The Beatles Please Please Me Extra 33 1/3 Speed Suffix
£
120
$
159
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Description
Artist: The Beatles Title: Please Please Me Label: Parlophone Catalogue Number: PMC 1202 Vinyl Condition: Very Good- Sleeve Condition: Fair-Good Year: 1963
Please Please Me - the first album by The Beatles.
First Pressing on the Yellow / Black label
This is a very early third pressing from the early days of The Beatles when it was charting for the first time (and holding the number 1 spot for a long time!).
When the label was first changed to the yellow and black style used for the rest of the 60's, the first pressings kept the extra "33 1/3" text by the matrix number. Few of these were pressed, as the mistake was quickly spotted and removed. While this was happening, the black and gold labels (which, incidentally, are a lot more common) were still being used, so the outer sleeve has the "Photo: Angus McBean" text to the far right, like on the very first issues (there's fraying to the corner unfortunately but it's obviously that issue).
Both sides of the disc look very good indeed. There are unfortunately some scratches, but they're quite small and when I played through the album, there were no repeat or skips at all... in fact the sound quality is rather good! The worst part of the album is the first part of the first track (as is usually the way on this album) but before long it settles down into a good sound quality. There is still some distortion in some parts of the disc, as it has been played on a 1960's record player! However, it's really not bad at all - check the sound sample linked at the end of the auction for the first and last track of each side (these are the worst parts of the disc for distortion). There are still some pops from what scratches there are, but nothing that detracts very much. In other words this isn't mint, but it's a very respectable example.
With regards to the sleeve, unfortunately the sleeve has torn along the flaps at the bottom and top (I'll get some photos up soon) so it only rates as fair-good - the sellotape holding the flaps down makes it look worse than it is! It is the original black/gold style sleeve though, which is the correct one for this issue. The inner sleeve is 1960s style but not an original one for this disc, but you can use any 4th press inner sleeve if you need a better one.
I've cleaned this disc on my ClearAudio record cleaning machine - if you wish more photos or sound clips from the LP please email me and I'll be happy to oblige.
In the meantime, here's excerpts from the first and last tracks on each side. Note this is in mono, however, if you play it on a stereo deck it may sound worse in one channel (like any other mono disc!)
Revision: I've decided after looking at it in daylight some more, that there are more scratches than I thought, so I've downgraded it to VG- and lowered the Buy It Now price. I didn't notice the scratches much when it was playing though - it plays better than it looks under sunlight! I've recorded the entire disc though so if you need any more samples, let me know which track you want chunk of!
Click Here For Sound clips
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