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

ELUSIVELY RARE LATE 1966 SECOND PRESSING
DISTINGUISHED BY REVISED LABEL WITH ASTERISK BEFORE SONG TITLE
* I NEED YOU.

EXCEPTIONAL AND IMMACULATE SET WITH
COVER REMAINING IN ORIGINAL FACTORY SHRINKWRAP
AND FIRST EARLIEST MATRIX STAMPERS "-1 / -1"

ITEM#: PAR337
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 STEREO SECOND PRESSING OF "HELP!" DATES FROM LATE 1966 AND IS AN ABSOLUTELY STUPENDOUS EXAMPLE. THE STELLAR MINT MINUS FRONT-LAMINATED, TRI-FLIP BACK COVER IS THE INITIAL FIRST RUN COVER, AND REMAINS IN THE ORIGINAL FACTORY SHRINKWRAP. IT HAS 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.' . COVERS REMAINING IN THEIR ORIGINAL SHRINK-WRAPPED CONDITION ARE VERY SELDOM SEEN, THIS IMPRESSIVE EXAMPLE RETAINS AN UNWORN, HIGH-GLOSS FRONT PANEL LAMINATE. This time-capsule example APPEARS it left the shops last week. The high-gloss front panel is 'as new' AND BRILLIANTLY WHITE. The exposed rear panel is pristine white AND totally unblemished and all of the delicate flipbacks are undamaged. Both seams are smooth & unstressed and the spine clearly AND fully worded. THERE IS A 3" PIECE OF SHRINK MISSING ON THE BACK COVER NEAR THE LEFT UPPER CORNER.

THE ACCOMPANYING AND PRISTINE MINT MINUS 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. THE DISTINGUISHABLE FACTOR OF THE SECOND PRESSING OF "HELP!" IS THE REVISED LABEL FOR GEORGE HARRISON'S COMPOSITION OF "I NEED YOU". THE ASTERISK APPEARS BEFORE THE SONG TITLE, AND THERE IS A PERIOD AT THE END OF THE SONG TITLE. THE FIRST PRESSING LABELS HAS THE ASTERISK FOLLOWING THE SONG TITLE AND WITHOUT A PERIOD.

A 'KT' PURCHASE TAX CODE IS VISIBLE IN THE CENTER NEAR THE SPINDLE HOLE OF THE SIDE ONE LABEL. THE DISC HAS THE EARLIEST MATRIX NUMBERS: "YEX 186-1" AND "YEX 169-1". THE STAMPER CODES ARE : 3 / OM AND 4 / ML. THE MINT MINUS LABELS ARE A TRULY SUPERB SET BEARING JUST A SINGLE FAINT SPINDLE TRAIL AROUND EACH UNWORN CENTER HOLE. THE VINYL GRADES A SUPERB MINT MINUS, WITH PRISTINE DEEP-GLOSS PLAYING SURFACES WHICH ARE UNMARKED AND 'AS NEW' IN STRONG DAYLIGHT, SHOWING JUST A FEW FAINT WISPY PAPER MARKS BENEATH HALOGEN LIGHT.

THE SET IS COMPLETE WITH THE ORIGINAL 1966 BLACK AND WHITE PRINTED INNER-SLEEVE ADVERTISING CONTEMPORARY EMI LP ALBUMS.