Rare Beatles White Album | Lost Harrison Rejected Mix | 1st US Press 1968

$

450

Harrison Rejected Original U.S. Pressing of the White Album

ULTRA RARE: Listed is an ultra-rare, low-numbered, U.S. first edition (mispress) of the White Album – considered one the rarest pressings of the iconic Beatles record as documented by Beatles vynil experts and historians.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: This variant of the "White Album," distinguished by its low matrix etchings (B28 and B29), was pressed in 1968 using metal parts from the first 33 factory lacquers in the U.S., which were supposed to be destroyed. George Harrison had objected to Capitol Records' use of a limiter that compressed the album's sound during mastering. At his request, initial units were recalled and replaced with a remastered version, which was the one released to the public. Despite Harrison's wishes, a handful of copies of the original rejected pressing managed to slip through the production line.

The story is detailed more extensively by Beatles historian Bruce Spizer on page 270 of his book The Beatles Swan Song: She Loves You & Other Records, published on March 17, 2007. Additionally, several YouTube videos cover the topic, including one by Noble Records titled "The Rarest Beatles White Album Ever? The Story of the Lost Harrison Rejected Mix!" published on October 8, 2023.

LOW JACKET NUMBER: Cover is numbered A1386627, indicating it was among the first six thousand copies manufactured in the US.

Unlike in the UK, where there was only one company printing the cover, initial White Album covers in the US were concurrently printed by three different companies, according to Bruce Spizer’s book The Beatles on Apple Records. To avoid replicating cover numbers, serials 026-0580000 were printed in Los Angeles, 0580000-1380000 in Jacksonville, and 1380000-2000000 in Scranton. Cover serial A1386627 is therefore the 6627th printed in the East Coast – a very low number considering that first pressings ended at 2 million.

CONTAINS ALL “SEVEN ERRORS”: This 1st pressing has all the seven spelling errors issued on the earliest labels: A4: "OBLADI OBLADA", A6: "BUNGALOW BILL", B7: "WHY DON'T WE DO IT IN THE ROAD" (without question mark) , D1: "REVOLUTION NO. 1", D5: "REVOLUTION NO. 9" and D6: "GOODNIGHT".

FULL SET: Complete with contemporary poster, portraits, and inner sleeves.

MATRIX / RUNOUT NUMBERS:

SWBO-1-101-B29

SWBO-2-101-B28

SWBO-3-101-A28

SWBO-4-101-B29

CONDITION:

Media: VG | Play-tested, no skips or jumps. Some surface noise especially in soft passages and during song intros and fades but does not overpower the music. Some feelable scratches. Disc labels are in great condition.

Cover: VG + | Some areas of the cover have been professionally refinished to restore the original color and shine and to repair split seams (see the pictures). Higher-resolution images are also available upon request.