Beatles Please Please Me Rare Undocumented Cover Original UK Mono Vinyl

Original Later 1963 UK Mono Vinyl LP. PARLOPHONE PMC 1202 : MATRIX NOs XEX 421-1N/ XEX 422-1N. Stampers (Side 1 / 2). Up for sale is what I believe to be a true needle in a haystack within the world of Beatles record collecting. The record itself is a fourth (or arguably fifth) pressing with the "Recording First Published" text on both sides, 1N matrices on both sides and quite late stampers, which isn't a rarity in itself so much as the cover is.

It's an Ernest J. Day cover which some may dismiss at face value as ALL of the early Please Please Me pressings came in E. J Day covers, which is true, but not ones of this type. This looks to be a later type of cover using a printed card stock, two piece design with three flipbacks attaching the front panel to the back, just like the design that all of the Garrod & Lofthouse and later E. J Day covers are based from. J Day covers are known to exist for many later Beatles albums, but there's no mention for Please Please Me anywhere, nor any recorded documentation from other collectors of this cover type ever existing. Upon receiving this cover I had assumed that it would be counterfeit because no such thing seems to have ever been documented, but comparing it side-by-side with other covers in my Beatles collection, I now think that this is genuinely the real deal. The front panel is properly and fully laminated like all UK Beatles covers were, with the laminate ending on a small gap of just a few. Near the openings, and the same goes for the rear flipbacks, too. The front cover image has a nice sharp picture to it, clearer than the soft tones of the older design E.

J Day cover but slightly grainier instead which I've seen on other'60s copies and the colour printing is very consistent, matching. Up perfectly with my other Please Please Me covers. The quality of print on the back panel is just as strong and consistent, being strikingly the same as my others. One thing I've seen with counterfeit covers is that they can never replicate the original colours just right, even if they get close to it.

The colours of this one really are perfect and I think it's too easy to understate that. All in all, considering the actual quality of the cover's construction, the materials used, the fact that it's clearly shown use and storage over the years, not being in 100% minty fresh condition and. The way in which all of these factors line up and are very consistent with my other copies of Please Please Me in my collection, I have to conclude that it is almost certainly genuine. If someone made this cover as a counterfeit piece then they'd be doing just as good a job, if not better than EMI's printers did at making those covers themselves! The quality of this one is superb.

Overall the vinyl itself plays in a Very Good condition, which would be graded decently higher if it weren't for an apparent scratch mark south of the Side 1 label that causes rotational ticks / clicks as it plays through. No jumps on my turntable luckily, and otherwise the record tends to play through nicely. It has nice and strong sound quality and it's quite an enjoyable listen with little surface noise to speak of. The cover is in a conservative Very Good + condition, which would be graded higher if it weren't for some waviness on the openings indicating perhaps some slight damp storage at one point in it's lifetime. If it was stored in those poor conditions, it luckily seems like it wasn't for long as otherwise the cover is in really nice shape with a good front panel and a generally strong, clean presentation throughout, albeit with some minor signs of wear on the laminate when inspected under a light. There are some spots of creasing / wear and dirt on the back panel, some within Tony Barrow's text, but nothing too bad. The spine text is intact and fully readable too.

The inside of the cover has the faint but apparent smell of someone's loft and considering how it shows it's own signs of wear, it encourages me to believe even more that this cover is a genuine Ernest J. Day piece and not just some throwaway reproduction. The record comes with it's original poly-lined Emitex inner sleeve and it's in nice condition but does have a slight tear on one side going down from the opening. If any long-time Beatles collectors know anything about this variant of the PPM cover, please get in contact as I'd love to learn more. Any questions, please give me a shout!

I'm more than willing to provide as many photos as needed. The item "Beatles Please Please Me Rare Undocumented Cover Original UK Mono Vinyl" is in sale since Tuesday, November 2, 2021. This item is in the category "Music\Vinyl Records". The seller is "aandrew_b" and is located in Prudhoe.

This item can be shipped worldwide.

• Artist: The Beatles
• Colour: Black
• Country/Region of Manufacture: United Kingdom
• Style: Beatles
• Custom Bundle: No
• Inlay Condition: Very Good (VG)
• Record Grading: Very Good (VG)
• Material: Vinyl
• Speed: 33RPM
• Case Type: Cardboard Sleeve
• Record Size: LP (12-Inch)
• Format: Record
• Type: LP
• Features: Original Cover
• Release Title: Please Please Me
• Record Label: Parlophone
• Fidelity Level: High-Fidelity
• Release Year: 1963
• Language: English
• Edition: Collector's Edition
• Genre: Pop & Beat: 1960s
• Number of Audio Channels: Mono
• Era: 1960's
• Album Name: Please Please Me
• Non-Domestic Product: No
• Sub-Genre: Beatles
• Duration: LP
• Modified Item: No
• Sleeve Grading: Very Good Plus (VG+)