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CAPITOL RECORDS FIRST ISSUE LP ALBUMS
MEET THE BEATLES!
BACKGROUND INFO

"MEET THE BEATLES!", CAPITOL (S)T-2047, BEING THE FIRST CAPITOL LP RELEASE, IT IS IMPORTANT TO FOCUS ON THIS HISTORICAL AND MOST RECOGNIZED ALBUM AND LIST THE FOUR BASIC LABEL VARIATIONS THAT CAN BE DISTINGUISHED BY THE PERFORMING RIGHTS ORGANIZATION (BMI OR ASCAP) THAT APPEARS IN PARENTHESES AFTER EACH SONG TITLE. THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE VARYING PERFORMING RIGHTS INFORMATION IS THAT IT WILL ENABLE YOU TO IDENTIFY THE ORDER IN WHICH THE LABELS WERE PRINTED.

THIS GENERALLY COINCIDES WITH THE ORDER IN WHICH THE RECORDS WERE MANUFACTURED, AND HELP THE "COMPLETE-IST" FILL IN THEIR COLLECTION. SOPHISTICATED DEALERS AND COLLECTORS ARE BEGINNING TO REALIZE THAT STEREO PRESSINGS WITH THE FIRST THREE LABEL VARIATIONS ARE MUCH LESS COMMON THAN THE MUCH PREFERRED AND TOUTED MONO COPIES OF "MEET THE BEATLES!" ARE CLEARLY MORE SCARCE.

ADDITIONALLY, 80% OF CAPITOL'S ALBUMS WERE PRESSED ON THE EAST COAST, THEREFORE THE WEST COAST PRESSINGS OF THE FIRST THREE LABEL VARIATIONS OF "MEET THE BEATLES!" ARE CLEARLY MORE SCARCE.

LABEL VARIATIONS

FIRST LABEL VARIATION
PRINTED WITHOUT "BMI" OR "ASCAP". ONLY A SMALL NUMBER OF THESE FIRST-RUN LABELS WERE PRINTED, AND THE ONLY CONFIRMED FIRST LABEL PRESSINGS WERE PRINTED BY KEYSTONE ON THE EAST COAST. THE ACCOMPANYING COVER SHOULD HAVE THE FACTORY #3 SCRANTON DESIGNATION. RECORDS WITHOUT THE "BM" OR "ASCAP" DESIGNATIONS ARE RELATIVELY SCARCE AND ARE WORTH SIGNIFICANTLY MORE THAN THE OTHER SUBSEQUENT VARIATIONS. DURING A TIME (1964 TO LATE 1967) WHEN MONO WAS THE DOMINANT ALBUM FORMAT, STEREO COPIES OF "MEET THE BEATLES" WITHOUT "BMI" OR "ASCAP" ARE VERY RARE AND HIGHLY COLLECTIBLE.

SECOND LABEL VARIATION
THE SECOND LABELS PREPARED FOR THE ALBUM LISTS "ASCAP" AS THE PERFORMING RIGHTS ORGANIZATION FOR ALL SONGS ON THE SECOND SIDE AND ALL SONGS ON SIDE ONE EXCEPT "I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND", WHICH IS CREDITED TO "BMI".

THIRD LABEL VARIATION
THE THIRD LABELS PREPARED FOR THE ALBUM CREDITS ALL SONGS ON SIDE TWO AS "ASCAP", EXCEPT FOR "I WANNA BE YOUR MAN", WHICH IS CREDITED TO "BMI". SIDE ONE CREDITS THE FIRST TWO TRACKS TO "BMI", WITH THE REMAINING FOUR SONGS TO "ASCAP".

FOURTH LABEL VARIATION
THE FOURTH AND FINAL VARIATION CREDITS ONLY THE FIRST AND THIRD SONGS OF THE SECOND SIDE TO "ASCAP", WITH THE OTHER FOUR SONGS ON SIDE TWO AND ALL SONGS ON SIDE ONE CREDITED TO "BMI". CAPITOL DOCUMENTS INDICATE THIS FINAL CHANGE WAS APPROVED ON 3/7/66. THE MONO PRESSINGS OF THIS 1966 "BMI" DOMINATED LABEL ISSUES, ARE ABOUT AS SCARCE AS THE VERY FIRST ISSUES.

GENERAL RECORD INFO

MONO VS. STEREO
STEREO COPIES OF BEATLES ALBUMS MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO 1966 ARE SIGNIFICANTLY RARER THAN THEIR MONO COUNTERPARTS. IT'S ESTIMATED THAT ONLY FIFTEEN PERCENT OF CAPITOL'S BEATLES ALBUMS MANUFACTURED PRIOR TO 1966 WERE STEREO.

RECORDS ARE LISTED IN CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER OF RELEASE DATE.
LP ALBUM COVERS & RECORDS ARE SOLD TOGETHER.
GRADING LISTING IS FOR COVER / RECORD.