Sold Date: November 26, 2023
Start Date: November 19, 2023
Final Price: $470.00 (USD)
Bid Count: 13
Seller Feedback: 226
Buyer Feedback: 0

ORIGINAL CAPITOL RECORDS 1st CLUB LONGINES ISSUE DECCA RECORDS CONTRACT PRESSING

THE BEATLES ~ MEET THE BEATLES! /// (1968)

ONE OF THE RAREST BEATLES RECORD CLUB PROMOTIONAL MEMORABILIA “MEET THE BEATLES!” FOLD-OUT MISPRINT INSERT

RECORD CLUB ISSUE 3 DIAGONAL /// STRIPE COVER WITH THE “ST-8-2047” CATALOG NUMBER

1st PRINT RECORD CLUB BLACK LABELS WITH THE “MANUFACTURED UNDER LICENSE” RIM TEXT

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

~ Before placing a bid, please make sure to attentively read our updated international shipping policy ~          

Original 1st Capitol Record Club edition of The Beatles “Meet the Beatles!” issued by Longines and pressed under contract with DECCA Records at its plant in Pinckneyville, IL. This copy is the earliest Record Club pressing based on a series of features which are attributed to it. This is one of the earliest 1st Record Club “Meet the Beatles!” issues which Longines equipped with a very rare promotional club fold-out misprint insert. This insert is also called a “brochure” in some sources. You can find the information about the sales of this “Meet the Beatles!” Record Club promo brochure online, including the sites Heritage Auctions and iCollector. Its starting price was $1400 and the selling price $4750 (Please see the listing's last photo with the screenshot from the site). The listing on iCollector came with the following expert description:

“Here's one of the rarest Beatle items offered in this sale - a four-page mini-brochure made for record club members, urging them to order copies of the American LP debut from England's hot new hitmakers. "You've read about them in Time, Newsweek, the New York Times... You see them on the Ed Sullivan and Jack Paar shows and on the Walter Cronkite and Huntley-Brinkley news broadcasts, now you can... Meet the Beatles!" Printed in light blue and black, this 5" x 8" booklet opens up to reveal mis-identified photos of the lads, with John and George's photos switched - we suppose all long-haired young men looked alike to Capitol's art staff! Incredible! Even more astounding is the back page, which is completely devoted to an ad for the then-current Al Martino album, "Painted, Tainted Rose," Capitol's way to hedge their bets in case the Fab Four turned out to be a flop!”

To this description we would like to add what has slipped away from the iCollector experts’ attention. The catalog number of "Meet the Beatles!" album on the front reads "F2047" and "SF2047" as oppose to the correct ones, "T2047" and "ST2047". Additionally, the insert misprints the catalog number of Al Martino's "Painted, Tainted Rose" album on the back indicating "F1975" and "SF1975" instead of "T1975" and "ST1975". The three diagonal /// stripes (hash marks) present in the upper left-hand corner of this Record Club copy’s cover are the main feature that differentiates the club issue cover from the regular issue. The presence of the unique “ST 8-2047” catalog number in the upper right-hand corner on the front doesn’t come across that frequently even on the 1st print covers. Longines altered the original catalog number by adding the “8” prefix which serves as a catalog identifier of Capitol Record Club record. The back cover contains the RIAA “16” at the bottom right corner which is present on the covers of Capitol Record Club issues pressed by DECCA Records for Longines in between 1969 and 1972.  Capitol label releases that were pressed by Decca for Longines and distributed by Longines were first made available in early 1969. The very 1st early copies had the black multi-color Capitol labels with the “Manufactured Under License from Capitol Records Inc.” rim text at the bottom and were being issued only until May of 1969, which explains their rarity. The 1st print black labels of this copy, besides the catalog number, have a 1” DECCA Records pressing ring. The subsequent information involves the vinyl. This very early pressing contains the DECCA Records, Pinckneyville, IL “2” plant identifier in the runout groove on both sides. After including the “8” prefix, the matrix numbers became as follows: SIDE 1 – ST 1 82047 W1 2 / SIDE 2 – ST 2 82047-W1 2. The album comes with the original white paper inner sleeve.

★

I grade the cover as Excellent. It's very clean and doesn't have any splits, writing, tears, soiling or residue. The front cover has some very light shelf wear. The back cover doesn't have any ring wear. The rigid spine has a fully readable text. The original insert is in great vintage condition only having two pieces of tape at the center top and bottom  inside. The original Capitol white die-cut inner sleeve is in Near Mint Minus condition. I grade the vinyl as Very Good Plus. It has some light non-feelable surface hairlines and marks as well as some scuffs from the original inner sleeve. The labels are in Excellent Plus condition, super clean and are scuff- and wear-free. The vinyl sounds great only having some very light occasional static, which most likely could get reduced or go away if the record is professionally cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine. 

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

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FOR INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS' CONSIDERATION

Due to the high risks involved when it comes international shipping, we’ve recently stopped sending our items with USPS First-Class Mail International and now use only USPS Priority Mail International Express. However, if your order exceeds the amount of $5000, we’ll have to ship the package with FedEx as oppose to USPS.

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