This auction is for 3 Never Played 45 RPM 7” Vinyl Singles

Beatles Real Love

US version. In nearly perfect condition. Never played. Picture sleeve and record have been stored in separate protective sleeves for nearly 30 years. This is a vinyl 45 RPM record with small center hole. The songs are Free As A Bird and Christmas Time is Here Again. Catalog number: 7243 8 58497 7 0

From the back of the picture sleeve: Free As A Bird was recorded by John Lennon in demo form but never finished, and in 1994 the tape was entrusted to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The outcome is an elevation of the simple beauty of John’s original demo to a much higher level. Jeff Lynne, co-producer of the recording, modestly remarks, “It was tricky, but I think we’ve pulled it off.”

Also from the sleeve: From 1963 to 1969 the Beatles gave members of their official fan club a special gift at Christmas, a record unavailable elsewhere. The 1967 disc was titled Christmas Time (Is Here Again) and extracts from a song of that name were scattered among the sketches. Issued here for the first time is an uninterrupted recording of the number. Superimposed near the end are some spoken word seasonal greetings taped in 1966 followed by a John Lennon pastiche.

Seller’s Comments:

I got this record in 1995 (when it was released). It was one of 25 copies of the same record in the original box in which the manufacturer had packed them. And that box was fairly light weight cardboard. Each record had been inserted into a picture sleeve, and the box contained the 25 copies. The box did not contain anything else. There were no plastic sleeves. There was no packing material. There was nothing inside the box to protect the 25 copies as they traveled from the manufacturer to wherever they ended up. The records and sleeves were free to move against one another, as the box was slightly larger than the picture sleeves. And the records could move inside the sleeves, as the picture sleeves are slightly larger than the record. Overall the whole process worked pretty well. Even so, as I understand it, some record dealers will not grade records above Mint-, as the whole process was not designed to deliver records in pristine condition. So to sum all of this up, most of these records (almost certainly including the one offered in this listing) will show signs of storage wear and other blemishes.

And yet, I took steps to keep this record in the best possible condition, recognizing that I can’t reverse any impacts of packing and shipment. Immediately after I received the records, I took each picture sleeve and record from the box in which it was packed. I took the record out of the picture sleeve. I put the picture sleeve in a protective sleeve by itself. And I put the record in a separate protective sleeve. And there the record and the picture sleeve have remained for about 29 years so far. This record has never been played. It has been handled by me in 1995 to put it into its own protective sleeve, and it may have been taken out to be photographed for this listing. Storing the picture sleeve and the record in separate sleeves reduces the risk of the label portion of the record (which is thicker) making what can be a deep impression on the picture sleeve.

I believe this this record is in nearly perfect condition in that it is as well preserved and as good as the best of these things normally are. It has been carefully stored for these nearly 30 years. If there is some blemish or problem that is particularly annoying, I will mention it below. I have taken steps to preserve this record and picture sleeve in excellent condition, and I think it is quite likely that you will not easily be able to find one in better condition.

This picture sleeve has:

-        No seam tears

-        No stickers

-        No writing

Beatles Free As a Bird

US version. In nearly perfect condition. Never played. Picture sleeve and record have been stored in separate protective sleeves for nearly 30 years. This is a vinyl 45 RPM record with small center hole. The songs are Free As A Bird and Christmas Time is Here Again. Catalog number: 7243 8 58497 7 0

From the back of the picture sleeve: Free As A Bird was recorded by John Lennon in demo form but never finished, and in 1994 the tape was entrusted to Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The outcome is an elevation of the simple beauty of John’s original demo to a much higher level. Jeff Lynne, co-producer of the recording, modestly remarks, “It was tricky, but I think we’ve pulled it off.”

Also from the sleeve: From 1963 to 1969 the Beatles gave members of their official fan club a special gift at Christmas, a record unavailable elsewhere. The 1967 disc was titled Christmas Time (Is Here Again) and extracts from a song of that name were scattered among the sketches. Issued here for the first time is an uninterrupted recording of the number. Superimposed near the end are some spoken word seasonal greetings taped in 1966 followed by a John Lennon pastiche.

Seller’s Comments:

I got this record in 1995 (when it was released). It was one of 25 copies of the same record in the original box in which the manufacturer had packed them. And that box was fairly light weight cardboard. Each record had been inserted into a picture sleeve, and the box contained the 25 copies. The box did not contain anything else. There were no plastic sleeves. There was no packing material. There was nothing inside the box to protect the 25 copies as they traveled from the manufacturer to wherever they ended up. The records and sleeves were free to move against one another, as the box was slightly larger than the picture sleeves. And the records could move inside the sleeves, as the picture sleeves are slightly larger than the record. Overall the whole process worked pretty well. Even so, as I understand it, some record dealers will not grade records above Mint-, as the whole process was not designed to deliver records in pristine condition. So to sum all of this up, most of these records (almost certainly including the one offered in this listing) will show signs of storage wear and other blemishes.

And yet, I took steps to keep this record in the best possible condition, recognizing that I can’t reverse any impacts of packing and shipment. Immediately after I received the records, I took each picture sleeve and record from the box in which it was packed. I took the record out of the picture sleeve. I put the picture sleeve in a protective sleeve by itself. And I put the record in a separate protective sleeve. And there the record and the picture sleeve have remained for about 29 years so far. This record has never been played. It has been handled by me in 1995 to put it into its own protective sleeve, and it may have been taken out to be photographed for this listing. Storing the picture sleeve and the record in separate sleeves reduces the risk of the label portion of the record (which is thicker) making what can be a deep impression on the picture sleeve.

I believe this this record is in nearly perfect condition in that it is as well preserved and as good as the best of these things normally are. It has been carefully stored for these nearly 30 years. If there is some blemish or problem that is particularly annoying, I will mention it below. I have taken steps to preserve this record and picture sleeve in excellent condition, and I think it is quite likely that you will not easily be able to find one in better condition.

This picture sleeve has:

-        No seam tears

-        No stickers

-        No writing 

Elvis Presley Heartbreak Hotel

 US version. In nearly perfect condition. Never played. Picture sleeve and record have been stored in separate protective sleeves for 28 years. This is a vinyl 45 RPM record with typical large center hole. The songs are Heartbreak Hotel and I Was the One. Side A contains the original 1956 release versions of these songs. Side B contains alternate takes of these two songs, both released for the first time in 1996 with the release of this record. For Heartbreak Hotel Side B contains alternate take 5. For I Was the One Side B contains alternate take 2 . Catalog number: 0 786364476-7 4.

From the back of the picture sleeve:

Recorded on January 10-11, 1956, at the RCA Recording Studio on McGavock, Nashville, Tennessee.

Personnel:

Guitars: Scotty Moore, Chet Atkins, Elvis Presley

Bass: Bill Black

Drums: D. J. Fontana

Piano: Floyd Cramer

Vocals: Gordon Stoker, Ben and Brock Speer (Gordon Stoker was a tenor from the Jordanaires, the group that sang backup vocals on many of Elvis Presley’s songs; Ben and Brock Speer were members of the Speer Family, a Southern gospel music group.)

Seller’s Comments:

I got this record in 1996 (when it was released). It was one of 25 copies of the same record in the original box in which the manufacturer had packed them. And that box was fairly light weight cardboard. Each record had been inserted into a picture sleeve, and the box contained the 25 copies. The box did not contain anything else. There were no plastic sleeves. There was no packing material. There was nothing inside the box to protect the 25 copies as they traveled from the manufacturer to wherever they ended up. The records and sleeves were free to move against one another, as the box was slightly larger than the picture sleeves. And the records could move inside the sleeves, as the picture sleeves are slightly larger than the record. Overall the whole process worked pretty well. Even so, as I understand it, some record dealers will not grade records above Mint-, as the whole process was not designed to deliver records in pristine condition. So to sum all of this up, most of these records (almost certainly including the one offered in this listing) will show signs of storage wear and other blemishes.

And yet, I took steps to keep this record in the best possible condition, recognizing that I can’t reverse any impacts of packing and shipment. Immediately after I received the records, I took each picture sleeve and record from the box in which it was packed. I took the record out of the picture sleeve. I put the picture sleeve in a protective sleeve by itself. And I put the record in a separate protective sleeve. And there the record and the picture sleeve have remained for about 29 years so far. This record has never been played. It has been handled by me in 1995 to put it into its own protective sleeve, and it may have been taken out to be photographed for this listing. Storing the picture sleeve and the record in separate sleeves reduces the risk of the label portion of the record (which is thicker) making what can be a deep impression on the picture sleeve.

I believe this this record is in nearly perfect condition in that it is as well preserved and as good as the best of these things normally are. It has been carefully stored for these nearly 30 years. If there is some blemish or problem that is particularly annoying, I will mention it below. I have taken steps to preserve this record and picture sleeve in excellent condition, and I think it is quite likely that you will not easily be able to find one in better condition.

This picture sleeve has:

-        No seam tears

-        No stickers

-        No writing