Fab 4 Collectibles : ORIGINAL 1ST PRESSING STILL SEALED LP ALBUMS

Abbey Road
Apple SO 383 Stereo
Released 10/1/69

SHORT HISTORY OF THE 3 ABBEY ROAD COVER VARIATIONS
Abbey Road (released October 1, 1969) was the first Beatles album in America
packaged with print-on-board covers. These covers involved
the process of printing the cover image directly onto white
posterboard, which is then folded and glued to form the album jacket.
The previous Beatles album covers were constructed by affixing separately
printed slicks to cardboard jackets. The new print-on-board covers were a
superior looking package. Another advantage was that these covers
were manufactured by one company, whereas the older style covers
involved both a printer and an album fabricator.
Capitol documents indicate that the album's artwork was shipped on September 11,1969.
COVER # 1 : FIRST BATCH
The first batch of covers (SC1A, Spizer) do not list Her Majesty on the
back cover track listing. The front cover has more of the crosswalk at the
bottom edge of the cover, and includes a portion of a square road sewer
positioned on the bottom edge of the cover, beneath Ringo and John's feet.
This original 1st issue is the most elusive and have become very difficult to acquire Sealed.
COVER # 2 : SECOND BATCH
Prior to the album going on sale, Capitol had the film for the back cover
revised to list the song Her Majesty after The End.
By the time the new artwork was sent out on September 24, many covers had been
printed. Thus, the SECOND BATCH of jacket covers listing Her Majesty (SC1B, Spizer)
are less common and rarer than the covers not listing the song.
The front cover image has the exact characteristics of Cover # 1 : more of the crosswalk
at the bottom edge of the cover, and includes a portion of a square road sewer
positioned on the bottom edge of the cover, beneath Ringo and John's feet.
COVER # 3 : THIRD BATCH
Abbey Road ended up being the only Beatles album to have print-on-board covers
upon its initial release. Although Capitol was pleased with the print-on-board jackets,
future decisions regarding the mastering, packaging and advertising of Apple
releases were handled directly by Apple by very loyal individuals who had a
long-standing relationship with Queens Litho and selected them again to be
the primary printer of cover slicks for future Beatles albums starting with Hey Jude.
When Capitol's pressing plants ran out of the print-on-board covers,
Apple hired Queens Litho to print slicks for additional Abbey Road jackets.
These THIRD (and final) BATCH Covers (SC2A, Spizer) used slicks printed by
Queens Litho and Bert-Co and were manufactured by Imperial and/or
Modern Album. The back cover slicks were made from the album's
original artwork and accordingly do not list Her Majesty on the back cover.
The front cover image was enlarged to allow for the front slick to be wrapped
around to the back cover. Thus, the picture on the front shows less of the
trees and crosswalk (the square sewer in the road is missing) and has
a larger image of the Beatles.