Sold Date: August 7, 2022
Start Date: July 31, 2022
Final Price: $642.78 (USD)
Bid Count: 32
Seller Feedback: 73
Buyer Feedback: 154

INSANELY RARE PROMOTIONAL
ISSUE WITH THE CAPITOL
RECORDS RED INK RUBBER STAMP  

THE BEATLES ~ MEET THE BEATLES!

1ST RUN LABEL VARIATION
WITHOUT THE "BMI / ASCAP" PUBLISHING CREDITS

ORIGINAL 1ST ISSUE
AUTHENTIC JANUARY
1964 TABLOID OF "NATIONAL
RECORD NEWS: SPECIAL
BEATLES ISSUE"

 ORIGINAL UNUSED 3' x 2' CAPITOL RECORDS TEASER PROMOTIONAL "THE BEATLES ARE COMING!" WIGS STICKER

VINTAGE COPY OF 1963
CAPITOL RECORDS MEMO
FOR SALES AND REGIONAL
MANAGERS FROM CAPITOL'S
NATIONAL MERCHANDISING
MANAGER PAUL RUSSELL

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Incredibly rare promotional issue of The Beatles "Meet the Beatles!" with the Capitol Records red ink “Free Promotional Copy Not To Be Sold” rubber stamp on the left of the back cover, which were sent to the representatives of press and radio stations some time before the 1st commercial release of the album in January 1964 in order to promote Beatlemania in the US. This copy has a very early 1st version vinyl with the Capitol Records rainbow labels without the BMI or ASCAP credits on either side, according to many sources only 200,000 of these copies were pressed. This very early East Coast, Capitol Records, Scranton, PA promotional copy contains a very early 1st print brown “Beatles” banner at the top of the front cover. Very early 1st version cover without the “Produced by George Martin” credit at the bottom of the back cover. The lower right-hand corners contains the RIAA "3" number, identifying the issue as the Scranton, PA plant pressing. This very rare promotional copy comes with an incredibly rare original 1st issue authentic tabloid of “National Record News: Special Beatles Issue”, dated January 1964, which was sent to Capitol Records’ sales team. The four page fold-out 14¾" X 11½ newspaper contains the pictures of the band, the stories about Beatlemania along with the fashion news regarding the Beatle hairdo, biographies, including that of manager Brian Epstein, who is called the “Fifth Beatle”. The unique feature of this newspaper issue is the misprint of the band members names, identifying Paul as John, John as George and George as Paul. Only Ringo is mentioned correctly. On this copy the incorrect names were carefully crossed out with a ball pen with the correct names written right next to them. This promo set also features an original unused 3” x 2” Capitol Records teaser promotional “The BEATLES are coming!” orange & white wigs sticker, which is one of the earliest items of Beatles memorabilia. This sticker was a part of Capitol Records’ initial January 1964 commercial plan to promote the release of the "Meet The Beatles" album and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single. Along with the original “National Record News: Special Beatles Issue” newspaper tabloid and original "The BEATLES are coming!" sticker, this listing includes a vintage copy of 1963 Capitol Records memo for sales managers and regional managers from Paul Russell, Capitol's National Album Merchandising Manager, which includes the information about the "The BEATLES are coming!" stickers and "The Beatles! Campaign" in the US. 1st US Mono issue vinyl pressing with the stamped 1st matrix numbers in the trail-off vinyl: Side 1 - T1-2047-F1 IAM in Triangle / Side 2 - T2-2047-G2#2 IAM in Triangle. The IAM in triangle stamp identifies the issue as the Capitol Records, Scranton, PA plant pressing. The issue comes with an original Capitol Records very early 1st print royal blue inner sleeve, containing the other Capitol Records releases.

★

 I grade the clean cover as Excellent. It doesn't have any writing, splits or ring wear, perhaps only a barely visible hint of it at the bottom of the front cover. There're a couple of very light creases in the lower right-hand corner of the front cover. The spine has a fully readable text. The royal blue Capitol inner sleeve is in Very Good Plus condition having some very light edge scuffing along with a couple of staple holes. I grade the vinyl as Strong Very Good as it has some light hairlines, marks and scuffs from the inner sleeve. The labels are in Excellent Minus condition having some very light scuffing and spine marks. The vinyl sounds rather well, only having some light background noise. Track 1 of Side 1 has a light skip and a series of light pops. Perhaps, some of these issues will be reduced or go away if the record is professionally cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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