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

MEGA-RARE ORIGINAL INITIAL FIRST ISSUE BLACK AND GOLD PARLOPHONE LABELS
VERY FIRST PRESSING WITH "DICK JAMES" PUBLISHING LABEL CREDITS

ITEM#: PAR319
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.

FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES PROUDLY OFFERS A MOST MAGNIFICENT EXAMPLE OF THE SUPER Rare VERY FIRST MONAURAL version of The Beatles FIRST U.K. Album. THESE INITIAL ALBUMS WERE PRESSED WITH PARLOPHONE'S BLACK AND GOLD LABEL, WHICH HAS GOLD TEXT AND GRAPHICS PRINTED OVER A SHINY BLACK BACKGROUND. THE £ LOGO APPEARS AT THE TOP WITH "LONG PLAYING" IN THE UPPER PERIMETER. THE MATRIX NUMBER AND "33⅓" ARE TO THE LEFT OF THE CENTER HOLE, AND THE CATALOG NUMBER IS TO THE RIGHT. THE ALBUM TITLE AND SONG INFORMATION ARE BELOW THE CENTER HOLE. ANOTHER INDICATION THAT THESE ARE THE VERY FIRST MONO LABELS ARE THE "DICK JAMES' MUS. CO." PUBLISHING CREDITS THAT ARE PRINTED FOR ALL "McCARTNEY-LENNON" SONGS EXCEPT LOVE ME DO  AND P.S. I LOVE YOU. THESE INCORRECT PUBLISHING CREDITS FOR THE LABEL COPY WAS PREPARED BY GEORGE MARTIN, AND WOULD BE QUICKLY CORRECTED TO "NORTHERN SONGS" FOR THE NEXT LABELS. THE BLACK AND GOLD LABELS WERE THEN MODERNIZED SHORTLY THEREAFTER IN THE SPRING OF 1963 TO THE PARLOPHONE ICONIC  "YELLOW AND BLACK" LABEL VARIATION THAT WOULD REMAIN UNTIL 1969.

THE CONDITION OF THIS SPECTACULAR AND EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLE IS MINT "FACTORY-FRESH" - WITH DEEP-GLOSS PLAYING SURFACES WHICH ARE UNMARKED AND "AS NEW". EXAMINED BOTH IN STRONG DAYLIGHT AND DIRECTLY BENEATH HALOGEN LIGHT, THIS DISC COULD HAVE BEEN BOUGHT YESTERDAY, LET ALONE 55 YEARS AGO. IT SOUNDS AS GOOD AS IT LOOKS WITH AUDIO UNMATCHED BY ANY PRESSING ON ANY FORMAT SINCE. THIS REALLY IS AS GOOD AS IT GETS. THE LABELS ARE MINT AS WELL, A PERFECT PAIR WITH NO WEAR TO THE DELICATE GOLD PRINT OR ANY MARKS OR WEAR TO OR AROUND EITHER CENTER HOLE. TRULY IMMACULATE. THE TRAIL OFF MARKINGS INDICATE: SIDE ONE MATRIX NUMBERS: "XEX 421-1N".
SIDE 2 MATRIX NUMBERS: "XEX 422-1N". SIDE ONE STAMPER CODES: "1-H".  SIDE 2 STAMPER CODES: "1-H". The embossed RAISED "MT" PURCHASE tax code is stamped around the centER of the Side 2 label.

THE COVER IS THE CORRECT AND ORIGINAL INITIAL FIRST RUN, 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.). IT IS INDEED THE VERY FIRST BATCH OF MONO COVERS THAT HAVE A LARGE "MONO" DESIGNATION AND THE ANGUS McBEAN PHOTO CREDIT SHIFTED TO THE RIGHT AT THE BOTTOM EDGE OF THE FRONT COVER, WITH THE WORD "PHOTO" STARTING UNDER THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE LAST "S" IN "SONGS".

This is one of the FINEST Original Ernest J Day "Please Please Me" Laminated MONO COVERS that HAS SURFACED. THIS FINE NEAR MINT EXAMPLE OF THIS FRAGILE, EARLIEST-TYPE COVER RETAINS A SPARKLING, UNSCRATCHED, UNWORN HIGH-GLOSS FRONT LAMINATE FREE FROM ANY THUMBNAIL WRINKLES OR SPINE BENDS. THERE IS MINOR SHELF WEAR TO THE TIPS OF THE LOWER CORNERS AND A LITTLE TO THE UPPER LEFT. BOTH OPENING EDGES ARE CLEAN UNWORN. THE EXPOSED REAR PANEL IS OVERALL CLEAN WHITE BUT THERE IS EVIDENCE OF LIGHT FOXING IN PLACES. THERE IS A SMALL "STRESS" WEAR TO THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE LOWER FLIP-BACK FOLD-OVER BUT ALL ARE OTHERWISE IN-PLACE AND SOLID. BOTH UPPER AND LOWER SEAMS ARE SMOOTH FULLY INTACT AND THE SPINE IS IN PERFECT CONDITION.

THE SET IS COMPLETE WITH ITS ORIGINAL "USE EMITEX....." POLY-LINED INNER DUST SLEEVE. IT IS NEAR MINT MINUS, CLEAN AND UNCREASED WITH SOME LIGHT AGE-TONING TO THE EDGES, BUT NO TEARS OR SEAM SPLITS.

This AMAZINGLY PRESERVED example could not disappoint any Serious Collector. RARELY offered in this condition, AND without doubt, THIS RECORD IS ONE OF the most COLLECTIBLE and SOUGHT AFTER U.K. Beatles album in existence today.