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Tracklisting & More Information
This legendary first Beatles album was released on Friday 22nd March 1963 on the Parlophone label. It topped the charts on 11th May 1963 where it stayed for 30 weeks until it was knocked off the number one spot by 'With The Beatles'. Much of the album was recorded in just one day, under the guidance of George Martin. Unusually the mono edition was issued six weeks before the stereo copies. At the time of release of the album the design of the Parlophone label was in a transition period. The label was being changed from a black and gold design to a black and yellow design. Very few mono copies of Please Please Me were issued with the black and gold labels and they have become highly sought after by collectors. When found they are usually in average condition at best due to the amount of parties they were taken to.
The Beatles FIRST official L.P. release. For the ONLY time, the mono version was issued 6 weeks BEFORE the stereo version.
This album contained the "A" and "B" sides of their first two singles, plus ten new songs ALL recorded in one incredible session at Abbey Road. The session cost just £400 and lasted 16 hours.
The album took exactly 6 months to pass the sales figure of 250,000, and went on to sell over half-a-million in the U.K. with world sales of almost two million.
It still holds the record for the longest continuous stay at number 1
The cover photo was taken at EMI's Manchester Sq. headquarters by Angus McBean, and the sleeve notes are by Tony Barrow.
Whilst trying to think of catchy names for their first album release, George Martin offered the title, "Off The Beatle Track", but this was bypassed. Mr. Martin clearly liked the name, and used it himself in 1964.
MONO/STEREO DIFFERENCES
"Please Please Me" The stereo version has John making a mistake in the words of the final verse, which causes him to chuckle in the final chorus ... these are NOT heard in the mono version
CONDITION
The front of the Ernest J Day laminated flipback picture sleeve has its fair share of flaws, however nothing which obscures the iconic artwork or text, making it still worthy of display. It features a large MONO logo on the far right hand side of the sleeve. The cover has creasing at the spine/edges with heavier creasing coming from the bottom edge/corner with a mild ageing/staining, with light tears at the edges There is general corner wear and laminate loss along the top & bottom seams and extreme corners.
The reverse - the top has been taped along the flipback, with the previous owner having written their name underneath. There are areas of paper loss towards the spine though this remains secure, there are some areas of staining or browning over some of the reverse text, with a small gap to the bold paragraph. The bottom flipback presents the main section that had previously come away from the cover (showing a c. 4" split) with a section of its top white lacquer missing but this had been tape reinforced over pre-exisiting tape residue to clearly reinforce it. There is obvious discolouration to show for this. The areas of wear are noticeable but it holds together well and straddles that fair/good grading.
The spine has no major splits and retains its fully legible text still.
The labels are a distinct strong point on this copy, remaining strikingly clear with no writing, all text legible, with medium spindle wear, clearly carefully placed on and off the turntable. This is the first pressing with this label design, which credits "Dick James Mus. Co" for Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Misery, Do You Want To Know A Secret & There's A Place.
The vinyl is in 'much loved' condition. Visually most of the surface area is scuffed with the odd heavier scratch, however mostly the playback is fairly good, with general background here and there [Wow - These first pressings are the real deal - before mass production got involved!] there is just a little light crackling in the quieter sections having been professionally cleaned & play tested, the vinyl is graded as G-/G.
The Matrix Numbers are machine stamped XEX 421 - 1N for side one & XEX 422 - 1N for side two in the run-outs. The original 'Emitex' inner is present & correct.
All in all, a far from Mint copy, but a great entry level copy of this increasingly rare item, which still gives reproduction that can be enjoyed.
Tracklisting :-
01. I Saw Her Standing There
02. Misery
03. Anna (Go To Him)
04. Chains
05. Boys
06. Ask Me Why
07. Please Please Me
08. Love Me Do
09. P.S. I Love You
10. Baby It's You
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret
12. A Taste Of Honey
13. There's A Place
14. Twist And Shout
LP RECORD
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