The Beatles A Hard Day's Night 1st Press Parlophone LP 1964 3N Matrix & KT Tax

	£		26
	$		34

I am selling off some of my collection and over the next few months and will be listing some very nice and very rare albums and singles from the 50's through to the 90's!! I will be listing The Beatles, Cream, Purple, Zeppplin, The Stones, Small Faces, Floyd, Creedence Clearwater, Beach Boys and many, many more so please add me to your watch list as I may have something you need to help complete you collection!!!!

Artist or Band: The Beatles 

Album Title: A Hard Day's Night

Producer(s): George Martin

Cat Number: PMC 1230

Label/Format: Parlophone Black & Yellow 

Country of Manufacture: UK

Track list: Side 1: A Hard Day's Night; I Should Have Known Better; If I Fell; I'm Happy Just To Dance With You; And I Love Her; Can't Buy Me Love.

 Side 2: Any Time At All; I'll Cry Instead; Things We Said Today; When I Get Home; You Can't Do That; I'll Be Back.

Matrix Nos: Side 1: XEX-481-3N Side 2: XEX-482-3N 

Stamper Codes: Side 1: 6 & RGA Side 2: 3 & GHD

Other Etchings: 

Musicians: John Lennon: Vocals; Acoustic and Rhythm (Six- and Twelve-String) Guitars; Piano; Harmonica; Tambourine. Paul McCartney: Vocals; Bass and Acoustic Guitars; Piano; Cowbell. George Harrison: Vocals; Lead (Six- and Twelve-String) and Acoustic Guitars; Claves. Ringo Starr: Drums and Percussion.

Brief Artist & Album Info: "A HARD DAY'S NIGHT" is the third studio album by The Beatles, released on 10 July 1964, with side one containing songs from the soundtrack to their film A Hard Day's Night. The American version of the album was released two weeks earlier, on 26 June 1964 by United Artists Records, with a different track listing. In contrast to their first two albums, all 13 tracks on A Hard Day's Night were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney showcasing the development of their songwriting talents. The album includes the title track, with its distinct opening chord, and the previously released "Can't Buy Me Love", both transatlantic number-one singles for the band.

The title of the album was the accidental creation of drummer Ringo Starr. According to Lennon in a 1980 interview with Playboy magazine: "I was going home in the car and Dick Lester (director of the movie) suggested the title, 'Hard Day's Night' from something Ringo had said. I had used it in In His Own Write, but it was an off-the-cuff remark by Ringo. You know, one of those malapropisms. A Ringo-ism, where he said it not to be funny ... just said it. So Dick Lester said, 'We are going to use that title'.

Musically, A Hard Day's Night eschews the rock and roll cover songs of the band's previous albums for a predominantly pop sound. Sputnikmusic's Dave Donnelly observes "short, peppy" pop songs characterised by layered vocals, immediate choruses, and understated instrumentation. According to Pitchfork's Tom Ewing, the lack of rock and roll covers allows listeners to "take the group's new sound purely on its own modernist terms", with audacious "chord choices", powerful harmonies, "gleaming" guitar, and "Northern" harmonica. Music journalist Robert Christgau writes that Lennon–McCartney's songs were "more sophisticated musically" than before.

Side one of the LP contains the songs from the movie soundtrack. Side two contains songs written for, but not included in, the film, although a 1980s re-release of the movie includes a prologue before the opening credits with "I'll Cry Instead" on the soundtrack.

A Hard Day's Night is the first Beatles album to feature entirely original compositions, and the only one where all the songs were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Lennon dominates the songwriting, being the primary author of nine out of the thirteen tracks on the album, as well as being the lead singer on these same nine tracks (although McCartney sings lead on the chorus part of the title track which otherwise is strictly Lennon territory). Lennon and McCartney co-wrote "I'm Happy Just to Dance with You", while McCartney wrote "And I Love Her", "Can't Buy Me Love", and "Things We Said Today". This is also one of three Beatles albums, along with Let It Be and Magical Mystery Tour, in which Starr does not sing lead vocal on any songs. Starr sang the lead vocal on "Matchbox" during the sessions; it appeared instead on the Long Tall Sally EP.

CONDITION

LABELS:

The Black & Yellow Parlophone Labels are Both in SUPER condition with Hardly any signs of spindle wear or spider marks. The Yellow print looks absolutely Stunning against the Black background. The Silver text is All in Perfect order and is totally Unfaded. The Kt Tax Code is prominent to the centre of Side 1:.   I would easily grade these as Very Good++!!!!

VINYL:

Plays throughout absolutely brilliant with very little background noise. There are no Pops. Clicks or Jumps. The record still contains that glossy sheen though there are several minimal surface marks and thumbnails to be seen, these in NO way interfere with the superb sound quality. This Album plays up to and  beyond its high visual grading with hardly anything of note to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear – sound quality is very high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A typical polished production from George Martin. Minimal surface sound and no tracking issues. This play-grade proved a real pleasure when playing this fast disappearing Apple album. It will prove quite difficult to find a significantly better copy and merits a very strong recommendation. I would grade both sides as Very Good++!!!!

COVER: The album cover was once again designed and photographed by Robert Freeman and his design was also used for the film posters.

This is a singular Front laminated format. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd.

What a fantastic front picture. The Laminate still retains a fine shine and clarity without Any dulling. However there are Several very slight laminate creases (Not Splits) to the Front of the cover.The Spine is in Perfect order with All printing readable. the Opening edges are Straight and not Lifted. The pure White reverse of the cover is in Great order with no signs of Writing or any Marks. The three Flipbacks are in Perfect order and are not Lifted. The Only thing that spoils the back it that there is a Crease to the Top left hand side. This cover is incredibly difficult to find in Ex+ condition simply because of the design and age. However I would be happy enough to grade it as Very Good++!!!!

COVER SUMMARY: Not seen often, this one is in good condition with only gentle clues of age, any blemishes mostly light – a few laminate creases are incredibly hard to avoid at the barest minimum. This classic cover should please many collectors.

INNER SLEEVE: There is hardly any creasing and all edges are unsplit with no repairs. So graded as Very Good++!!!!

Album Played For Grading: I play/grade ALL records I offer before submitting, I also play them in their 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. I use a Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Black moving coil cartridge and Linn Lingo, with my Linn system and Forest Totem Speakers. This system is guaranteed  to pick up any distortion or interference within the sound.

Grading: In my opinion I REFUSE to believe that there is ANY record that can be truly graded as Mint, the BEST that could be offered is Mint- (minus)!!!! Especially so from the 50's, 60's, 70's or even up to the present date!!!! Even copies bought new today would have some form of imperfection on the Record or Cover!!!! Under that assumption I will NEVER use the word Mint in any of my descriptions and Mint- is the HIGHEST grade I would ever offer. So I will only from Excellent, Good or Poor with a -(minus), +(plus) or ++(plus,plus)!!!!

Bid With Confidence: I take great care and pride with what I sell and offer a FULL money back guarantee, in the unlikely event of the buyer not agreeing with my description. As long as the item is repacked and returned to me in the same condition it was sent.

Postage: All of my records will be professionally packaged. I use Dependapack Vinyl Record Mailers that have locking tab closures with strong locking tab record wraps. I also use corrugated record stiffeners and extra strong tape marked with Handle With Care. This is to ensure your Valuable Record/s are protected whilst in transit. I will add a nominal fee of .40p to my postage and packaging for this service. Any Record valued at £100 or more I would prefer to send by Special Deliver/International Signed For.