"PLEASE PLEASE ME"
PARLOPHONE PCS 3042, STEREO
RELEASED 3/22/63

A SENSATIONAL AND PRISTINE
'YELLOW AND BLACK' LABEL VARIATION FIRST PRESSING

ITEM#: PAR320
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.

BRITISH STEREO PRESSINGS ARE MUCH RARER THAN MONO, FOR RECORD COMPANIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PRESSED RECORDS ON THEIR DEMAND. THE MARKET FOR STEREO POP RECORDS WERE COMPARATIVELY MINIMAL AS TO MONO AND THESE EARLY STEREO PRESSINGS ARE SOME OF THE RAREST BEATLES RECORDS YOU CAN FIND. MONAURAL OUTNUMBERED STEREO BY A TEN TO ONE RATIO, AND FOR THE POP MARKET, THAT NUMBER MAY BE QUITE LITERALLY 100 TO 1, FOR SO FEW WERE PRESSED.

THIS ORIGINAL STEREOPHONIC PRESSING OF THE BEATLES' FIRST ALBUM IS TRULY MAJESTIC, WITH THIS PARTICULAR COVER BEING one MANUFACTURED BY "GARROD & LOFTHOUSE, LTD.", WITH THE LARGE  "STEREO"  INDICATOR ON THE FRONT COVER. IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY DIFFICULT TO FIND THIS STEREO COVER TYPE IN ANYTHING APPROACHING THIS CONDITION. THE IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE RETAINS AN IMMACULATE CLEAN AND HIGH-GLOSS FRONT PANEL WHICH IS FREE FROM ANY RINGWEAR OR 'THUMBNAIL' WRINKLES. THE ONLY TRACES OF WEAR ARE A HANDFUL OF SMALL WRINKLES TO THE SPINE. THERE IS LIGHT SHELF-WEAR TO THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER, BUT ALL OTHERS AND BOTH OPENING EDGES ARE UNWORN. THE EXPOSED REAR PANEL IS PERFECTLY CLEAN, WHITE AND TOTALLY UNBLEMISHED. ALL BACK COVER FLIP-BACKS, BOTH SEAMS AND THE SPINE ARE IN PERFECT CONDITION.

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. A SINGLE LETTER  "K" purchase tax code is present in the centER of the side 2 label. THE Matrix numbers ARE: "YEX 94-1" AND  "YEX 95-1". THE Stamper codes ARE: "1 / GO" AND "1 / M". THE Labels ARE NEAR MINT, A SPECTACULAR PAIR SHOWING JUST A SINGLE LIGHT SPINDLE TRAIL AROUND EACH TOTALLY UNWORN CENTER HOLE. THE VINYL IS A STUPENDOUS MINT, WITH PRISTINE FACTORY-FRESH PLAYING SURFACES. THIS DISC APPEARS AS IT DID THE DAY IT LEFT THE FACTORY. EACH SIDE IS 'AS NEW' BOTH IN STRONG DAYLIGHT AND DIRECTLY BENEATH HALOGEN LIGHT. THE SOUND QUALITY IS FLAWLESS AND WONDERFUL THROUGHOUT. ONE WILL NOT FIND A BETTER EXAMPLE.

THE SET IS Complete with its ACCOMPANYING original "Use Emitex..." rice-paper lined inner DUST sleeve, CLEAN AND WHITE WITH A FEW GENTLE STORAGE BENDS BUT NO TEARS, WRITING OR SEAM SPLITS.