The Beatles White Album Stereo Apple LP 1st Press 1968 Top opening PLAY TESTED

	£		79
	$		105

Welcome

Just a private seller, parting with my collection.

Please read everything that I have taken the time to write.

ALL VINYL PLAY TESTED BEFORE LISTING

EXTRA POLY OUTER AND PAPER INNER SUPPLIED

PACKAGE WELL FOR FAST SHIPPING

RETURNS ACCEPTED

The Beatles

Self titled (The White Album)

No: 0351922

Apple Records

PCS 7067 Stereo

U.K pressing 

1968 (first pressing)

Run out details(going anti clockwise)

YEX-709 - 1 GM  4

YEX-710 - 1 OAG 6

YEX-711 - 1 LO  4

YEX-712 - 1 OT  2

Pressing specifics

SLEEVE

Embossed The Beatles

Embossed Number: 0351922

Top opening Sleeve

Flip back edges

By Garrod and Lofthouse

Laminated outer and inner panels

Gramophone Records credit below song titles

Small printed Stereo on rear panel top right

Black paper inner sleeves x 2

EXTRAS

Original poster

3 x Glossy photos 200mm x 290mm

VINYL SPECIFICS

First Pressing

Sold in the U.K text

An E.M.I Recoding, straight not stacked text

Mfd in U.K

Publishing credits written after song titles

No question mark after Why don’t we do it in the road.

While my guitar gently weeps has Apple publishing, not Harrisongs.

Don’t pass me by is credited to Apple publishing and not Startling Music.

Piggies credited to Apple Publishing not Harrisongs.

Savoy truffle credits Apple Publishing not Harrisongs

Audio grades

I have played all sides through before listing.

Side one

Back in the USSR

Nice and clear, can clearly hear the crunchy bass and handclaps. No distortion when things get loud. Can’t say that I’ve ever paid much attention to Paul’s bass parts on this, he’s doing quite a lot. No issues with this track. 

Not much background noise as these tracks segue together

Dear Prudence

Nice warm bass sound. Some low crackle at the end of the first verse. Nice harmony production at the end of verse two.  Three very low repeating clicks at the start of the first verse, pretty far back. Some interesting guitar going on in the background.  It’s doing some tasty harmony lines in the last chorus. Some crackle on the outro.

Glass Onion

Again some tasty bass. John’s vocals are nice and clear.  No break up of the top and low end frequencies. Light crackle in the string section, but again, it is low, picking up as the track fades. I heard five clicks in a row at the very end.

Ob-la-de Ob-la-da

This is a very well recorded album.  I can hear all the little vocal ad libs in the background that I hadn’t noticed before.  No issues with this track, sounding great.

Honey pie

Nice quiet lead in. Good to hear everything that is going on in the mix.

Bungalow Bill

Bit of crackle during the segue and a pop in the Spanish guitar intro. Track sounding good once it kicks in. No issues here other than the start.

While my guitar gently weeps

Nice quiet lead in, with no significant crackle so far. The bass is sounding good here, great engineering. Reminds me of the bass sound on the first press of Abbey Road, very awesome. No sign of this track being overplayed, which goes for all the tracks so far.  One low pop at the end.

Happiness is a warm gun

Another great Lennon track. Sounding good and grungy. Just heard on pop at the start of the outro chorus. 

Thoughts on this side. Over all I am very happy with the way this side sounded. Everything sounded clear and distortion free. Not once did the stylus stick or jump. The quitter tracks were not drowned out with crackle. The clicks and pops I heard and mentioned were not horrendous and either at the very start or end of a track. I am grading this side as very good.

Side two

Martha my dear

So were off to a slightly crackly start here. Dies down a lot by the start of the second verse.  The brass section is sounding nice and tight and warm. No distortion to the top or low end frequencies. Sounded great

So tired

Sounding very good for a quieter track. Some very low level crackle present, but low enough to affect the audio.  There’s some tasty second guitar work going on in the back mix.  Spoken outro sounding clear. Sounded great too

Blackbird

Nice clear intro, no bad crackle. I would expect this to be one of the tracks that suffers the most over time, due to being so quiet. Not the case here that I can tell. Audio was fab here, bird song and all. 

Piggies.

Nice quiet transition between tracks.  Great track from George with no audio faults.

Rocky raccoon 

One thin pop at the very start. Not sounding overplayed in any way. Very fresh sounding. 

Don’t pass me by

Decent clean intro.  No distortion. Ringo sounding well doing his thing. The tracks plays just fine.

Why don’t we do it in the road

This just sounds like Paul McCartney being typical Paul McCartney.  I need to look up who is playing on this track. Sounded perfect

I will

Nice quiet lead in to this mellow track. I just heard one pop mid track. Otherwise sounded great

Julia

Off to a good start here too. Very low crackle is all, very mild. Acoustic guitar sounding very sweet and warm, as do the vocals.  I’m very happy with the way that this track sounds. 

So all in all a decent sounding side with very little outstanding flaws other that what I mentioned. I am recording the whole album , and I can say that I am very happy so far. This side to me also grades as very good. 

Side three

Birthday

Kicks off this side. Sounding mega loud. Big sounding bass end, good clear sounding vocals. I can hear Paul way in the background screaming, before “we’re going to a party” section.  This album so far, at least through headphones, turns up a lot of things mixed in the background that I haven’t picked up before. Track one sounded fine. 

Yer Blues

Sounding big and bold. Not much if any loss in the top or low ends. Interesting echo on Lennon’s vocal. There’s also some weird vocals going on way back in the mix. Bit of low crackle in parts. 

Mother Natures son

Unsurprisingly I’m getting more obviously crackle during this quieter track. It is not killing it though.  Brass instrumentation, very subtle nice tone, and lovely arrangement. 

Everybody’s got something to hide

What a monster of a track. Frequencies hang together well, even with John and his screaming vocals. Interesting bass lines. The guitars sound ace, great crunch. No issues here.

Sexy Sadie

You can really hear clearly all the vocal harmonies which have quite an interesting arrangement. No significant issue.

Helter Skelter

Loud! The bass is pounding my right hear in my headphones. Interesting mixing of the drums. There’s like speaking way, way back that you cant hardly hear, not noticed that before. Quite a tour de force of a track that sounded great to me.  You hear a bit of crackle when it fades out then back in, nought much.

Long,long,long

Another super quiet and gentle track. I can hear crackle throughout. Funnily enough as a long time Beatle fan, this is probably the only track that hasn’t cemented itself in my memory banks. 

Well that was another really enjoyable side. I heard no loud repeating clicks, and no pops. Surface crackle was present, and as usual, and most obvious during quieter moments. Not once did the stylus skip. No overall loss of sound quality in the top or low ends. I’m going to grade the audio as very good. 

Side four

Revolution No.1

Quite crackly at the beginning and into the verse. By the lyric evolution it lessens but persists. Another loud sounding side.  Some nice stereo mixing going on. Top end doesn’t break up and guitars and vocals sounding good. Some interesting things going on in the left hand channel. Listenable, but possibly the most crackle on a track so far.

Honey pie

Needles to say, crackle continues into this track. Vocal are holding up well. I’m sure the surface noise is a mix of fine marks and dusty grooves. 

Savoy Truffle

Nice to get another George track. Crackle less overt. Drums sounding good in the right channel. Some tasty guitar work going on left channel.  Just heard a quick pop, quite low. 

Cry baby cry

Big drum sound. This is another usual arrangement and mix, many interesting things going on. Yes, our friend crackle is low to medium level but there. I’m beginning to wonder if I cleaned this side. Just heard a low pop. Louder crackle during the outro

Revolution number 9

The stereo mix is used to full effect on this track. I can hear a lot of what is going on in the background. Crackle present throughout. Just heard one pop. This side is casting up a little dust as it plays through.  Couple of low pops before “Sees a surgeon”.  This track is a real foot tapper. 

Goodnight

Very lush sounding strings. Ringo serenades us out of this historic album. 

Of course some crackle persists here too. 

Well what can I say. It was an enjoyable side. Although I did fixate on the continuous crackle that ebbed and flowed throughout. Did it drive me to distract? In some places it did to be honest. Looking at the side post play. I see that some vintage dust was expelled from the grooves. I did clean it, but this needs a deeper clean than I can give it. This should sort some of the issues. No doubt some noise was caused by the numerous marks, but there are not enough marks to cause the amount of surface noise I heard. Nor do the grooves look worn. That is my opinion. I’m going to grade this side as good plus, as for me there is noticeable difference when compared to the other sides. If you have read this far, I commend you, and thank you very much for your time. I believe this LP still has playing life and joy left to give. Not perfect, but a true original and certainly not fit for the bin. If you are a fan and want a first press to play for fun, this could do you well. If you are an audiofile that wants cd quality, then stroll on. 

Visual grades

The sleeve is has been very well cared for and shows very little wear and tear. No tears or rips. It sits nice and flat and is free from stickers and handwriting. The embossed letters and numbers are still clear and show no wear. It is laminated and the laminate is completely intact, with no loss or bubbling. The surfaces inside and out are very clean, and there is no ring wear. Like all original copies the white is no longer bright white, and is now more a warmer Ivory tone.  Some light superficial marks present, though nothing unsightly. It has clearly been cared for throughout its fifty plus years of life. I am grading the sleeve as excellent.

It comes with black inner sleeves that are black, slightly shiny on the outside and rougher on the inside. Both are the same style with slanted corners and a circular viewing window on one side. Both are slightly shaped along the top on one side. Neither have much creasing, no handwriting of stickers. There are no bad tears, though both have one 4mm tear at the bottom of the circular window. One has a slightly creased top edge at the opening and has two 2mm tears.  I am grading these as very good plus.

Three original photograph cards are included in this set. George has seemingly popped off somewhere and never returned. They are printed on glossy medium weigh card, and measure 200mm x 290mm. None have any rips or pin holes. There is no significant creasing. Ringo does has a light crease at the top left edge corner, and John has one bottom left. There are no stains or discoloring. Each has mild surface scratches from being stored and coming in and out of the sleeve, quite acceptable. Each grade as excellent.

You also get the original large folded poster. It has never been hung and is free of pinholes and corner tears. Only light creasing present and no serious creasing. There are a couple of thumbnail sized spots on the lyric side, and on the front. The folds have not developed major splits, though there is a small split at one intersection where the fold meet, it is about 3mm. The poster grades as very good plus.

Vinyl visual grades

Before I begin, let us remember that this is an over fifty-year-old set of records by one of the most popular bands in the world. These records have lived through at least three of the most hedonistic decades to date. You cannot expect a new looking record.

None of the labels have stickers or any sticker marks. None have any handwriting such as names or scribbles. All labels are free from other marks or stains. Only very mild spindle marks present on each. Each does have some rubbing wear around the edges of the center hole. All grade as excellent minus.

Side one is glossy and the grooves do not look worn out. It has plenty of fine superficial marks, moderate weight scratches, some little scuffs and some harder looking marks. Many are tiny, some are very long and cross multiple tracks. Some are sleeve removal marks, some a stylus slips. It does not look as though it was kept out of its sleeve or given to a child to play with. I will be grading this a good/ fair.

Side two has fewer marks than side one. It does have plenty of marks and scratches much like side one. There is one scratch going across all tracks, and a moderate/heavy scratch across the last two tracks. The grooves in general look to be in good shape and not worn out through being over played. I will grade this side as Good/fair too.

Side three looks much like side two. It also has a long mark across all tracks and an unidentified small mark at the end of Helter Skelter approx. 3mm x 8mm, some kind of scuff perhaps. Mostly lighter marks of mixed lengths, no super hard marks, a less moderate weight marks. Still it grades as Good

Side four is mint plus, haha no I’m joking. It is just like the others; superficial marks, light, moderate scratches of mixed lengths. A few smaller harder scratches too. This side also grades as good/fair.

So there you have it. It has clearly had a life and been enjoyed for being the classic album that it is. Is it fit for the bin? I don’t think so

I sell this to you in good faith that it is fit for purpose.

Should any issues arise, rest assured you will be refunded.

Grading guidelines

Sleeve / Inners

May have one or more of these things:

Mint - Like new

Excellent - Some, but very little wear. No handwriting, no rips, no splits. 

Very Good - Still decent. More wear like rubbed edges, more pronounced rubbed corners, maybe little tears, might be a sticker, or name written on it. 

Good - Very rubbed corners, larger tears, handwriting, stickers, maybe sticker peel. Water damage.

Vinyl visual grades

May have one or more of these things:

Mint - Looks like a new record

Just bought it new in a shop

Excellent - Almost looks like new, some marks but no very many and they will be superficial not hard.

Been cared for and picked up non serious marks

Very good - Still looks decent may have mild scratches, and more superficial marks.

Been looked after but obviously played and enjoyed, picking up marks along the way.

Good - Has one or more hard scratch, lots of surface marks. Surface stains. Looked after but had an accident or two, may be generally uncared for. 

Audio Grades

May have one or more of these things:

Mint - Sounds like a new record

No issues sounds like I just got it home from the shop

Excellent - Really good audio, no deterioration of the sound quality. No loud background noise. Maybe one or two or no low pops. No skipping or repeated clicks.

Sounds decent and close to new.

Very good - A very playable copy with enjoyable fidelity that hasn?t deteriorated much if at all. No distortion in the bass, middle or high frequencies. Plays without skipping. Soft background noise will be noticeable but not intolerable. Maybe a pop or two and a mild level. Still no skipping or repeated clicks.

A copy to be played an enjoyed on consumer hi-fi.

Good - Playable but with more than one issue. This could be a brand new record with one hard scratch. Could be a record that has been kept out side its sleeve. Some skipping, maybe pops and repeated clicks. Back ground noise will be competing with the level of the music. Grooves sound worn and there maybe distortion of top frequencies. .

Probably a rare record that you are buying as an artifact rather than a playing copy.