ITEM#: PAR313
PRICE: ------

THE SECOND BEATLES ALBUM WITH THE BEATLES, WAS RELEASED ON NOVEMBER 22, 1963, AT A TIME WHEN BEATLEMANIA WAS IN FULL FORCE ACROSS THE UNITED KINGDOM. EARLIER THAT WEEK, EMI CHAIRMAN SIR JOSEPH LOCKWOOD THREW A PARTY AT EMI HOUSE TO CELEBRATE "B" DAY IN HONOR OF THE BEATLES. HE MENTIONED THAT THE GROUP HAD "CREATED A DISC SUCCESS WITHOUT PARALLEL," SELLING OVER 3,000,000 RECORDS DURING THE YEAR.

THREE WEEKS LATER, THE BEATLES HAD THE TOP TWO ALBUMS, WITH THE BEATLES  AND PLEASE PLEASE ME, THE TOP TWO SINGLES,  I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND AND SHE LOVES YOU, AND THE TOP THREE EPS, TWIST AND SHOUT, THE BEATLES' HITS AND THE BEATLES (NO. 1). THE GROUP HAD PLAYED OVER 200 CONCERT APPEARANCES TO PROMOTE THEIR SINGLES AND ALBUMS.

BRITISH STEREO PRESSINGS ARE MUCH RARER THAN MONO, FOR RECORD COMPANIES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM PRESSED RECORDS ON THEIR DEMAND. THE MARKET FOR STEREO POP RECORDS WERE COMPARATIVELY MINIMAL AS TO MONO AND THESE EARLY STEREO PRESSINGS ARE SOME OF THE RAREST BEATLES RECORDS YOU CAN FIND. MONAURAL OUTNUMBERED STEREO BY A TEN TO ONE RATIO, AND FOR THE POP MARKET, THAT NUMBER MAY BE QUITE LITERALLY 100 TO 1, FOR SO FEW WERE PRESSED.

THIS IS THE ORIGINAL STEREO VERY FIRST EARLY PRESSING OF THE ALBUM, WITH THE FIRST STEREO COVER HAVING THE LARGE "STEREO" DESIGNATION IN THE UPPER RIGHT CORNER, WITH THE BACK COVER INCORRECTLY LISTING THE THIRD SONG ON SIDE TWO AS "YOU REALLY GOTTA HOLD ON ME".  LATER COVERS WOULD CORRECT THE SONG TO "YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME".  THIS INITIAL COVER WAS PRINTED BY GARROD & LOFTHOUSE,  WHICH HAS THE DARKER AND GRAINIER IMAGE THAN THE OTHER COVER VARIATION PRINTED BY ERNEST J. DAY LTD. THIS NEAR MINT MINUS BOLD AND STRIKING EARLY EXAMPLE IS FULLY INTACT WITH A CLEAN GLOSSY FRONT PANEL SHOWING A SINGLE 'THUMBNAIL'  WRINKLE AND LIGHT STORAGE WEAR. THERE IS A SHELFWEAR BRUISE TO THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER AND A TINY ½" NICK TO THE FRONT OPENING EDGE. THE REAR PANEL IS CLEAN OVERALL WITH SOME LIGHT WEAR TO THE REAR OPENING EDGE BUT NO WRITING OR MISSING PAPER. ALL FLIP-BACKS ON THE BACK, BOTH SEAMS AND THE SPINE ARE UNDAMAGED.

THE FIRST PRESSING RECORD HAS THE BLACK AND YELLOW PARLOPHONE LABELS WITH PARLOPHONE PERIMETER PRINT AND WITHOUT THE  "SOLD IN THE U.K." DESIGNATION. THESE FIRST LABELS HAVE THE SONG TITLE INCORRECTLY LISTED AS "YOU REALLY GOTTA HOLD ON ME".  LATER ISSUES WOULD CORRECT THE SONG TO "YOU REALLY GOT A HOLD ON ME". THIS SONG TITLE ALSO AS THE MISSPELLED PUBLISHING CREDIT AS "DOMION", LATER CORRECTED TO "DOMINION". ADDITIONALLY, THE SONG "MONEY"  HAS THE INCORRECT PUBLISHING CREDIT AS "JOBETE MUS. NCB", AND LATER CORRECTED TO "DOMINION. BELINDA (LDN.) LTD." . THE CONDITION OF THIS STUNNING VINYL IS NEAR MINT, WITH A CLEAN, DEEP-GLOSS PLAYING SURFACE WHICH BARE ONE OR TWO LIGHT FINGERNAIL SCUFFS BUT NO SCRATCHES OR ANY OTHER NOTICEABLE BLEMISHES - EVEN DIRECTLY BENEATH HALOGEN LIGHT. LITTLE AND CAREFULLY PLAYED, ALL TRACKS RETAIN THE WARMTH AND CLARITY ONE WOULD EXPECT FROM SUCH AN EARLY PRESSING - ESPECIALLY ON THE RARER STEREO PRESSING. THE LABELS ARE NEAR MINT AS WELL, BOTH CLEAN AND BRIGHT WITH A LITTLE WEAR TO THE SIDE 2 CENTER HOLE ONLY. THE TRAIL OFF MATRIX NUMBERS ARE: "YEX 110-2" AND "YEX 111-2". THE STAMPER CODES ARE: "3/GG" AND "3/GG".

THIS SET IS COMPLETE WITH ITS NEAR MINT ORIGINAL POLY-LINED "USE EMITEX....."  INNER DUST SLEEVE.