STUNNING COVER REMAINS IN CLEAR POLY OUTER SLEEVE
FROM BRIAN EPSTEIN'S 'NEMS' RECORD SHOP IN LIVERPOOL

UNEQUIVOCALLY THE VERY BEST EXAMPLE OF THIS MONO FIRST PRESSING IN EXISTENCE

ITEM#: PAR326
PRICE: ------

THE SECOND BEATLES ALBUM WITH THE BEATLES, WAS RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, AT A TIME WHEN BEATLEMANIA WAS IN FULL FORCE ACROSS THE UNITED KINGDOM. EARLIER THAT WEEK, EMI CHAIRMAN SIR JOSEPH LOCKWOOD THREW A PARTY AT EMI HOUSE TO CELEBRATE "B" DAY IN HONOR OF THE BEATLES. HE MENTIONED THAT THE GROUP HAD "CREATED A DISC SUCCESS WITHOUT PARALLEL," SELLING OVER 3,000,000 RECORDS DURING THE YEAR.

THREE WEEKS LATER, THE BEATLES HAD THE TOP TWO ALBUMS, WITH THE BEATLES  AND PLEASE PLEASE ME, THE TOP TWO SINGLES,  I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND AND SHE LOVES YOU, AND THE TOP THREE EPS, TWIST AND SHOUT, THE BEATLES' HITS AND THE BEATLES (NO. 1). THE GROUP HAD PLAYED OVER 200 CONCERT APPEARANCES TO PROMOTE THEIR SINGLES AND ALBUMS.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL MONAURAL FIRST PRESSING OF THE ALBUM, WITH THE FIRST MONO COVER HAVING THE LARGE "MONO" DESIGNATION IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER, WITH THE BACK COVER INCORRECTLY LISTING THE THIRD SONG ON SIDE TWO AS "YOU REALLY GOTTA HOLD ON ME".  LATER COVERS WOULD CORRECT THE SONG TO "YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME".  THIS INITIAL COVER WAS PRINTED BY GARROD & LOFTHOUSE,  WHICH HAS THE DARKER AND GRAINIER IMAGE THAN THE OTHER COVER VARIATION PRINTED BY ERNEST J. DAY LTD.

THIS INCREDIBLE MINT MINUS EXAMPLE LOOKS LIKE IT LEFT BRIAN EPSTEIN'S STORE YESTERDAY, LET ALONE 55 YEARS AGO. STORED ALL ITS LIFE INSIDE ITS "FREE OF CHARGE"  "NEMS LTD."  POLYTHENE CLEAR BAGGY COVER IN A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT, THE ICONIC FRONT PANEL IS PERFECTLY CLEAN AND GLOSSY WHICH IS REMARKABLE AS THE CARD STOCK USED TO PRINT THESE COVERS WAS SO CHEAP AND OF POOR QUALITY, IT YELLOWED AND QUICKLY BECAME BRITTLE. ALL CORNERS ARE SHARP, SQUARE AND COMPLETELY UNWORN, AS ARE BOTH OPENING EDGES - FRONT AND REAR. THE REAR PANEL IS SNOW WHITE AND TOTALLY UNBLEMISHED WITH NO HANDLING, AGE OR STORAGE WEAR TO ANY PART. ALL FLIPBACKS ARE UNWORN AND BOTH SEAMS SMOOTH AND UNSTRESSED. THE SPINE IS UNBENT AND PERFECTLY SQUARE WITH A FULL UNWORN LAMINATE ALONG ITS ENTIRE LENGTH. THE ONLY FACTOR WHICH PREVENTS A PERFECT 'MINT' GRADING ARE THREE MINISCULE 'THUMBNAIL' WRINKLES ON PAUL'S FACE. WE BELIEVE ONE WILL NOT FIND A BETTER EXAMPLE.

THE FIRST PRESSING RECORD HAS THE BLACK AND YELLOW PARLOPHONE LABELS WITH PARLOPHONE PERIMETER PRINT AND WITHOUT THE  "SOLD IN THE U.K." DESIGNATION, AND HAS THE SONG TITLE CORRECTLY LISTED AS "YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME".  THE LABELS GRADE A STELLAR  MINT MINUS - A SUPERB SET SHOWING NO MORE THAN TWO OR THREE VERY LIGHT SPINDLE TRAILS AROUND EACH UNWORN CENTER HOLE. THERE IS A 'MT' PURCHASE TAX CODE VISIBLE IN THE CENTER OF THE SIDE 1 LABEL. THE IMMACULATE MINT MINUS  'AS NEW' PLAYING SURFACES  RETAIN ALL OF THEIR DEEP-GLOSS SHINE AND ARE UNMARKED IN STRONG DAYLIGHT. CLOSER EXAMINATION BENEATH HALOGEN LIGHT REVEALS ONLY A COUPLE OF FAINT WISPY MARKS FROM THE FEW TIMES THE DISC HAS BEEN REMOVED FROM ITS INNER DUST SLEEVE. PLAYED JUST  ONLY ONCE OR TWICE, THE SOUND QUALITY IS FLAWLESS AND WONDERFUL THROUGHOUT.  THE TRAIL OFF MATRIX NUMBERS ARE: "XEX 447" / "6/N" AND " XEX 448" /  "5N". THE STAMPER CODES ARE: "3 / PD" AND "3 / AP".

THIS SET IS COMPLETE WITH ITS ORIGINAL MINT MINUS RICE-PAPER LINED "USE EMITEX....."  INNER DUST SLEEVE.