BEATLES "LOVE SONGS" US FIRST PRESSING 2-LP 1977 COMPLETE & CLEAN w/ BOOKLET

$

26

BEATLES "LOVE SONGS" US FIRST PRESSING ~ 2-LP 1977 ~ COMPLETE & CLEAN
THE BEATLES "LOVE SONGS" 2-LP LABEL: CAPITOL RECORDS – SKBL-11711 RELEASED: OCTOBER 21, 1977 EDITION: US FIRST PRESSING ~ FALL 1977 GOLD FOIL STAMPING, 'LEATHER' COVER BOOKLET & CUSTOM INNER SLEEVES MASTERING/LACQUER: CAPITOL RECORDS ~ KEN PERRY ('KP' in MATRIX) PRESSING: CAPITOL RECORDS WINCHESTER ( ─◁ IN MATRIX) ART & DESIGN: RAY KOHARA / KEN ANDERSON MATRIX (SIDE A): SKBL-1-11711 F2 #4 ─◁ 'MASTERED BY CAPITOL' KP MATRIX (SIDE B): SKBL-2-11711 F2 #5 ─◁ 'MASTERED BY CAPITOL' KP MATRIX (SIDE C): SKBL-3-11711 F2 #2 ─◁ 'MASTERED BY CAPITOL' KP MATRIX (SIDE D): SKBL-4-11711 F2 ─◁ 'MASTERED BY CAPITOL' KP
CONDITION:  VINYL: EX     BOOK/SLEEVES: EX    JACKET: VG++
I've been going thru my massive vinyl record collection recently and pulling out some LPs that I thought that someone else would want for their collection. I've been collecting records for over 40 years and it's time to pass some of them on to the next generation of collectors.
This week on EBay I am offering up this fantastic, clean copy of the US First Pressing of The Beatle's "Love Songs" from 1977.
This is a nice, clean original US Pressing with the Embossed, Gold Foil, Leather-like album cover. It comes with the original 26 Page lyrics book and the 2 'parchment' like inner sleeves that list the song titles on each record. Everything is original and in great condition. See details on the condition below.
The records are arranged for an autochanger; sides 1/4, and 2/3
The thick Gatefold jacket is an embossed, brown leather-like textured cover on both sides with a gold stamped logo on the front and the song titles gold stamped on the back cover.
The record labels feature great brown & gold custom art resembling the Avedon photo on the cover.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In 1976, Capitol Records released the 2-LP compilation of Beatles rockers called "Rock and Roll Music." It was an unexpected hit, so they started working on this double album of love songs and ballads, called "Love Songs"
This is a double album, made up of 25 songs that run thru their entire career, 1962-1970, from their first single ("P.S. I Love You") to their last hit "The Long and Winding Road."
It's a fantastic compilation, but unfortunately overlooked among all their other great albums. It proves that John Lennon and Paul McCartney, with an occasional great tune by George Harrison, wrote beautiful love songs that have stood the test of time and still sound great today.
This was released just before Christmas in 1977 and was elaborately packaged to look like a fantastic holiday gift. It sold well, but not too well. It was the first Capitol Beatles album NOT to make the top 3 on the charts.
As mentioned, it came with an imitation leather cover, gold foil stamping and came with a 28-Page booklet of lyrics. The records were pressed on thick, heavy vinyl, and were packaged in custom sleeves that looked like parchment paper and listed the songs on each album.
The record labels were custom gold and brown, and had the same design as the logo on the cover. The gatefold revealed a terrific black & white remake of the famous 1967 Richard Avedon pictures of the Beatles.
Interestingly, since Paul was the only Beatle signed to Capitol at the time, and Ringo was recently dropped from the label, the art directors at Capitol 'doctored' Avedon's original photo collage, making Paul much more prominent and shrinking Ringo off to the side. Poor George is in the background, just like he was in the original. 
That (original) Avedon portrait is one of my favorite pictures of the Beatles, taken in 1967, just before Sgt. Peppers and India would change them forever. Avedon's photos were first issued in Look magazine in January 1968, and later sold as cool posters, which are now pricey collectibles.
~~~~~ There are times when you want to hear the Beatles just singing their beautiful, heartfelt, love songs and this album is just perfect for that. 25 great love songs from their entire career.
The 25 songs are spread out over 4 sides of thick, high quality vinyl, so there is plenty of room to give the songs the bandwidth they need to be recorded with excellent quality, no compression, no inner groove distortion, unlike what Capitol did when they crammed 10 songs on each side of their next Beatles compilation, "Ballads."
Songs like 'Yesterday', 'Michelle', and 'Long and Winding Road' start off their respective sides, so they sound great.
The sound is fantastic on this record! The only 'Issue' for Beatle vinyl collectors is that it uses all American Capitol material, not the crisper UK versions. Despite that, the versions on this great LP are the versions that 99% of us heard on the radio and singles growing up here in the States, so they sound warm and familiar to our ears.
It's a great compilation of the best Beatles love songs and comes in a beautifully packaged 2-LP set. The UK and European pressings didn't have the leather cover and gold stamping. The records also didn't have Custom labels. Only the US had this special fancy packaging. This is one of the best looking, best packaged, Beatle records ever released here in the States.
~~~~~~~~~~~ I still think this is a fantastic, lovely compilation of Beatles songs. No drugs, politics, screeching guitars, or psychedelic imaging, just beautiful. classic Love songs. Sometimes, like on Valentine's day or early Sunday morning, that's all you want.
Sure, there's still a place for the White Album or Sgt. Pepper's, but sometimes you just want to chill and sing along.
For Beatles purists and completists, 'Love Songs' had a few unusual and unique mixes of certain songs. 'This Boy' and 'Yes it Is' had different fake stereo 'Duophonic' mixes. This album was also the first time that "Yes It Is" and "This Boy" were released in America on an LP, not as 45s.
'Norwegian Wood' and 'Girl' had the wide stereo panning of 'Rubber Soul' reduced, so the vocals are centered instead of off to the right side.
Some Beatle experts have also claimed that some of the songs have the Left and Right stereo channels reversed, but I'm not enough of an expert to confirm that. I just know they sound great.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There is also a large, album sized, 28-Page booklet enclosed, but it contains no special photos or information other than the lyrics to the songs written out in nice calligraphy by Michael Manoogian. There's an example in my photos.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ This album, for unclear reasons, was never issued on CD, so the only way to get it is on Vinyl. Also, this 'Love Songs' compilation was deleted from the Capitol catalog in the late 1980s, making nice condition, complete, clean originals, like this one, quite rare and collectible.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The 25 Love songs on this double LP include:
 "Yesterday" "I'll Follow the Sun" "I Need You" (George Harrison) "Girl" "In My Life" "Words of Love" "Here, There and Everywhere" "Something" (Harrison) "And I Love Her" "If I Fell" "I'll Be Back" "Tell Me What You See" "Yes It Is" "Michelle" "It's Only Love" "You're Going to Lose That Girl" "Every Little Thing" For No One" "She's Leaving Home" "The Long and Winding Road" "This Boy"  "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" "You've Got to Hide Your Love Away" "I Will" "P.S. I Love You"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
CONDITION: I tried to show good hi-resolution photos of the cover, labels, booklet, sleeves and vinyl in my pictures.
VINYL: The vinyl looks great on all 4 sides. Clean and Bright. I almost never call non-sealed vinyl Excellent, but this one is close. I'll say conservative EX-, no scuffs, scrapes or hairlines. Visually fine. I tried to show some close-up pictures of the vinyl to show how good it looks. The records have been in old-school poly lined sleeves since I purchased this 40 years ago.
I'm sure you'll be happy with it.
LABELS: This is pressed on custom gold and brown labels. The labels are clean and bright. No marks or damage. The spindle holes are still sharp and clean, suggesting minimal playing and careful handling.
JACKET: The Gatefold Jacket is in very nice condition. This textured cover, stuffed with 2-lps and a book, is notorious for showing dirt, scuffs and ringwear, but this has been sleeved and stored properly for years, and is still quite nice. Some minor 'bulging' from the record edges, but very little actual rubbing or ringwear. The gold logo on the front has some rubbing in the center from shelf wear, but still quite nice. The gold print on the back still looks great. Spine is straight and fine.
The booklet and inner sleeves are clean, tight and bright, with very minor wear. The corners are still relatively sharp with only minor bumping. The inner "Mt Rushmore" photo is clean and bright. You can see from my pictures it's quite nice.
The only 'flaw' is some mild 'bulging' of the front cover due to everything being stuffed into this jacket. This is a great record to add to any Beatles or classic Rock collection. Original clean, complete, USA first pressing copies don't turn up for sale often and it's a real gem.
I'm guessing that this is about as good as a 'used' original copy is going to be. I'm sure you'll love it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~ ** NOTE: I'm selling this rare 'Collector' record "AS IS" and "NO RETURN". It's rare and as described and I'm sure you'll be very happy with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I’m recently retired and downsizing and letting go some gems and rarities from nearly 45 years of vinyl record collecting. Check out the many other fantastic 45s and 33s coming soon to my page!
All records have been carefully evaluated and graded by me. I visually inspect all records under bright light, personally gently clean them with a soft cloth and then, if unsure, play them on a modern high-end turntable to get a true picture of condition. Please look at all the high-resolution pictures I added. They are all my own and are of the actual record being sold. The pictures are part of the description and can show small details, label variations, and condition better than I can put into words. 
My grading is fair and honest. I have had over 3,300 happy and satisfied EBay customers over the years, with 100% positive feedback, and I have been buying/selling on EBay for well over 20 years, so please bid with confidence!
I'm a 0ne-man operation, this is a hobby, not my job. I do this for fun. I do this because I love music, love collecting vinyl and want others to share in that same experience. I take my time listening, researching, grading, listing and packaging. I will NOT sell any record that I personally would not want in my collection.
As you well know, packing and shipping rare records requires special care and attention, therefore, shipping cost within the lower 48 states is $6.00 on this stuffed double LP. If you would like insurance, or anything faster than Media/Economy Mail, please let me know and I can arrange it for you. I’ll work with you to make sure you’re happy!
I will gladly combine multiple records, or other items on my page, and make the shipping much less for you. I don’t inflate the shipping costs; they are what they are. I strive to keep them as low as possible. See my feedback for comments on my quality packing and shipping.
All items are packaged with sturdy cardboard mailers and appropriate padding. I take pride in my packaging and shipping and package all my records as if I were sending them to myself. I refuse to use cheap flimsy packaging material when sending my vinyl. I treat them as if they were my own and mail them the same way. 
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THANK YOU for looking and reading if you got this far.  -- JOHN