Beatles Please Me early South African MONO - rare LP

	£		24
	$		32

The Beatles: Please Please Me early South African pressing Mono LP

N.B. shipping is NOT GBP 4 – worldwide shipping cost for Registered Airmail for 1 LP is GBP 19.

cat # PMCJ 1202

Black-and-silver old-style Parlophone label (black ground colour has a bluish tinge in certain light?) with three dimensional  Parlophone logo at the top. The first line of the rim print at the bottom reads "Pressed in S.A. under directions of the Parlophone Co. Ltd.”* Very early issue mono pressing. The first Beatles pressings released in South Africa were mono pressings.

Note: this black-and-silver label precedes the dark-blue-and-silver label in this label style. Beatles For Sale, for instance, was issued on the dark blue label with silver print and at this point (1965) the label was available in both mono and stereo for the first time. *The first line of the rim print for the dark-blue-and-silver label reads "Pressed for or by a registered user". By contrast, and as indicated above, the first line of the rim print of the pressing for auction reads “Pressed in S.A. under directions of the Parlophone Co. Ltd."

matrix numbers: XEX 421 and XEX 422

Grading is conservative. We don’t use “EX”. Please refer to grading scale below.

Vinyl:

“R.E. Lee.” has been written on the label of Side 2 in silver pen. Label on Side 1 has no writing. Visually, there are scratches and scuffs on both sides indicating that the record has been well played. At least two scratches on Side 1 are lightly feelable. However, while these do not cause anything problematic for -- or prevent -- play, there are, unfortunately, deep and feelable scratches across “There’s A Place” and “Twist And Shout” on Side 2. On these two songs – which play right through on our turntables – there is a regular ‘clicking’ which can be heard.

Side 1 play grades overall between VG- and VG  i.e. between 4 and 5.5 out of 10. There is surface noise indicative of general wear throughout, including the odd light ‘click’, but the record is still playable and enjoyable. No distortion.

Side 2, similarly, play grades overall between VG-and VG i.e. between 4 and 5.5 out of 10 up to and including “A Taste Of Honey”. Again, there is surface noise indicative of general wear throughout, including the odd light ‘click’, but the record is still playable and enjoyable. No distortion. However, because of the two serious scratches noted above, “There’s A Place” and “Twist And Shout” play grade as Good i.e. 3 out of 10 because of the continuous ‘clicks’ which are often intrusive. However, no skips, and the LP plays right through on our turntables.

All in all, apart from the two scratches noted above, this is still a very solid example of this pressing and, despite having been played often, it is far from abused. It can still be cranked up and enjoyed and remains quite a find, also when considering that many of the early South African Beatles pressings in particular often turn up in either unplayable or seriously abused condition.

Cover:

Shows several signs of wear when examined closely under bright light. It has spotting, scuffing, marks, creases, dirt, wear to the opening (feathering), ringwear to front and back (where it is especially noticeable), a sticker on the back cover and “R.L.Lee. 1964” written in blue ink just above it. On the plus side, the overall impression is still favourable, as there are no seam splits in evidence and the writing on the spine is still legible. Additionally, while there is light corner wear -- mainly to the bottom corners -- there are no corner dents. Laminated cover retains some of its shine and is still fully functional. The cover grades overall as “Fair” or better with flaws as noted above (though some might grade as “Good”.)

Grading:

Note:

1. Please keep in mind that records may grade slightly differently using different turntables and sound systems and that the process of grading is also invariably subjective.
2. Play is often variable for most records. Even sealed or “new” records may not play with the same grade right the way through as there may be scratches or pressing flaws which are often only picked up when the record is played.
3. We grade conservatively and endeavour to provide potential bidders/ buyers with an accurate or representative assessment of condition.
4. We don’t use “EX”.

Vinyl:

Sealed (presumed Mint) – 10 out of 10

VG++ (hardly any surface noise, or only the faintest traces of surface noise; generally very clean, quiet) – 8 or 9 out of 10

VG+ (some occasional surface noise heard in the background but play is fine) – 6 or 7 out of 10

VG (surface noise is heard more often – and is heard clearly in the same ‘space’ as the music – but is not especially intrusive, becomes part of the listening experience) – 5 or 6 out of 10

VG- (fairly frequent surface noise, sometimes intrusive i.e. starts to detract from the listening experience) – 4 out of 10

G (continuous and noticeable or very noticeable surface noise, often ‘competing’ with the music; still playable) – 3 out of 10

P (“trashed” or badly abused; terribly noisy, with distortion, skips, jumps: not really playable or enjoyable; listed as a “filler” copy because of its rarity) – 1 or 2 out of 10

Cover:

Pristine/ like new – 9 or 10 out of 10

Very Good – 7 or 8 out of 10

Good – 5 or 6 out of 10

Acceptable/ Fair – 4 out of 10

Poor – 2 or 3 out of 10

Terms and conditions

1. No refunds or returns. All items are sold as is.
2. We grade conservatively. All records are checked and graded under bright light and play-graded prior to listing.
3. Payment must be received within 7 days unless prior arrangements are entered into before auction end.
4. All payments through PayPal only.
5. We ship worldwide. N.B. shipping is NOT GBP 4 – worldwide shipping cost for Registered Airmail for 1 LP is GBP 19. Each additional LP is GBP 4. Please do not send payment until you receive an invoice with the correct shipping cost!
6. All items will be carefully packaged and sent via Registered Airmail (default shipping method.)
7. In the unlikely event that a parcel does go missing we will only consider customer’s claims for refunds after we have done a full investigation through both the South African and relevant international postal services to verify the accuracy of any claims.
8. Please send all questions via eBay’s messaging system only.
9. Customers should be aware that funds paid into PayPal can take up to a week to clear through the South African banking system. However, we will ship the goods immediately once the funds have cleared.