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Tracklisting & More Information
More Information
This legendary debut Beatles album was released on Friday 22nd March 1963 on the Parlophone label. It topped the charts on 11th May 1963 where it stayed for 30 weeks until it was knocked off the number one spot by 'With The Beatles'. Much of the album was recorded in just one day, under the guidance of George Martin. Unusually the mono edition was issued six weeks before the stereo copies. At the time of release of the album the design of the Parlophone label was in a transition period. The label was being changed from a black and gold design to a black and yellow design. Very few mono copies of Please Please Me were issued with the black and gold labels and have become highly sought after by collectors and when found they are usually in average condition at best due to the amount of parties they were taken to.
The Beatles FIRST official L.P. release. For the only time, the mono version was issued six weeks BEFORE the stereo version.
This album contained the 'A' and 'B' sides of their first two singles, plus ten new songs, all recorded in one incredible session at Abbey Road. The session cost just £400 and lasted sixteen hours.
The album took exactly six months to pass the sales figure of 250,000, and went on to sell over half a million in the UK, with world sales of almost two million.
It still holds the record for the longest continuous stay at Number One in the UK album charts.
The cover photo was taken at EMI's Manchester Square headquarters by Angus McBean, and the sleeve notes are by Tony Barrow.
Whilst trying to think of catchy names for their first album release, George Martin offered the title, 'Off The Beatle Track', but this was bypassed.
Mr. Martin clearly liked the name, and used it himself in 1964.
MONO/STEREO DIFFERENCES
'Please Please Me' - The stereo version has John making a mistake in the words of the final verse, which causes him to chuckle in the final chorus. This is not heard in the mono version.
Condition
Labels - The labels are in Very Good condition with just some wear around the spindle hole. The gold print is striking & clearly legible. This is the first pressing with this label design. The first pressing credits 'Dick James Mus. Co' for Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Misery, Do You Want To Know A Secret & There's A Place.
The second pressing credits 'Northern Songs' for I Saw Her Standing There, Do You Want To Know A Secret, There's A Place & Misery, but retains the 'Dick James Mus. Co' credit for Please Please Me.
The vinyl shows a number of noticeable surface marks and scuffs, visually falling below VG, but upon playback, it performs surprisingly well, with only occasional background noise playing through to a solid VG audio standard with no skips or jumps. A respectable, well-loved example of this classic, offering strong playability despite cosmetic flaws.
When playtested the record sounded great and leapt out of the speakers with no major pops or repeat clicks. Some level of 'burring' is occasionally evident in the more vibrant passages, but there is no excessive distortion & surface noise is kept to a minimum.
The Matrix Numbers are XEX 421 - 1N on side one & XEX 422 - 1N on side two.
The sleeve is graded (Very Good), showing a name written on the reverse, There is some corner creasing and denting, along with light general wear throughout. The flipbacks show some wear, though all rear text remains legible and the iconic front image retains its rich colour without fading or laminate creasing—still visually striking after 60 years!
First pressings of Please Please Me are getting scarcer and scarcer with the sleeves often showing the most wear. Although not a mint example this is a nice overall VG copy & always extremely sought after, enabling you to complete your collection at a very advantageous price !
Tracklisting
01. I Saw Her Standing There
02. Misery
03. Anna (Go To Him)
04. Chains
05. Boys
06. Ask Me Why
07. Please Please Me
08. Love Me Do
09. P.S. I Love You
10. Baby It's You
11. Do You Want To Know A Secret
12. A Taste Of Honey
13. There's A Place
LP RECORD
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