THE BEATLES YELLOW SUBMARINE LP 1969 UK FIRST MONO PRESSING APPLE PMC 7070 *NM*

$

870

Hello and Welcome! 

Despite being eBay Vintage Vinyl Sellers since 1999, we have recently elected to auction off some examples of Rare and Vintage Vinyl from our personal album collection under this new screen-name.  We pride ourselves as collectors, sellers and most importantly, true purists when it comes to this hobby which has turned into a huge on-line business for many folks.   Unlike many eBay sellers of LPs these days, we still feel compelled to write up complete as well as accurate descriptions of our vinyl in order that no surprises will occur, other than happy ones.  This is why we take painstaking efforts to describe every detail of our play-graded LPs, which never seem to disappoint our buyers.   

We are listing for auction an Extremely Rare, Archival Conditioned 1969 UK MONO FIRST PRESSING OF THE BEATLES: YELLOW SUBMARINE ON APPLE RECORDS PMC 7070.   UK Mono First Pressings of 'Yellow Submarine' have consistently been the most difficult to find Beatles title in any condition.  Our specimen is unique in many ways, specifically in the superlative condition that the vinyl, album jacket, and even the original inner sleeve have remained during the past 43 years.  "Yellow Submarine" was the eleventh album by The Beatles and its official release date was January 17th, 1969.  Interestingly, the LP was scheduled to make its debut during the Christmas season of 1968, yet it was the incredible success of "The Beatles" aka "The White Album" which led to what would end up being a postponed release.  This delay, as well as the fact that "Yellow Submarine" only featured four new tracks from The Beatles which, combined with two previously released tracks, only amounted to one album side's worth of actual Beatles "band" material.  As most Beatle collectors know, Side 2 of "Yellow Submarine" consists entirely of producer George Martin's Instrumental 'Film Score' for the animated movie of the same name.    

Since this particular title has been reissued innumerable times and is not often seen in its True First Mono UK Format, we wanted to provide a few of the many features which all First Pressing 1969 UK Mono "Yellow Submarine" albums must possess:

1969 UK Mono Pressing all have the following matrices;  715-1 and 716-1 

The label MUST have the "Sold in the U.K..." statement on Both Sides of The Apple Label 

2 Red Lines MUST APPEAR above and below the liner/sleeve notes on the rear cover of the FLIP-BACK Album Jacket

This Beatles Album Was Issued with a Black Inner Sleeve

Our Goldmine Grading of this or any other album entails a Visual Assessment of the Vinyl, Labels, Jacket, Inner Sleeve and Inserts (If Applicable) as well as an Aural Evaluation.  All pre-owned LPs that we put up for auction are first professionally cleaned with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine prior to being Play-Graded on a Denon DP 54-F Turntable equipped with a SHURE M97xE Cartridge/Stylus.  Our Pre-Amp is a Denon PMA 750.  Our Polk Audio Speakers allow one the opportunity to hear any sonic distortion, variation in sound quality such as drops in sound levels, detection of the slightest background noise e.g. crackle, clicking, and, of course, jumps.  All of our albums are stored upright and kept in an air conditioned, smoke free environment and are, or have been protected by polyurethane jacket protectors since our acquisition of them.  

 MATRICES/STAMPERS/RUN-OFF WAX DATA: 

Side 1: XEX 715-1  Stampers: 1/T    Side 2: XEX 716-1  Stampers: 1/T     

VISUAL GRADES

VINYL:   Both sides of our "Yellow Submarine" vinyl presented with Full Gloss and Sheen.  As incredible as this will sound, Side 1, which features The Beatles song tracks, looked as if it had never seen a turntable in its life!  Generally, this side of the wax is played far more than Side 2's 'Musical Score' of the Yellow Submarine Animated Movie and we intend no offense to George Martin's work.  The matrices and stampers are clear and vivid, on both sides.  No evidence of groove wear exists on Side 1, no scruffs that could be detected under intense halogen lamps, no pitting on the vinyl surface was noted, and the album spun flat on our turntable, showing no signs of warping.  Side 2 also presents with Full Gloss and shines like a mirror.  We did detect, and this was under our lamps, approximately 4-6 very faint, tiny "hairlines" which surprised us, considering that this is the "Musical Score" side--which we again assumed would have been played far less frequently than our flawless Side 1.  We believe that the absence of lines/marks on Side 1 and the presence of possibly 5 total 'wispy' lines on Side 2 were not due to any one individual playing Side 2 more, though.  Rather, these nondescript "wisps" were most probably due to removal from the Black Inner Sleeve with the previous owner possibly being more focused on "protecting" The Beatles' six songs on Side 1.  We also need to mention that on Side 2's "run-off" wax, there is what appears to be two to three extremely thin "circular" lines which ARE NOT on the playing surface, but are inside the "dead zone", where one would find the matrices, which are not even affected by this "rub" or the stampers.  We needed to mention this, although we do not consider this to be a visual distraction of any major import.  We have highlighted our last photo in order to clearly show what we are highlighting.  We feel that this vinyl merits TWO distinct GOLDMINE ratings for each side of this beautiful specimen.  Goldmine Grade:  NM (Side 1)/ NM- (Side 2)    

LABELS:   Side 1 of this lovely album is near perfect, and sports such a vibrant Green Apple with razor sharp print that one could easily think that this album happened to be made 4 days ago, instead of its organic 43 years in January of 1969!  The contrasting Black Font used on both Apple Labels, particularly looks sharp and clear.  Most impressively, the font is not at all affected by the "Dark Green" Apple Style, which started to appear on nearly all of the Beatles Apple First Pressings.  We think we may have spotted 2-3 tiny, 3 mm lines coming from the spindle area of Side 1, but one must truly use a few halogen lamps to locate them.  Side 2 depicts the "Sliced Open" White Apple, which does show extremely minor evidence of spindle play,  as well as approximately 4 very tiny, thin 2 mm lines extending from the spindle hole.  Otherwise, both Apple Labels are in superlative condition, and clearly show that this album's LP could not have been played more than 4-5 times in total.  There are no Tax Codes pressed into the centre of either label, which is not uncommon for this title.  Please refer to our photos of both labels to see what we have attempted to describe to the best of our abilities.   Goldmine Grade:  NM 

JACKET:  Our Mono, Front-side Laminated, 3 Flip-Back "Yellow Submarine" Garrod and Lofthouse Ltd.  jacket is the best conditioned specimen we've ever seen in 30 years of collecting The Beatles world-wide vinyl catalogue.  The front-side laminate is fully intact, has no seam splits anywhere on the jacket, all of the colors have remained vibrant and this is one of the extremely few laminated covers BY ANY ARTIST which still has its full lamination on its spine, top rim, and its bottom rim.  In looking at the spine of the cover, "The Beatles" and the album's title are 100% perfect.  As we are ultra-conservative graders, we will point out (and our photos detail the jacket extremely well) that the indentation of the LP, albeit quite faint and non distracting to the eye, cannot even qualify as 'ring-wear'.  We did photograph the front cover's upper left-side and used a flash in order to fully depict this semi-circler line.  **Please note that our picture happened to make this barely visible line appear as as a "crease", which is certainly not the case**.  We took a myriad of photos of this striking jacket, and this line is virtually undetectable.  All interested Beatles' collectors and potential bidders will certainly be struck by the front cover's full shine, how all of the various characters of the "Yellow Submarine" movie present in what we deem a "starburst" of the color spectrum, and this is one jacket which is definitely worthy of being framed.   

The reverse side of the cover is without lamination, except for the 3 Flip-Backs.  As in all genuine first Mono pressings of this rare Beatles' title, the Apple Records catalogue number, PMC 7070 appears on the upper right-hand side, just below the laminated top flip-back.  We should mention that the 3 flip-backs have retained their lamination, are all firmly affixed to the jacket, and show off another, rather RARE aspect of our specimen.  On the bottom flip-back, there is, of course, the typical (for many Beatles, Kinks, and many other hall of fame UK bands of all-time!) Jacket manufacturing credits; "Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd."  However, our jacket has the "Patent No. 943,895."  Many "Submarine" Jackets have the "Patents Pending" in this same space.  Jackets which have the "Patent No. 943,895" are, according to our extensive research on the matter, resultant in an approximate $150.00 USD higher valuation than the "Patents Pending" ones.  The reverse of this cover is stunning, and the non-laminated main area has no discoloration at all, all of the song titles are sharp and well defined as are the extensive liner notes.  The Two Red Lines are absolutely perfect.  Above the Jacket's printing credits, is the "New Emitex" statement which is yet another indicator of a genuine 'Mono' Submarine jacket.  It begins, and we quote; "This mono record has been produced…"  This is another important variable for any UK Beatles Vinyl Collector who does not wish to be deceived by those unscrupulous folks on auction sites, who are passing off reissues as original UK pressings.  This album jacket fully merits the almost unheard of rating for ANY pre-owned, Rare Original UK Beatles album:    Goldmine Grade:  NM 

INNER SLEEVE:  The Original UK Black Inner Sleeve is completely free of seam splits, separating folds, or writing.  There are no signs of discoloration, rips, tears, and it is in "Like New" condition.  We have always stored the vinyl in an anti-static, poly-lined sleeve, separate from the album jacket, upright, and in a climate controlled environment.  We will include all of the "protective" materials we have used e.g. 2 polyethylene 3ml Album Protective sleeves, an industry fold-over cardboard "shield" which is specially designed when the album jacket is stored with the vinyl in back of it--essentially, it prevents "ring-wear" from ever occurring, to the winning bidder.  We understand and ascribe to the preservation of vintage vinyl, even if the original issue inner sleeve is in stellar condition.    Goldmine Grade:  NM    

PLAY-GRADE 

As we previously stated, we never played this LP since we acquired it in May of 2010.  On May 23rd, 2012, we cleaned this glistening, vibrant vinyl with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine and allowed it to properly air dry prior to its play evaluation.  Based on the visual appearance of the LP, we wanted to truly experience our NM UK Mono "Yellow Submarine" aurally.  We never heard any of these tracks in the Mono format on this specific vinyl and in light of how impressive the LP presented visually, we were anxious to here if the audio was up to par.  Specifically, we elected to play Side 1 loud, which is how our Polk Speakers enjoy it and best deliver any sound experience.  Two of us each took extensive notes and we will share them with our hopeful bidders.

Side 1 begins with "Yellow Submarine" and, of course, features Beatles drummer, Ringo Starr on lead vocals.  Not even an introductory "crackle" was heard as our toner arm gently landed on this wax's introductory run-in groove.  "Yellow Submarine" actually sounded stronger, somewhat "thicker" than the much more common stereophonic format.  Ringo's vocals were in sync with the instrumentation and we heard the various "submarine" noises come across as loud, clear, and distinct.  "Flawless" was penned on one of our notes, and that's the best way to describe the aural delivery of Side 1 in its totality.  Yet, that would be too simple when listening to what is one of the most coveted Beatles albums in existence, and, after a silent transitional passage, "Only A Northern Song", which may be George Harrison's most haunting composition ever, sounded majestic, not to mention, "punchier" in mono.  Again, we noted how the track seemed to have a deeper, more notable bass line which came across as a more intense audio experience.  A moment of extremely brief "static" occured ONLY during the silent transition, prior to the start of Paul McCartney's little ditty, "All Together Now", which was noted to be extraordinarily clear with some sweet bass tones present.  "Hey Bulldog" is the thunderous John Lennon rocker which delivered all the promise that we had hoped for!  One of us wrote…"Bulldog" sounds like it should have been on "The White Album".  Lennon's brilliant track exhibited so much clarity that we were able to hear the band's instruments truly mesh as a "unit"--an aspect which seems lost on the stereophonic version of this title.  "It's All Too Much", the other Beatles' gem of a composition, showcased Ringo's drumming and how synchronized his percussion was with the "horns" which combined to provide that early 60's sonic mono punch, which many audiophiles actually prefer over stereo.  "All You Need Is Love", the final Beatles song on this album, allowed us to truly appreciate Paul McCartney's prowess as a rock/pop bassist, since the aural delivery was so loud and clear.  This may have been the highlight of the entire listening experience, particularly with John Lennon's superlative vocals.  We noted that "this record (Side 1) must be played loud in order to be fully appreciated".    

Side 2 presented without any audio distortion, although we must confess to not being the biggest fans of Mr. George Martin's Musical Score of the animated film classic.  Having listened to a stereophonic second pressing of this album just a few hours prior to hearing this gem, we have to admit that the instrumental music sounds substantially better in stereo.  Nevertheless, we did not note any audio distortion, pops, or even a click on Side 2.  Like Side 1, we got what we expected from an album of this condition and that was flawless audio delivery.  This is a pristine, crystal clear, and loud vinyl, one which may never be equaled by the litany of inferior copies on eBay or anywhere else, for that matter.    Goldmine Grade:  NM 

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We Do Ship/Post Worldwide; However, International Bidders Will Need to Accept The Following Terms If They Elect To Bid On This Item:

-All Payments Must Be Made Via PayPal and in USD Currency.

-Shipping/Posting WILL Require ALL International Bidders to Agree to have this Parcel shipped Via USPS International Express Mail which allows Tracking and Insurance.  Estimated Cost is $48.00 USD.  Please Note That We Are Only Charging A Flat Rate To Our Beloved International Buyers Of 

ONLY $35.00 USD For The Best, Quickest, Trackable as Well As Insurable USPS Mailing Service Available In the USA.  Average Time Of Delivery is 3-5 Days! 

**WE NO LONGER SHIP TO ITALY**

-Seller Reserves The Right To Cancel Any Bids From Questionable Bidders (Low Feedback Percentage, Blocked Countries).

How Your Vinyl Will Be Packed

All LPs won from our eBay listings are first professionally cleaned with our VPI 16.5 Record Cleaning Machine and immediately placed in an anti-static poly-lined Inner Sleeve and/or a polyethylene 3 ml Album Protector prior to being professionally shipped/posted.  All Vinyl is separated from its Album Jacket.  We provide a second polyethylene/Mylar Album Protector for the Album's Jacket, Original Inner Sleeve, and any Inserts, if applicable.  Vinyl is placed between 2 cardboard pads or "stiffeners" and sandwiched between these 2 pads.  The pads and vinyl are appropriately secured and placed inside a NEW, TOP INDUSTRY STANDARD VINYL RECORD MAILER.  The Album's Jacket, already protected with a 3 ml polyethylene/Mylar Protector, is then placed on top of the sandwiched vinyl.  If needed, an additional cardboard insert or plastic "cushioning" is placed on top of the jacket's poly/mylar protector.  Finally, we secure the Vinyl Album Mailer and mark the parcel "Handle with Care" as well as "Fragile" in various spots on the mailer.

We've packed thousands of Vinyl Albums, EPs, Old and Fragile 78 RPM records as well as 7" Singles over the Past 15 years.  Our items have been shipped over the entire planet and we have never had a package arrive to a buyer damaged or had any  parcel end up missing.  Delivery Confirmation is Applied to All Domestic Packages as well as Insurance for value.  At this point in time, we Ship/Post World-wide (Excluding Italy Due To Their Postal System's Failure to Deliver Packages in a  timely rate which is acceptable to eBay)  and We Use Only USPS Express International (Expedited Posting) Mail.  This is the only way a parcel can be Tracked, have Delivery Confirmation Applied to it, and affords us the ability to place Any Amount Of Insurance on the item.  

Any and all questions about this item, will be answered in a timely manner.  We ask that all questions be submitted via the eBay e-mail mechanism.

Have Fun and Bid on this unique LP!