"HELP!"
PARLOPHONE PCS 3071, STEREO
RELEASED 8/6/65

A SPECTACULAR AND SHIMMERING FIRST PRESSING SET
WITH THE FIRST EARLIEST MATRIX STAMPERS "-1 / -1"

ITEM#: PAR336
PRICE: ------

The BEATLES ALBUM NAMED AFTER THE GROUP'S SECOND FILM "HELP!", FOLLOWED THE FORMAT OF THE PREVIOUS FILM LP. THE ALBUM HAS THE SEVEN SONGS FEATURED IN THE FILM ON SIDE ONE AND NON-FILM SONGS ON SIDE TWO. OUT OF THE ALBUM'S 14 TRACKS, TEN WERE WRITTEN BY JOHN AND PAUL, AND TWO WERE COMPOSED BY GEORGE. ONE OF THE COVERS WAS FROM THE BAND'S CAVERN DAYS AND THE OTHER WAS A COUNTRY & WESTERN SONG SELECTED BY RINGO. PARLOPHONE RELEASED THE ALBUM ON AUGUST 6, 1965, ONE WEEK AFTER THE MOVIE'S U.K. PREMIERE. IT WAS THE GROUP'S FIFTH ALBUM IN A LITTLE OVER TWO YEARS.

THIS ORIGINAL AND RARER STEREO PRESSING OF "HELP!" IS AN ABSOLUTELY EXCEPTIONAL EXAMPLE. THE BRILLIANT MINT MINUS FRONT-LAMINATED, TRI-FLIP BACK COVER IS THE INITIAL FIRST RUN, HAVING THE MEDIUM SIZE OUTLINED "STEREO" DESIGNATION IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE FRONT, AND "PCS 3071" IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER OF THE BACK, WITH  THE COVER PRINTED BY 'GARROD & LOFTHOUSE LTD.' . SELDOM SEEN IN THIS CONDITION, THIS IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE RETAINS AN UNWORN, HIGH-GLOSS FRONT PANEL LAMINATE. THIS IS SUCH A DIFFICULT COVER TO FIND IN ANYTHING LIKE THIS CONDITION, BUT THIS ONE HAS BEEN STORED IN A NON-SMOKING ENVIRONMENT AND REMAINS CLEAN AND WHITE THROUGHOUT WITH NO YELLOWING OR DISCOLORATION. THE HIGH-GLOSS FRONT PANEL IS UNSCRATCHED AND UNWORN WITH THE ONLY SIGN OF WEAR BEING TWO 'THUMBNAIL' WRINKLES. THERE IS SLIGHT SOFTENING TO THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER BUT EVERYTHING ELSE IS IN SUPERB CONDITION. THE EXPOSED REAR PANEL IS FLAWLESS AND RETAINS CLEAN, UNWORN FLIP-BACKS, SMOOTH SEAMS AND A PERFECTLY WORDED SPINE.

THE ACCOMPANYING AND SHIMMERING NEAR MINT RECORD HAS THE PARLOPHONE 'YELLOW AND BLACK' LABEL AND IS THE FIRST RUN WHICH HAS THE PERIMETER PRINT STARTING WITH "THE GRAMOPHONE CO." AND THE "SOLD IN THE U.K." PRINT ACROSS THE LABELS ABOVE THE SPINDLE HOLE. A 'KT' PURCHASE TAX CODE IS VISIBLE IN THE CENTER NEAR THE SPINDLE HOLE OF THE SIDE TWO LABEL.

THE DISC HAS THE FIRST EARLIEST MATRIX NUMBERS: "YEX 168-1" AND "YEX 169-1". THE STAMPER CODES ARE : 3 / AT AND 3 / AM. THIS SHIMMERING NEAR MINT RECORD HAS SUPER-CLEAN PLAYING SURFACES WHICH RETAIN ALL OF THEIR DEEP-GLOSS FACTORY SHINE. THERE ARE NOTICEABLE BLEMISHES OR WEAR. THIS BARELY PLAYED IS CLEAN AND UNWORN THROUGHOUT. THE LABELS ARE A BEAUTIFUL NEAR MINT, AN IMPRESSIVE SET BEARING A SMALL NUMBER OF VERY FAINT SPINDLE TRAILS AROUND EACH TOTALLY UNWORN CENTER HOLE. THERE IS LITTLE TO FAULT ON THIS STUPENDOUS "KEEPER" COPY. THE SET IS COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL VG+++ RICE-PAPER LINED 'USE EMITEX...' WORDED INNER-SLEEVE, WITH SOME LIGHT TONING EVIDENT ON THE CORNERS.

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.