Beatles Meet The Beatles First Capitol MONO Pressing LP w/out Publishing Credits

$

81

In this auction:

• “MEET THE BEATLES” LP by The Beatles

• This LP is Capitol Records T-2047.

• This is a MONO PRESSING.

• In fact, this is a FIRST U.S. MONO PRESSING of this LP by CAPITOL RECORDS.

• We KNOW that this is a FIRST PRESSING, because there are NO BMI or ASCAP CREDITS PRINTED ON THE LABELS. (Only the composers names and play times are printed after the title of each cut.)

• FIRST MONO PRESSINGS of “MEET THE BEATLES” were issued January 20, 1964.

• According to the Price Guide for the Beatles American Records by Perry Cox and Frank Daniels (page 133):

“This is the most desirable label variation because it is the first and rarest.”

and

“Exact press runs are not known, but it is speculated that about 20,000 copies were manufactured with this label.”

• Only East Coast labels have been confirmed to be without BMI or ASCAP.

• The VINYL in this auction was produced at Capitol Records’ Scranton Pressing Plant. This is indicated by the triangle “?” containing the letters “IAM” in the trail-off wax. This is the symbol Capitol Records used to identify vinyl pressed at its Scranton Pressing Plant.

• The COVER was also produced st Capitol Records’ Scranton Pressing Plant. This is confirmed by the number “3” printed at the lower right corner on the rear cover. The COVER is also the correct First Pressing Cover, because “BEATLES!” is printed in TAN at the top of the front cover. (Tan or dark brown were used on first pressing covers.)

• Therefore, this Scranton cover and Scranton vinyl are correctly paired/matched.

• NOTE: Some sellers may intentionally or accidentally switch vinyl and covers in order to create an LP with a higher grade cover and vinyl combination, but NOT correctly matched to the same pressing plant. I don’t do that. This is the correct cover and vinyl for this pressing/issue.

• The COVER is in VERY NICE VG+ CONDITION. There is very light overall wear. The dark front cover slick was notorious for easily developing and showing wear, but NOT THIS ONE! There is some light aging/foxing around the edges of the primarily white reverse cover. There are very tiny pushes on the two corners at the opening. The SEAMS and SPINE are NICE and STRONG with NO flaking and NO cracking.

• This LP comes with a royal blue-colored CAPITOL INNER SLEEVE. This inner paper sleeve has a 1 ½-inch split on the bottom.

• The VINYL is in VG to VG MINUS (VG-) CONDITION with numerous light surface scratches/hairlines/scuffs (but none are “feel-able”). The vinyl has lots of gloss. The LABELS are QUITE CLEAN with very minimal wear.

• Despite this lower-graded vinyl, IT’S STILL a NICE FIRST MONO PRESSING and VERY TOUGH TO FIND in ANY CONDITION THESE DAYS. (After all, I wonder how many of the estimated 20,000 that were pressed in 1964 are still around now in 2020!)

A VERY RARE ORIGINAL 1964 FIRST MONO PRESSING of “MEET THE BEATLES!” that will be a nice addition to someone’s Beatles vinyl collection for Christmas!

Thanks to the Price Guide for the Beatles American Records by Perry Cox and Frank Daniels for some information about this record.

FYI: I used the COVER/SLEEVE GRADES and RECORD GRADES listed and described on page 8 of the Price Guide for the Beatles American Records. These grades are Poor (PR), Fair (FR), Good Minus (G-), Good (G), Good+ (G+), Very Good Minus (VG-), Very Good (VG), Very Good+ (VG+), Near Mint Minus or Very Good++ (NM- or VG++), Near Mint (NM), Mint Minus (M-), and Mint (M or MT) to VISUALLY grade this LP, so please know the descriptions of these grades before bidding. Please ask any questions BEFORE bidding. And please check my other auctions for more records you may want to add to your collection. Be high bidder on several and combine shipping on auction items that finish the same weekend. (NOTE: If more than 1 item is won by the same bidder, please do NOT make payment until I send an invoice with combined shipping cost.) Winning bidder must remit payment within 5 days of auction close. Add $4.00 for shipping to a U.S. address via USPS media mail with tracking.