas or accidents.

Catalogue Number: PMC 1255

Mode / Speed: Mono / 33.3 rpm.

Warps or Lateral Movement: Assume all records I offer have no significant warping or lateral movement to cause sound or tracking issues. All should play fine even on budget turntables.

Weight of this Record: 160 grams. An impressive weight for this one.

Country of Manufacture: England

Rarity: Like all Beatles albums, this sold in considerable numbers, condition is always the paramount factor with so many mono copies in particular in very poor heavily played condition. Fewer seen these days worthy of a second look (or listen).

Original Year of Release: 1965

Matrix Nos: XEX 549-2 / XEX 550-2

Mothers / Stampers: 2 GM / 3 AP

The Beatles: John Lennon – lead, harmony and background vocals, rhythm and acoustic guitars, electric piano, organ, tambourine, snare drum; Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and background vocals, bass, acoustic and lead guitars, piano, electric piano; George Harrison – harmony and background vocals, lead, acoustic and rhythm guitars, lead vocals, guiro; Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, claves.

Brief Info: The fifth Beatles album and second from a film soundtrack. Side one’s songs are from the movie, the rest are all new tracks to fill the set. Again this sold impressively but condition is always the most difficult factor. Most fans will know the album well enough.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT: a single format with front laminate, this covers all the folds and ends on three rear flipbacks. The main back panel is matt and smooth. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd and includes the ‘Patents pending’ text as well as the original outline font word ‘mono’ on the front. The early tracing paper lined inner sleeve is also included.

Lamination & Front: A very impressive and attractive front with the laminate retaining excellent shine, freshness and clarity which has avoided lifting with minimal traces of dulling. The white artwork beneath is still that – white – not yellowed, browned or toned, so this is a one to hold and enjoy, not hide away. Any of the few creases fine and light and most confined the edges. Yes this does not even have any half moons which for a popular cover this age is highly unusual. Cover-protection has ensured this has aged little and remains attractive and clean.

Cover Back: A fine surface crease near the top right corner is the only blemish on the matt main panel which like the front, is clean and very impressive. So unusual to avoid ageing and discolour on this surface – during the 1960s, the smoking habit was hugely popular and its consequences was nicotine staining of album covers – we have all seen this affect on these vintage gems. Well no such issues on this one and I have never smoked in my life. All three flipbacks are impressive as well: solid, clean with neat crisp ends that have no grime line formation to the laminate end. Each have only a tiny few surface hairline creases that are rarely avoided at best. So both front and back are really nice and give scant clues of genuine age.

Top & Bottom Edges: Both mainly straight, very smooth and unworn.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Some thickening seen viewed end-on, but in a relatively neat kind of way. Record enters on this edge.

Spine and Text: Solid, straight with minimal compression. The text is unworn under the solid and uncracked laminate.

Corners: Any tip rubs tiny and light, excellent shape mostly retained with no knocks.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this popular 1960’s cover, one that could prove very difficult to find much better. This beautiful item should please many collectors.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT: or close to. An early original tracing paper lined ‘Use Emitex’ white inner. Only gently darkened with age with some fairly mild creasing and crinkle near the corners. Both window circles are crisp and untorn, the lining neat and solid as well. All edges are naturally intact.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very fine visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with modest, very careful plays on all the evidence with any surface marks few, very light, wispy and faint as seen critically under bright light. No penetrating stylus scratches, viewed in average room light, hardly anything even registers. Visually a super record that should please many collectors.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing equipment, all listed further down.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This classic Beatles album plays even above it’s high visual grading with hardly anything to fault. Offering strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. Any surface sounds are minimal indeed and this is a very clean pressing with no tracking issues* or inherent pressing noises. This includes the crucial and challenging song ‘Yesterday’, one that so often clips, crackles and even breaks up due to the intensity of the content, also it’s situated on that critical area where the tracking anagle becomes more difficult. Always the first song I play on this album to check quality before I purchase, if ‘Yesterday’ plays well, the rest of the album usually follows, and this one does exactly that. Few available copies will outperform this early ‘first’ pressing I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp when played on a standard stereo system. I am certain this record has been played only a few times and clearly with due care. Generally well stored and carefully handled within a non-smoking environment. Nothing spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this lovely record. It could prove difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge tracking at 2 grams. Records are a ‘contact’ format, and few will avoid the odd minor sound blemish.

I am one of the most established sellers on Ebay, trading since 2001 and offering the finest records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty all elements of the items I offer for sale. You may notice I only submit records quite sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade – visuals alone do not always tell a true story. I will try to mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same – just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are the item being offered with no digital enhancements. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. I hope the item below is to your liking – any questions can be emailed and I will do my best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, major warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 805 Nautilus (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable) with REL subwoofer. All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional Nessie vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D7500 DSLR Camera.

PACKING – THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid bid retractions. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I only accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 2 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive – if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund if the item is returned in the same condition is was sent e.g. as per the listing pictures.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.