The Beatles "With The Beatles" Parlophone PMC 1206 447/8-1N UK Ist +inner 1963

	£		125
	$		166

The Beatles ?"With The Beatles"  Parlophone ?PMC 1206  UK 1st press
Mono Vinyl, LP, 'Jobete' Credit, MT Tax Code, released in 1963.
The vinyl appears to have been lightly played and is in great shape. It played through beautifully on my elderly stereo - no hop, stick or jump. It is housed in its original, "Emitex" inner sleeve, which, although a little creased, is otherwise in good condition - no rips or writing. The sleeve, similarly, apart from some light ring-wear, is in good shape with no rips or writing. The spine is intact and legible.  Matrix/Run Out Side 1 : XEX 447 1-N Matrix/Run Out Side 2 : XEX 448 1-N
The main differentiator of this 1st pressing, compared to later versions, is the black & yellow Parlophone label with perimeter rim copyright text beginning, 'THE PARLOPHONE CO LTD...', and the text 'RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1963' above the side indicator numeral.
There are a number of other differentiators present on both the labels and the cover.
Label: 1 - The title of B1 'Roll Over Beethoven' is indented so that the 'R' appears over the 'I' in 'BIEM' below it. Other versions such as this one have the 'R' over the 'BI'. 2 - The title of B3 is given as 'You Really Gotta [instead of: 'Got A'] Hold On Me'. 3 - The publishing credit for B7 'Money' is given as 'Jobete Mus. NCB'. Later pressings credit 'Dominion.Belinda (Ldn.) Ltd.'. 4 - The MT purchase tax code embossing on the label on either side of the spindle hole. A similar variant has the code MKT. 5 - The 'N' of Northern Songs credits to title B2 appears over both letters in ME below it. Other versions have the 'N' over the 'E'.
Cover: 1 - Front laminated, tri-flip-back and printed by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd., with a large 'MONO' indicator on the front, top, right hand corner. 2 - The title of track B3 as 'You Really Gotta [instead of: 'Got A'] Hold On Me'.
"With the Beatles" is the Beatles' second studio album. It was released on 22 November 1963 on Parlophone, exactly eight months after the band's debut "Please Please Me". Produced by George Martin, the album features eight original compositions (seven by Lennon–McCartney and "Don't Bother Me", George Harrison's first recorded solo composition and his first released on a Beatles album) and six covers (mostly of rock and roll and Motown R&B hits). The cover photograph was taken by the fashion photographer Robert Freeman and has since been mimicked by several music groups over the years. A different cover was used for the Australian release of the album, which the Beatles were displeased with.
In the United States, the album's tracks were unevenly split over the group's first two albums released on Capitol Records: "Meet the Beatles!" and "The Beatles' Second Album". It was also released in Canada under the name "Beatlemania! With the Beatles". The album was ranked number 420 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time in 2003, and was included in Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It was voted number 275 in Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums. It was rated the 29th greatest album in the book Paul Gambaccini Presents the Top 100 Albums. This book "canvassed a panel of experts in seven countries" to determine the greatest albums.
Unlike "Please Please Me", the bulk of whose tracks (10 of the 14, excluding previously issued singles) were recorded in one day, "With the Beatles" was recorded over seven sessions across three months, from 18 July to 23 October. None of its 14 tracks were issued as singles in the UK. In between sessions, as Beatlemania took off across the UK, the group were busy with radio, TV, and live performances.
The album became the first Beatles album released in North America when it was released in Canada on 25 November 1963 under the augmented title "Beatlemania! With the Beatles", with additional text on the album cover, and issued only in mono at the time, catalogue number T 6051 (a stereo Canadian release would come in 1968, catalogue number ST 6051). For the United States release, the original running order of "With the Beatles" was unevenly split over the group's first two Capitol albums: nine tracks were issued on "Meet the Beatles!" (the eight original compositions plus "Till There Was You"), while the remaining five songs, all cover versions, were placed on "The Beatles' Second Album".
The LP had advance orders of a half million and sold another half million by September 1965, making it the second album to sell a million copies in the United Kingdom, after the soundtrack to the 1958 film South Pacific. "With the Beatles" remained at the top of the charts for 21 weeks, displacing "Please Please Me", so that the Beatles occupied the top spot for 51 consecutive weeks. It even reached number 11 in the "singles charts" (because at the time UK charts counted all records sold, regardless of format). No other group or singer has achieved 51 consecutive weeks at number 1 in the album charts. However, the soundtrack for the South Pacific movie did achieve 70 consecutive weeks at number one in the album charts.
AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine   "With the Beatles is a sequel of the highest order -- one that betters the original by developing its own tone and adding depth. While it may share several similarities with its predecessor -- there is an equal ratio of covers-to-originals, a familiar blend of girl group, Motown, R&B;, pop, and rock, and a show tune that interrupts the flow of the album -- With the Beatles is a better record that not only rocks harder, it's considerably more sophisticated. They could deliver rock & roll straight ("I Wanna Be Your Man") or twist it around with a little Latin lilt ("Little Child," one of their most underrated early rockers); Lennon and McCartney wrote sweet ballads (the achingly gorgeous "All I've Got to Do") and sprightly pop/rockers ("All My Loving") with equal aplomb; and the propulsive rockers ("It Won't Be Long") were as richly melodic as slower songs ("Not a Second Time"). Even George Harrison's first recorded song, "Don't Bother Me," is a standout, with its wonderfully foreboding minor-key melody. Since the Beatles covered so much ground with their originals, their covers pale slightly in comparison, particularly since they rely on familiar hits (only "Devil in Her Heart" qualifies as a forgotten gem). But for every "Roll Over Beethoven," a surprisingly stiff reading of the Chuck Berry standard, there is a sublime moment, such as Lennon's soaring interpretation of "You Really Got a Hold on Me," and the group always turns in thoroughly enjoyable performances. Still, the heart of With the Beatles lies not in the covers, but the originals, where it was clear that, even at this early stage, the Beatles were rapidly maturing and changing, turning into expert craftsmen and musical innovators".