THE BEATLES (WHITE ALBUM) ORIGINAL COPY

	£		83
	$		110

The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth studio album by the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name and an individual serial number embossed. Although no singles were issued from The Beatles in Britain or the United States, a number of their most famous songs can be found on it, including “Back in the USSR”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Helter Skelter” and “Revolution 1”. The album is most notable for its eclecticism, with songs ranging in style from British blues and ska to tracks influenced by Chuck Berry and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Issued the year after the Summer of Love and cited by Charles Manson as the inspiration for his murder spree, it was widely read as marking the death knell of the hippie movement. Even its white cover was intended as a contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's psychedelic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

My copy is a first pressing with a relatively low serial number (0036141). The cover has outlets at its top (the so-called Open Top cover), and flaps inside the gatefold are visible at the left and the right sides, common to all the first pressings. The black inner sleeve of one of the two discs is damaged (see photo), but it’s nothing a little tape on the inside wouldn’t fix. The standard-issue memorabilia is all intact: a large poster showing a montage of Beatle-related photos (on the front) and lyrics (on the back), and four glossy portraits, one for each Beatle. The LPs themselves are in good condition, having seen relatively little play over the years, so they should sound more or less as originally intended. 

UPDATE: An astute eBayer has pointed out that the matrix numbers on this record are mismatched. One is XEX denoting a mono recording, the other YEX for stereo. So it seems a mono and stereo record have somehow got mixed into the same double LP. I never noticed the difference when playing them, but it is something to be aware of if you are placing a bid.

The Beatles, also known as the White Album, is the ninth studio album by the Beatles, released on 22 November 1968. A double album, its plain white sleeve has no graphics or text other than the band's name and an individual serial number embossed. Although no singles were issued from The Beatles in Britain or the United States, a number of their most famous songs can be found on it, including “Back in the USSR”, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”, “Helter Skelter” and “Revolution 1”. The album is most notable for its eclecticism, with songs ranging in style from British blues and ska to tracks influenced by Chuck Berry and Karlheinz Stockhausen. Issued the year after the Summer of Love and cited by Charles Manson as the inspiration for his murder spree, it was widely read as marking the death knell of the hippie movement. Even its white cover was intended as a contrast to the vivid cover artwork of the band's psychedelic album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

My copy is a first pressing with a relatively low serial number (0036141). The cover has outlets at its top (the so-called Open Top cover), and flaps inside the gatefold are visible at the left and the right sides, common to all the first pressings. The black inner sleeve of one of the two discs is damaged (see photo), but it’s nothing a little tape on the inside wouldn’t fix. The standard-issue memorabilia is all intact: a large poster showing a montage of Beatle-related photos (on the front) and lyrics (on the back), and four glossy portraits, one for each Beatle. The LPs themselves are in good condition, having seen relatively little play over the years, so they should sound more or less as originally intended. 

UPDATE: An astute eBayer has pointed out that the matrix numbers on this record are mismatched. One is XEX denoting a mono recording, the other YEX for stereo. So it seems a mono and stereo record have somehow got mixed into the same double LP. I never noticed the difference when playing them, but it is something to be aware of if you are placing a bid.

Matrix, Mothers and Stampers:

SIDE 1

• A - Matrix or Master (6 o'clock): XEX 709 = 1
• B - Mother produced from the Master (9 o'clock): 3 
• C - Stamper produced from the Mother (3 o'clock): LP

SIDE 2

• A - Matrix or Master (6 o'clock): XEX 710 = 1
• B - Mother produced from the Master (9 o'clock): 7
• C - Stamper produced from the Mother (3 o'clock): AT

SIDE 3

• A - Matrix or Master (6 o'clock): YEX 711 = 1
• B - Mother produced from the Master (9 o'clock): 5
• C - Stamper produced from the Mother (3 o'clock): LH

SIDE 4

• A - Matrix or Master (6 o'clock): YEX 712 = 1
• B - Mother produced from the Master (9 o'clock): 3
• C - Stamper produced from the Mother (3 o'clock): CPR