PAUL McCARTNEY The Family Way 1967 ARTWORK + PROOF

	£		226
	$		299

On offer here is quite simply one of the RAREST pieces of Beatles LP related Memorabilla you will ever see!!!!  It is also without ANY doubt COMPLETELY UNIQUE!!!!  This categorically means that this is the only one EVER made - and naturally it is absolutely AMAZING that it still exists today!!!! DO NOT UNDERESTIMATE THE HUGE RARITY OF THIS ITEM I AM ABOUT TO DESCRIBE - IT IS SIMPLY ONE OF THE RAREST BEATLES RELATED ITEMS IN THE WORLD TODAY!!!! AND CONSIDERING THIS ITEM IS COMPLETELY UNIQUE AND OF THE UTMOST IMPORTANCE - IT HAS TO BE CONSIDERED AS ONE OF THE ALL TIME BEATLES RELATED RARITIES EVER TO COME UP FOR SALE, AND IS CERTAINLY THE RAREST PAUL McCARTNEY ITEM OF ALL TIME!!!!  YOU SIMPLY CANNOT GET ANY RARER THAN THIS!!!!

In order to explain this piece to its full potential and importance it is necessary to give some background information.  In 1966 The Beatles decided to stop performing live.  After 9 years of solid live performances from 1957 onwards they were tired out, and increasing frustrated from playing to audiences screaming so loudly they could barely here themselves play!  Early in 1966 they had had enough, and decided to finish live touring.  They still had their last American tour dates to fullfil however, and their last concert was on Monday 29th August 1966 at Candlestick Park, San Francisco, in the U.S.A.  After this concert flying out from San Francisco - George Harrison famously said 'Well thats it, I'm not a Beatle anymore'.  Well that wasnt quite true - but it was indeed the end of live performances for the Beatles.  What the group really needed was a break, and for a while they decided to pursue individual interests, until the 24th November 1966 when they resumed recording together.  In this 3 month period of inactivity each Beatles pursued something different.  George flew off to India, John Lennon was filmed in 'How I Won The War', and Paul McCartney wrote the ULTRA RARE Soundtrack LP 'The Family Way'!!!!  This was Paul McCartneys 1st LP without the Beatles and is of tremendous importance!!!!  In fact this was the 1st LP EVER written by a Beatles without the others!!!!  And like the Beatles LPs themselves - this LP was produced by George Martin!!!!  'The Family Way' film soundtrack was written by Paul McCartney in late 1966, and was to be released on Decca in early 1967!!!!  And of course as Decca had famously 'rejected' the Beatles in favour of Brian Poole & The Tremeloes way back in 1962 -  they were only too glad to put Paul McCartneys name on the front of one of their LPs!!!!  After the recording and setting the planned release date - a cover was needed!!!!  It needed a catchy design, and obviously LARGE 'Paul McCartney' text on the cover front to ensure people noticed it!!!!  Detailed preparation of this LP was needed to stand any chance of success - but at the same time a 'rush release' was needed to 'cash-in' on the film of the same name!!!!  AND THIS IS WERE THIS AMAZING BEATLES RELATED PIECE FITS IN TO PLACE - RIGHT AT THE VERY BIRTH OF THIS LP!!!!

Many people may not know how an LP cover is actually made.  So few pieces of artwork and proof sleeves from the 1960s exist today that it really is a real 'eye opener' when any turn up!!!!  I will explain this process in full.  Before an LP cover is made - a square 'proof' is made of the cover front and the cover back - and this has to be approved before the decision to print is made. HOWEVER the RAREST part of ANY cover - even BEFORE a finished proof is made - is the ORIGINAL ARTWORK for the LP!!!!  The 'artwork' (unless a painting) for ANY LP is always UNIQUE and only one example would have EVER have been made!!!!  AND THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT THIS AMAZING ITEM IS!!!!  IT IS THE ORIGINAL FRONT COVER ARTWORK (AND EXTRA ITEMS!) OF THIS ULTRA RARE LP BY PAUL McCARTNEY!!!!  IT IS WITHOUT ANY DOUBT COMPLETELY UNIQUE - AND IS THE ONLY ONE LEFT IN EXISTENCE!!!!  BUT NOT ONLY THAT - BUT THIS AMAZING ARTWORK ALSO HAS 'EXTRA' ITEMS (see pictures for all these items), WHICH ARE EQUALLY AS RARE, AND REALLY DO 'COMPLETE' THE PACKAGE!!!!  Firstly there is a 'Billing Layout' sheet (with handwritten corrections) - which was used to decide the size of the text for each part of the cover front (naturally Paul McCartney is given LARGE text)!!!!  Secondly there are 2 'stapled' sheets (with hand written corrections) of the back cover liner notes (these were given to a person to check them - and as in this case, make any corrections necessary).  Thirdly there is a copy of the back cover artwork (Decca always separately designed the back of their covers first, before doing the cover front) and a copy of the ORIGINAL Decca release paperwork (in this case - the 6th January 1967).  And even MORE importantly there are 2 AMAZING FULL COLOUR PROOFS of the finished cover front (which were of course printed by using the front cover artwork)!!!!  WHAT AN AMAZING SET OF ITEMS THIS REALLY IS, AND IS A FASCINATING INSIGHT INTO THE WAY COVERS WERE SET UP, DESIGNED, AND FINISHED IN THE 1960S!!!!  THIS SURELY HAS TO BE ONE OF THE RAREST BEATLES RELATED ITEMS EVER TO COME UP FOR SALE, AND IS CERTAINLY THE RAREST PAUL McCARTNEY ITEM EVER!!!!  AND IT IS WORTH NOTING ONCE AGAIN THAT ONLY ONE OF EACH THESE ITEMS WERE EVER MADE, AND THIS IS GENIUNELY A 'UNIQUE' OPPORTUNITY!!!!

I will explain the Artwork in detail!!!!  The artwork was 'put together' on a piece of 'stiff card' and folding over it to protect it is a thin piece of 'tracing' paper!!!!  On the front of the 'tracing paper' it is stamped 'Special' in red print, and has '9/12' hand written in one corner (clearly 9/12/1966)!!!!  Also on the front of the tracing paper there are the designers original hand written notes - stating which colours to use on each part of the cover (see picture)!!!!  Opening up the tracing paper reveals the artwork in its full glory!!!!  As with all Decca LPs the artwork is designed on paper on top of the thick piece of card.  The size needed for the cover front was correctly measured up, and this way the artwork compiler knew where to assemble the artwork to avoid parts of the cover covered by manufacture!!!!  As you can see from the picture - the artwork has been designed and assembled to fit the cover in separate parts, with the original background colour was 'overlaid' with GENIUNE photos of the stars of the film and the titles & credits!!!!  Their is also another piece of thick clear plastic (see picture) overlaying this (under the top of the tracing paper) - with added other titles (such as the names of the 2 stars of the film) and other credits (see pictures for full details)!!!!  Each part was 'stuck on' to complete the artwork from which the proofs could be printed!!!!  The artwork is 100% COMPLETE in EVERY way - and has clearly been PERFECTLY stored!!!!   On the reverse of the artwork (on the plain card back) - it has (see pictures) 2 boxes!!!!  One is titled 'Check' and one is titled 'artwork'.  The Check box was naturally to 'check' the artwork cover design for faults, and the 'artwork' box is to 'approve' the finished design!!!!  WHAT AN AMAZING PIECE OF ORIGINAL AND COMPLETELY UNIQUE PIECE OF BEATLES RELATED ARTWORK!!!!  And as a piece of artwork from an actual Beatles LP is surely NEVER likely to be offered for sale EVER - this surely has to be the closest you will EVER get - and has to be regarded as one of the most IMPORTANT pieces of Beatles related memorabillia ever to be offered for sale!!!!  The condition is also AMAZING - especially when you consider the age and fragility of the item!!!! Naturally there is some VERY slight 'yellowing' in places, and couple of TINY areas of missing 'tracing paper' (mainly on the back and VERY minor indeed) - but there is NO splits, and I have taken VERY close up and VERY revealing pictures of this AMAZING item to hide NOTHING!!!!  WHAT AN AMAZING ITEM!!!!

From this piece of artwork the 2 FULL colour proofs' were made (the larger proof is clearly marked in 1 corner '2 1/4' - which is clearly size related) to show the cover in its FULL glory - before it was finally approved!!!!  In this case one 'Proof' is a VERY slightly different colour to the other - and clearly only one of these were ever chosen for the finished LP!!!!  BOTH FULL Colour 'Proofs' are in SUPERB condition and have clearly barely been touched since new!!!!  They are PERFECTLY flat with NO creases AT ALL!!!!  The 'Billing Layout' sheet (with handwritten corrections), 2 sheets (with hand written corrections) of the back cover liner notes, a copy of the back cover artwork (Decca always designed the back of their covers first, before doing the cover front), and the copy of the ORIGINAL Decca release paperwork are all in SUPERB condition (see pictures for details)!!!!  Please feel free to answer ANY questions on this item - and FULL history of this item will be available to the winning bidder!!!! As I mentioned before - I have taken VERY close up and VERY revealing pictures of this AMAZING item to hide NOTHING!!!!  What you see is EXACTLY what you get - and there is an unconditional lifetime guarantee that these items are 100% GENIUNE!!!!  THIS SURELY HAS TO BE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT PIECES OF BEATLES/PAUL McCARTNEY MEMORABILLA EVER TO BE OFFERED FOR SALE EVER!!!!  SO DONT MISS OUT ON THIS AMAZING OPPORTUNITY!!!!  THIS REALLY IS A 'ONCE IN A LIFETIME CHANCE' - SO DONT MISS OUT!!!!

Dont forget to take a look at all my other items including many other TOP LPs and contact me with any queries you may have. P&P £3 in the UK, £4 Europe, £6 Rest Of The World.  Paypal, Bank Transfers, Cheques, International Money Orders, and Postal Orders accepted. Thanks for looking! Cheers!!!!!

On 24-Nov-02 at 12:19:15 GMT, seller added the following information: