Their very first releases were marked by the issuing of THIS limited edition press kit of the first four 45rpm vinyl singles RELEASED ON THEIR NEW LABEL "Apple "– which they called “Our First Four”: The Beatles “Hey Jude/Revolution” (R 5722), Mary Hopkin “Those Were the Days” (APPLE 2), Jackie Lomax “Sour Milk Sea” (APPLE 3), and The Black Dyke Mills Band “Thingumybob” (APPLE 4). Each single IS accompanied by a press release printed on the outside of a colored folder containing the artist's photo and a plastic sleeve that holds the record in place.

THE BOOKLET ON THE THE BEATLES IS FULL OF OPTIMISM AND TELLS A STORY OF THE BEATLES QUITE DIFFERENT FROM THE TENSIONS THAT SOMETIMES SURFACED DURING THE RECORDING OF THE GROUP'S FIRST APPLE ALBUM "THE BEATLES" (WHITE ALBUM) :.... "AT THIS MOMENT THEY ARE DEEPLY INVOLVED IN THE TWIN RESPONSIBILITIES OF RECORDING THE ALBUM-SUCCESSOR TO THE PROFOUNDLY RESPECTED 'SERGEANT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND' AND OF ADMINISTERING THE HAPPY APPLE COMPLEX OF COMPANIES IN LONDON". WHILE THE COMMENTS ABOUT "HAPPY APPLE" LATER RANG HOLLOW, THE STATEMENTS in another paragraph ABOUT THE BRILLIANCE OF THE BEATLES NEW SINGLE WERE ON TARGET. "HEY JUDE" QUICKLY TOPPED THE CHARTS AND REMAINED IN THE NUMBER ONE SPOT FOR WEEKS DURING ITS 19 WEEK RUN. THE BEATLES FIRST APPLE SINGLE SOLD OVER THREE MILLION COPIES IN THE U.S. IN ITS FIRST TWO MONTHS OF RELEASE.

THE CONDITION OF THE OUTER BLACK CARDBOARD FOLDER BOX GRADES AT A VG+, DISPLAYING WEAR ON THE FOLDED SEAMS AND ON EACH CORNER. YET, THERE ARE NO RIPS TO ANY OF THE FOLD-OVER SECTIONS OF THE BOX. THE TITLE STICKER "OUR FIRST FOUR" SHOWS SOME AGING AND YELLOWING SPOTS. ALL OF THE COLORED INNER FOLDERS AND ACCOMPANYING 45RPM SINGLES REMAIN IN NEAR MINT CONDITION WITH VIRTUALLY NO WEAR TO SPEAK OF, AND THE RECORDS APPEAR THAT THEY HAVE NEVER BEEN REMOVED FROM THE ATTACHED PLASTIC SLEEVES WITHIN THE FOLDERS.

THIS IS 'OUR VERY FIRST' OFFERING OF "OUR FIRST FOUR" - ONE OF THE MOST DIFFICULT AND RAREST BEATLES PROMOTIONAL COLLECTIBLE TO ACQUIRE. THIS EXAMPLE IS IN IS ORIGINAL STATE, COMPLETE AND ONE OF THE HANDFUL THAT STILL exist.  it is still a thrill to go through it, read its flowery derek taylor text, look at the pictures and the singles that launched apple records. one can only imagine the excitement generated by this press release folder all those years ago.