FAB 4 COLLECTIBLES IS PROUD TO OFFER ONE OF THE "HOLY GRAIL" OF BEATLE RECORDS, THE VEE-JAY STEREOPHONIC "AD BACK", CONSIDERED ONE OF THE RAREST OF ALL AMERICAN BEATLE LP RECORDS. THIS IS THE FIRST VERSION OF THE FIRST BEATLES ALBUM IN AMERICA.

THERE ARE THREE DISTINCTLY DIFFERENT VARIATIONS TO THE MONO AND STEREO BACK COVERS TO VERSION ONE OF "INTRODUCING THE BEATLES". IN ITS FIRST INCARNATION, THE BACK COVER SERVES AS AN ADVERTISEMENT FOR 25 OF VEE-JAY'S "OTHER FINE ALBUMS OF SIGNIFICANT INTEREST", THUS BEING TAGGED THE "AD BACK" COVER AMONG THE COLLECTOR'S WORLD. IN ADDITION, THE VERY FIRST FRONT COVER SLICKS USED FOR THE ALBUM ARE EASILY IDENTIFIABLE AS THEY HAVE "PRINTED IN U.S.A." RUNNING VERTICALLY ALONG THE LEFT SIDE OF THE FRONT JACKET ONE TO TWO INCHES FROM THE LOWER LEFT CORNER.

IN ALL LIKELIHOOD, NO MORE THAN 5,000 AD BACK COVERS WERE MADE. BECAUSE ONLY 2,202 STEREO COPIES OF VERSION ONE WERE MANUFACTURED, THE NUMBER OF STEREO AD BACKS IS OBVIOUSLY VERY LIMITED, AND ONE THING IS CERTAIN: THE STEREO "AD BACK" IS EXTREMELY RARE. IT HAS BEEN ESTIMATED THAT LESS THAN ONE THOUSAND STEREO COPIES WERE MANUFACTURED, WITH LESS THAN A HANDFUL SURVIVING TO THIS DAY.

BY THE TIME VEE-JAY RESUMED TAKING ORDERS FOR "INTRODUCING THE BEATLES" IN THE SECOND WEEK OF FEBRUARY, THE COMPANY HAD DECIDED TO REISSUE THE ALBUM WITH "PLEASE PLEASE ME" AND "ASK ME WHY" REPLACING "LOVE ME DO " AND "P.S. I LOVE YOU". THIS HELPED CREATE THE MORE COMMON VERSION TWO, WHICH IS KNOWN AS THE "COLUMN BACK TITLES", ISSUED ONCE THE LEGALITIES HAD CLEARED IN EARLY FEBRUARY 1964.

THE CONDITION OF THIS STUNNING AND BOLD STEREOPHONIC "AD BACK" COVER IS A SPLENDID NEAR MINT MINUS, WITH COLORS AND GRAPHICS RADIATING IN VIBRANT DETAIL. NO RINGWEAR, NO SEAM SPLITS WITH NICE CORNERS. SOME SPORADIC SHELF WEAR ON THE BOTTOM SEAM, BUT NOTHING THAT GOES TO THE PULP BOARD. TOP AND SPINE HAVE HARDLY WEAR AT ALL. THE SPINE PRINT IS 100% PRESENT. IT'S SO VERY DIFFICULT TO FIND THE SPINE SO COMPLETE. NO CREASES. TOP LEFT EDGE HAS A VERY SMALL ¼" BUMP  WITH ALL THE PAPER PRESENT AND LAYING FIRM.  LOWER RIGHT CORNER HAS 1/16" TIP WEAR. THE FRONT COVER HAS A VERY TINY FACTORY INDUCED AND HARDLY NOTICEABLE ABRASION ON RINGO'S ARM. ALL OF THESE ARE ISSUES VERY MINOR INDEED. THE VERTICALLY POSITIONED "PRINTED IN U.S.A." TEXT IS INDEED PRESENT ALONG THE SPINE IN LOWER LEFT CORNER OF THE FRONT COVER TO THE LEFT OF PAUL.

THE ACCOMPANYING RECORD IS THE STEREO COLORBAND AND OVAL LOGO VARIATION (VJ1062(1).SR1Bi, SPIZER). IT HAS THIN PRINT FONTS AND THE WORD "STEREO" APPEARING AT THE 3 O'CLOCK POSITION BELOW THE SIDE NUMBERS. THE LABEL HAS LEFT JUSTIFIED SONG TITLES AND SONGWRITER'S CREDITS WITH "INTRODUCING THE BEATLES" IN SMALL PRINT AND DOES NOT HAVE THE WORDS "LONG PLAYING" AND "MICROGROOVE", AS SOME OTHER LABELS DO. BOTH SIDES HAVE THE HAND-ETCHED DATE 6-28-63 AND INITIALS "RA" AND "A" AS WELL AS THE MACHINE STAMPED AUDIO MATRIX AND "MR" LOGOS. THIS RECORD WAS PRESSED BY MONARCH. THE CONDITION OF THE RECORD IS AN AMAZING AND BRILLIANT NEAR MINT AND TRULY APPEARS THAT IT WAS PLAYED ONCE, THEN STORED. THE LABELS ARE A VIBRANT AND GLOSSY NEAR MINT AS WELL.

THE ORIGINAL VEE-JAY "AD BACK" INNER SLEEVE IS ALSO INCLUDED, AND REMAINS IN NEAR MINT CONDITION WITH NO SPLITS.

THIS MOST SPLENDID EXAMPLE OF AN "INTRODUCING THE BEATLES" STEREOPHONIC "AD BACK" IS A TREASURE INDEED, AND WOULD BE QUITE A VITAL AND CORNERSTONE ADDITION IN ONE'S BEATLES RECORD COLLECTION.