THE BEATLES - PLEASE PLEASE ME NORTHERN SONGS BLACK & GOLD PMC 1202 GOOD+ LP

	£		300
	$		398

APRIL/ MAY 1963

THE BEATLES DEBUT ALBUM

PLEASE PLEASE ME

Catalogue no. PMC 1202

UK 1963 Original Pressing

The Rarer 2nd Black & Gold Pressing containing the new Northern Songs Credits

Master Matrices XEX 421-1N/ XEX 422-1N

The 1st and 2nd pressings were in a Gold text for PLEASE PLEASE ME and the run began on 22nd March 1963, and lasted only until some time in May as EMI were in the process of changing to a Yellow text. It has been documented that newer and more familiar Yellow and Black label for 3rd and following pressings were in the stores on around the 1st June 1963.

The first pressing has “Dick James Mus. Co”  incorrect publishing credits for “I Saw Her Standing There”, “Misery”, “Do You Want To Know A Secret” & “There’s A Place”.

This second pressing is distinguished from the first pressing as the “Dick James” credits were altered to read “Northern Songs” instead. This change occurred very quickly in late April as the typesetter for the credits wasn’t informed that the Beatles had worked with Dick James to set up their own, new, “Northern Songs” publishing company for Lennon and McCartney’s original songs.

These 2nd pressings are about twice as rare as the 1st pressings due to the shorter amount of time to press them, just a few weeks.

All Black and Gold PLEASE PLEASE ME LP's that come up for sale are rare, and most of them will therefore have the incorrect Dick James credits for The Beatles composition song titles. 

This copy has the corrected Northern Songs credits.

The Sleeve: Original Sleeve in Fair condition

The sleeve is intact at all seams and edges with tape and added card to keep its structure. The sleeve is firm and the record slots in well and holds in tightly. 

The iconic photo on the front is still glossy retaining original colours, although there are a couple of indents and splits to the laminate it doesn't detract too much from its overall appearance.

Has large 'mono' on top right in bold lower case letters.

All Tony Barrow text legible on reverse with a little fading and light handwriting in places.

 The bottom flipback has been repaired and the Printed & made by Ernest J Day Ltd. Patents Pending is still present, the 'Photo: Angus McBean' text is present on the front, aligned to the far right, and so easy to indentify as a Gold Sleeve.

Inner Sleeve: This is the very 1st variation type of EMI Emitex advertising sleeve that came with Please Please Me. It has a lighter type paper and poly-lined interior. It has Patents Applied For printed in the left hand corner and Made In Great Britain in the lower right.  It is in Good condition with all edges intact and there are a couple of repairs with tape, and paper glue to the window, but the interior poly-lining is completely intact at all seams. The die-cut text is still complete and sharp. There is just some light discoloration to the white of the sleeve and a few creases. These originals very rarely survive well.

The Vinyl: Good Plus. This heavy slab of vinyl still retains a jet black shine and depth, it is in a respectable condition with a fair amout of surface stylus lines, some dot marks/ light scuffs near outer rim and cleaning trails on both sides. The surface is smooth to the touch and in normal light the vinyl surfaces look to be in an above average condition for such a notoriously rare 53 year old LP. 

The vinyl is clean, the record lays completely flat on the turntable, and has no warps and shows no groove wear.

Heavy robust sixties vinyl weighing at 169 grams.

Labels are Very Good Plus. Text is clear and bright, the perimeter area around the spindle location point has hardly any wear and only a little light scuff areas to the labels. Quit unusual to find in such good condition. Several spindle line marks can be seen on side 1, but on Side 2 there are no spindle traces that can be seen. No handwriting or stickers. The Gold print has held particularly well on this copy and it is fully complete and bright, it contrasts well against the black background which only has a little fading around the outer rim area.

Has the MT tax code embossed on side 2

The Original Parlophone Co. Ltd text around rim.

Mother/ Stamps:

Side 1 - 1 L

Side 2 - 12 GO

The Audio: Very Good Plus. The record plays smoothly on both sides from start to finish with nothing that interrupts the audio or spoils the listen. There is some light crackle every now and again, mainly noticeable in quieter parts and track change lead-in's. Soft ticks can also be heard in some parts, but nothing unusual for a 1st or 2nd pressing of Please Please Me, and probably sounds better than the average copy.

There are no detractions other than mentioned that can overcome the audio anywhere such as skips, sticks, jumps, or pops or loud ticking. The robustness of these early heavy pressings ensures that the appearance of record with a surface that looks like it has received many plays can still deliver a good audio definition, and will still last a lot longer.

The release of Please Me is said to have signalled the start of the sixties proper. This Beatles artifact is still a playable example and it's value can only increase over time.

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This LP will be securely delivered in a professional cardboard LP mailer with cardboard stifferners.

A plain anti-static inner sleeve will house the record and the original will be placed separately.

A high grade PVC sleeve is included to further protect the sleeve as shown.

UK delivery is included and is by next day special delivery.

Overseas delivery will be tracked and a tracking number will be given.

I use the official grading system for rare records from the Record Collector Magazine.

Happy to refund on return if not satisfied.