INSANELY-RARE ORIGINAL 1964 SWAN RECORDS 45 SINGLES MAILER ENVELOPE
FOUND WITH INSERTED "SHE LOVES YOU" PICTURE SLEEVE
AND BLACK LABEL 45 SINGLE WITH "GEORGE MARTIN" CREDIT
SWAN S-4152
ISSUED MARCH 1, 1964

FIRST EVER DISCOVERY OF THE SWAN RECORDS MAILER ENVELOPE
RECENTLY PROCURED WITH ACCOMPANYING PICTURE SLEEVE & 45 SINGLE FROM
THE ESTATE OF MUSICAL LUMINARY AND SWAN RECORDS EXECUTIVE WALTER GATES.
 
CONDITION:
MAILER (NM) UNCIRCULATED
 PICTURE SLEEVE (NM-)
RECORD (M) "FACTORY FRESH" AS NEW, UNCIRCULATED
ITEM#: PS839
PRICE: $2,475

Swan Records was founded in 1957 in Philadelphia, and remained in business for about ten years. In 1967 the label ceased to be active although a few reissues appeared as late as 1968, mostly from old stampers. The label was owned by Bernie Binnick and Tony MamMarella, and featured the production talents of Frank Slay and Bob Crewe (EVENTUALLY WITH THE FOUR SEASONS), along with other luminaries as Richard Barrett AND WALTER GATES.
 

The original address was 1405 Locust Street in Philadelphia, where they were located until the early 1960s. For a while an association with TV deejay Dick Clark helped them along with promotion for many Swan acts, but by the time the payola scandal hit, Clark's involvement had to be terminated and Binnick and Mammarella (a Clark employee) continued the partnership. By 1962 Swan had moved to 1703 Jackson Street, and by 1963 were in their last offices at “The Northwest Corner of 8th and Fitzwater Streets.”

1963 was not a very good year for the label. Most of their singles did not even reach the middle rungs of the charts. On September 16, 1963, Swan released a leased master of “She Loves You” (Swan 4152) by a then little-known British group, the Beatles.

but it was BERNIE Binnick who secured the American rights to "SHE LOVES YOU" during a summer vacation in England WHERE HE FIRST HEARD ABOUT THE BEATLES. Oddly enough, in 1964 Swan also released the German language version "Sie Liebt Dich" in the United States, which failed to make a major impact.

Before this release, the Beatles had had two poor-selling singles on Vee-Jay RECORDS (the latest one, “From Me to You” in summer, 1963, was easily outdistanced in the U.S. by a Del Shannon cover version!). Initial issues of the record were on Swan’s white label, with red print. Shortly after this record was released, Swan changed the colors of their label to black with silver print for both the 45s and the LPs. When "Beatlemania" hit the U.S.  in January, 1964, Swan reissued the single, but on the black and silver label, leaving the white/red label version as QUITE a rarity.
 

THE ABOVE SWAN AD FROM THE MARCH 7, 1964, ISSUE OF CASHBOX MAGAZINE SHOWS THE BEATLES BEING PRESENTED
AN IN-HOUSE GOLD RECORD AWARD FOR SALES OF OVER ONE MILLION UNITS OF "SHE LOVES YOU"
BY COMPANY OWNERS BERNIE BINNICK AND TONY MAMMARELLA (FAR RIGHT).
THE PICTURE WAS TAKEN FEBRUARY 12, 1964 AT CARNEGIE HALL, NEW YORK CITY.

RECORD COMPANIES IN THE SIXTIES USED CUSTOMIZED MAILERS TO SEND PROMOTIONAL COPIES OF ITS SINGLES TO RADIO STATIONS AND RECORD REVIEWERS. SWAN MAILERS WERE PRINTED WHEN THE COMPANY WAS LOCATED AT THEIR FIRST LOCATION IN PHILADELPHIA AT 1703 JACKSON STREET. IN 1963, AFTER THE COMPANY MOVED ITS HEADQUARTERS TO their FINAL LOCATION at “The Northwest Corner of 8th and Fitzwater Streets", THE ADDRESS ON THE  MAILER ENVELOPES WERE RECTIFIED BY HAND BY CROSSING OUT THE OLD ADDRESS IN MARKER, AND USED A RED STAMP WITH "OUR NEW ADDRESS".

SWAN recordS 45 SINGLES mailer ENVELOPES MEASURE 7¾" X 7¾" AND haVE never been discovered OR HAD SURFACED until RECENTLY. AN UNUSED AND UNCIRCULATED STOCK HAVE been stored AWAY for OVER 60 YEARS AND JUST UNEARTHED. THIS SWAN MAILER ARCHIVE WAS procured BY A RECORD COLLECTOR IN PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA (HOME OF SWAN RECORDS) WHO HAD VERY FIRST ACCESS TO THE ESTATE SALE OF SWAN RECORDS MUSICAL LUMINARY AND EXECUTIVE, WALTER GATES. THE COLLECTOR HAD ACCESS NOT ONLY TO THE BEATLES TREASURE TROVE BUT TO ALL THE OTHER  RECORDING ARTISTS ON SWAN RECORDS FROM THE SIXTIES. ALL OF THE HUNDREDS OF RECORDS WERE kept in Walter Gates' possession and most likely went straight from THE pressing plant and right into his home, never to be touched again - UNTIL NOW.

THIS EXAMPLE BEING OFFERED HERE IS ABSOLUTELY Stunning. The flap is fully open, operational and totally functionally. There are NO seam splits anywhere, NO rips OR tears, NO postage, NO stickers, NO writing and NO names addressed. THE ONLY SIGN OF AGE ARE THE DRIED GLUE LINES.

AMAZINGLY, FOUND INSERTED INSIDE THIS VERY SWAN MAILER ENVELOPE WAS A SWAN "SHE LOVES YOU" PICTURE SLEEVE AND THE ACCOMPANYING BLACK LABEL 45 SINGLE (SWAN S-4152, ISSUED MARCH 1, 1964). BOTH ITEMS WERE INSERTED SEPARATELY, WITH THE DISC OUTSIDE THE PICTURE SLEEVE. THE picture sleeve IS GORGEOUS, with NO seam splits, NO rips OR tears, NO writing, NO staple holes, NO stamped prices, NO stickerS, NO BENDS OR CREASES, NO RINGWEAR, IT'S OBVIOUS THIS SLEEVE IS UNCIRCULATED AND HAS NEVER HAD A RECORD SLIPPED IN IT. IT GRADES A SOLID NEAR MINT MINUS ONLY SHOWING VERY SLIGHT SIGNS OF HANDLING AT THE TOP, DUE TO BEING IN THE MAILER ALL THESE YEARS.

THE RECORD IS THE RCA Rockaway pressing with side 'A' mastered by Reco-Art and side 'B' mastered by Virtue Studios. The labels have thin fontS with "DON'T DROP OUT" in the top left corner. This Swan S-4152-S variation IS THE RARER LABEL WHICH contains THE "PRODUCED BY GEORGE MARTIN" CREDITS on the right side label BELOW running time. BOTH SONG TITLES ON EACH SIDE DO NOT HAVE THE QUOTATION MARKS. The trail off areas of these singles contain the following machine stamped markings: Side 1: RECO-ART PHILA. S-4152-S-1A C1 and Side 2: VIRTUE STUDIO S-4152-1-1B A5. THE RECORD IS MINT, PRISTINE "AS NEW" FACTORY FRESH AND IS UNCIRCULATED. IT appears to have never had a needle on it or ever been on a turntable. It shows NO scratches, NO scuffs, NO marks of any kind that would show it was ever played or even handled after its pressing. The labels are IMMACULATE with NO writing, NO fading, NO stickers, NO rips OR tears and NO marks of any kind.