"PLEASE PLEASE ME"
PARLOPHONE PMC 1202, MONO
RELEASED 3/22/63

IMMACULATE AND SPECTACULAR TIME CAPSULE EXAMPLE
'YELLOW AND BLACK' LABEL VARIATION FIRST PRESSING

ITEM#: PAR306
PRICE: ------

ON FEBRUARY 11, 1963, THE BEATLES ENTERED EMI'S ABBEY ROAD STUDIO TO RECORD SONGS FOR INCLUSION ON THEIR DEBUT ALBUM. IN WHAT IS GENERALLY ACKNOWLEDGED TO BE ONE OF THE MOST PRODUCTIVE DAYS EVER SPENT IN A RECORDING STUDIO, THE BEATLES RECORDED TEN
HIGH-SPIRITED SONGS THAT WERE STANDARDS IN THEIR LIVE PERFORMANCES. OF THE TEN SONGS COMPLETED FOR RELEASE, FOUR WERE
LENNON-McCARTNEY ORIGINALS (CREDITED ON THE ALBUM AS "McCARTNEY-LENNON") AND SIX WERE COVER VERSIONS THAT ARE TODAY BETTER KNOWN THAN THEIR ORIGINAL VERSIONS. THESE SONGS, PLUS FOUR SONGS RECORDED FOR THE GROUP'S FIRST TWO SINGLES, BECAME THE BEATLES FIRST ALBUM, WHICH WAS NAMED PLEASE PLEASE ME AFTER THE GROUP'S HIT SINGLE.

WITH ONLY A SINGLE DAY AVAILABLE IN ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS, PRODUCER GEORGE MARTIN KNEW TIME WAS AN ISSUE. WITH THE FOUR SONGS FROM THE GROUP'S FIRST TWO SINGLES SLATED FOR THE ALBUM, THE PLAN WAS TO COMPLETE TEN NEW SONGS TO FLESH OUT THE 14-SONG LP, ALL IN ONE DAY. THREE FEBRUARY 11 RECORDING SESSIONS IN STUDIO TWO WERE BOOKED FOR : 10 AM TO 1 PM; 2:30 PM TO 5:30 PM; AND 7:30 PM TO 10:45 PM. IT WAS AN AMBITIOUS GOAL, PARTICULARLY CONSIDERING THAT THE BAND HAD BEEN PERFORMING ON THE ROAD NON-STOP SINCE RETURNING FROM HAMBURG AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR. IN ADDITION, THE GROUP HAD BEEN TRAVELING THROUGH A BRUTALLY FRIGID WINTER, AND JOHN WAS SUFFERING FROM A BAD COLD.

THE PLEASE PLEASE ME LP WAS ORIGINALLY RELEASED ONLY IN MONO AS PARLOPHONE PMC 1202 ON MARCH 22, 1963. ALTHOUGH IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT THERE WERE NO PLANS TO MARKET A STEREO VERSION OF THE ALBUM AT THAT TIME, THIS IS NOT THE CASE. EMI'S NEW RELEASE AD IN THE APRIL 4, 1963, ISSUE OF RECORD RETAILER SHOWS THE MONO LP AND STATES "STEREO TO FOLLOW". THE STEREO VERSION OF THE ALBUM, PARLOPHONE PCS 3042, WAS ISSUED FIVE WEEKS LATER ON APRIL 26.

THIS ORIGINAL MONAURAL PRESSING OF THE BEATLES' FIRST ALBUM IS QUITE A BEAUTY, WITH THIS PARTICULAR COVER BEING one of THE RARER INITIAL RUNS, with "Printed and Made by Ernest J. Day & Co. Ltd. London" In the lower right hand corner of the back cover (ONLY 10% OF BEATLES ALBUM COVERS IN BRITAIN WERE MANUFACTURED BY ERNEST J. DAY & CO. LTD.). THIS PARTICULAR VARIATION IS THE SECOND BATCH OF MONO COVERS THAT HAVE A LARGE "MONO" DESIGNATION AND THE "ANGUS McBEAN" PHOTO CREDIT SHIFTED TO THE LEFT AT THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE FRONT COVER, WITH THE WORD "PHOTO" STARTING UNDER THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE "G" IN the word "SONGS". This NEAR MINT time-capsule example APPEARS it left the shops last week, let alone 55 years ago. The high-gloss front panel is 'as new' with scratching, disc impression, let alone any 'thumbnail' wrinkles or spine bends. All corners are perfectly sharp and unworn, even the most easily and frequently damaged lower right. The exposed rear panel is pristine white AND totally unblemished and all of the delicate flipbacks are undamaged. Both seams are smooth & unstressed and the spine clearly & fully worded.

THE ACCOMPANYING RECORD IS THE PARLOPHONE 'YELLOW AND BLACK' LABEL VARIATION (MODERNIZED TO THIS STYLE BY PARLOPHONE IN THE SPRING OF 1963 FROM THE ORIGINAL 'BLACK AND GOLD' LABEL STYLE), AND IS THE INITIAL RUN OF THESE LABELS WHICH HAS THE PERIMETER PRINT STARTING WITH "THE PARLOPHONE CO." (LATER PRESSINGS HAVE "THE GRAMOPHONE CO."). BOTH LABELS HAVE THE "RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1963" TEXT ABOVE THE LEFT HAND SIDE NUMBERS, AND OMITS THE "SOLD IN THE U.K....." STATEMENT THAT RUNS ACROSS ABOVE THE SPINDLE HOLE, THAT WAS ADDED IN THE LATER LABEL RUNS. An 'MKT' purchase tax code is present in the centER of the side 2 label. THE Matrix numbers ARE: "XEX 421-1N" AND "XEX 422-1N". THE Stamper codes ARE: "1,7/GAP" AND "4,5/GAR". THE Labels ARE A GLORIOUS NEAR MINT, FIRST class pair showing with no more than two or three faint spindle trails around each unworn centER hole. THE VINYL IS A Pristine MINT MINUS, THAT DISPLAYS factory-fresh playing surfaces which are unmarked and 'as new' in strong daylight, with just a couple of barely visible wispy paper hairlines and a sparkling rainbow shine directly beneath halogen light. ABSOLUTELY AMAZING.

THE SET IS Complete with its ACCOMPANYING original "Use Emitex..." rice-paper lined inner DUST sleeve.

ONE WOULD BE HARD PRESSED TO FIND ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF THIS TITLE AS IMMACULATE AND SPECTACULAR, AND MOST LIKELY THE BEST EXAMPLE IN EXISTENCE.