BEATLES, Rubber Soul MONO UK 1st press RARE -1/-1 stamp

	£		109
	$		144

UK MONO FIRST PRESSING VINYL LP in Garrod & Lofthouse laminated 'flip-back' sleeve and "Use Emitex" glassine inner sleeve. "Rubber Soul" ending in -1 on the matrix numbers are the hardest to find, (the indicate that the volume reproduction sound is slightly increased), there are permutations but the must have is -1 / -1. This is one of those rare species, it has early stampers pressed from the first mothers (see below).
Yeah, Yeah, Yeah (as the band would say) but, DOES IT SOUND ANY GOOD? Well, in this case, a resounding YES IT DOES. This copy is in splendid condition for its age, it has not suffered the usual fate of Beatles' LPs, namely, extensive play making for a disc that looks like someone went ice skating on it. We have played it on a top-end hi fi and it sounds, as we say in Blighty, 'Bloody amazing' - it really is a wonderful playing copy, clean, barely any surface noises of any kind, surfaces as quiet as you are likely to find on an original these days. We here at Raisedonrecords believe the Beatles' mono LPs generally sound better than the stereos for numerous reasons, least of all being that these are the mixes the Beatles' approved after recording had been made, they had very little to do with the stereo versions. And if you don't believe us, then at least know that the Beatles' recording engineer Geoff Emerick has stated on more than one occassion that he thinks the monos sound vastly superior to the stereos...he should know...he was sat behind the board most of the time the music was being recorded.

STAMPERS/LABELS: XEX 579 - 1 [1 @ 9 o'clock, P O @ 3 o'clock] / XEX 580 - 1 [an upside down C1 @ 9 o'clock, H O @ 3 o'clock]. 'Sold In UK subject to resale price conditions...' above the album name, 'The Gramophon Co Ltd' on inner rim.
Regarding Beatles' stampers and mothers: EMI used a code based upon "G R A M O P H L T D" (Gramophone, Ltd.) with "G" being 1, "R" being 2, through "D" which is 0. These letters representing stamper numbers can be found at "3 O clock" in the lead out groove area. So a record with a "G" only is the very first stamper made from a given "mother." The "mother" number can be found at the "9 O clock" position. The codes do give us more information about 'what happened first', though we need to tread with care as there are numerous known oddities and variations. (Information credit to Peter Rice at Beatlesdna)

SLEEVE: VERY GOOD++, JUST LIGHT SHELF AND EDGE WEAR, IT IS NEARER TO EXCELLENT MINUS BUT WE PREFER TO UNDER-GRADE A LITTLE. A FEW LIGHT CREASES, THE LAMINATE IS STRONG AND CLEAR, VERY MINIMAL CORNER BUMPS, REAR WHITE AREA VERY STRONG. OVERALL THIS IS A VERY NICE SLEEVE, ONE OF THE BEST WE HAVE SEEN IN RECENT YEARS.

DISC: EXCELLENT - AURALLY THIS DISC PLAYS BRILLIANTLY AND SOUNDS PHENOMENAL. THERE IS A LITTLE SPINDLE WEAR, WHICH CAN BE AN INDICATION OF AURAL PROBLEMS, BUT THIS CLEARLY HAS BEEN LOOKED AFTER BY THE PREVIOUS OWNER, THERE ARE NO MARKS OR SCRATCHES, JUST A FWE OF THE VERY LIGHT HAIRLINES THAT TURN UP ON DISCS AS THEY AGE. THE LABELS ARE VERY CLEAN EXCEPT FOR A HAIRLINE SCUFF BY THE POUND SIGN ON SIDE ONE (SEE PHOTO). WE LIVE IN THE UK, WE SEE DOZENS OF BEATLES LPS ALL THE TIME IN STORES AND AT RECORD FAIRS, MOST ARE IN VARIES DEGREES OF DESPERATE STATES, THIS ONE IS ONE OF THE BEST WE HAVE SEEN IN AGES. IF YOU ARE AFTER A NEAR MINT COPY, THEN PLEASE KEEP LOOKING ELSEWHERE (GOOD LUCK BYT THE WAY, AND DOES YOUR BANK MANAGER KNOW ABOUT THIS?) - IF YOU WANT A REALLY NICE, CLEAN, WELL LOOKED FIRST PRESSING PLAYING COPY, THEN THIS WILL SUIT YOUR PURPOSES ADMIRABLY. IF I WAS A BEATLES' FAN, I WOULD NOT LET THIS COPY GO AS I DOUBT WE'LL SEE SUCH A DECENT ONE AGAIN, SADLY, I'M MORE OF A JAZZ NUT THAN ANYTHING ELSE, SO I CANNOT JUSTIFY KEEPING IT.

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