THE BEATLES A Hard Day's Night RARER ORIG UK 1964 1st PRESS EX+ COPY in STEREO.

	£		143
	$		189

ONEADAYRECORDS – Simply Delivering Quality Music to the World in Quality, Safe Packing.

Postage: UK £4.75 (£1 per extra record). Europe (including Russia) £12.50 (£2 per extra record). Rest of World (including ALL parts of the USA) £16.50 (£3 per extra record). All boxes signed for in quality, safe packaging – I NEVER use mailing envelopes that offer virtually no protection at all – in fact I think these things should be banned as records WILL arrive damaged in them at some time. Here, you get what you pay for – SAFE PACKING in BOXES using 7mm DOUBLE-WALL STIFFENERS. Full details nearer the end of the listing.

Posting to Russia: Yes, I do post to Russia. But delivery can take up to 4 to 6 weeks from the UK. So please be patient. I will submit a tracking number to the winning bidder, and when the packet arrives there it can be followed online using the Russian post website.

ALSO: I now apply the Ebay ‘2-day’ rule for non-payment to keep things moving – cash-flow is important for any small business. I will always keep my P&P prices as low as possible, and even after yet another Royal Mail price hike from April this year, I have NOT raised my prices and will never compromise on solid, safe packing that is invariably heavier than most you will get. My P&P offers probably the best value-for-money for vinyl records available, and I even will pay for full insurance on any record that sells for over £100 at NO extra cost – that is UK and abroad. Also I aim to post the very same day after payment is received. You WILL see the difference when my packet arrives.

FINALLY: Late payers will now be blocked at my discretion. As will any bidder who cancels a bid. I do not like this practice as it is most often used to phish out the price to beat. Ebay does not approve and neither do I – so only bid on my items if you want them.

Artist or Band: THE BEATLES

Album Title: A Hard Day’s Night.

Producer(s): George Martin.

TRACK LIST:

Side 1: A Hard Day’s Night; I Should Have Known Better; If I Fell; I’m Happy Just to Dance with You; And I Love Her; Tell Me Why; Can’t Buy Me Love.

Side 2: Any Time at All; I'll Cry Instead; Things We Said Today; When I Get Home; You Can’t Do That; I’ll Be Back.

Label/Format: Parlophone – first press format with ‘The Parlophone Co Ltd …’ rim text, ‘Solid in U.K. …’ and ‘Recording First Published 1964’ text. The surfaces are matt finished with a gentle hint of texturing. Side two has the embossed ‘K T’ tax code letters, these fine characters are both pristine.

Label Conditions: Both very clean, fresh and attractive with only very light, fine and faint spindle marks and no wear around the hole area. A somewhat unusual sight to see a very popular vintage Beatles record that appears very little played. A super original seldom seen as such.

Cat Number: PCS 3058.

Mode / Speed: Stereo / 33.3 rpm.

Warps: Assume all records I offer have no warping of any significance and all tracking is easy and effortless and should play on all turntables and even ‘budget’ decks.

Weight of this Record: 158 grams. A typical heavyweight pressing from this era of quality.

Country of Manufacture: England.

Rarity: SCARCE: I will seldom state this for any standard Beatles issue because most-all sold in vast numbers. But this one is certainly one of the rarer early originals in stereo. In 1964 when this album was first issued, most were sold in mono, that being the mode of the time with few people owning stereo record players. Indeed many Beatles collectors regard this as one of the hardest titles to find as a genuine first issue stereo pressing, and of course being so little played and offering top quality sound makes it still harder. Over a relatively short time, this album was repressed with small variations, that included the cover front – the first ones have the word ‘stereo’ on the top right in medium size type. That then changed to an outline format, then a much smaller back to solid type. The label details also changed as well-documented. This true late 1964 pressing meets all the criteria for a first pressing as seen in my pictures. Very lightly played first stereos are somewhat elusive and with attractive little worn covers as well, very scarce.

Original Year of Release: 1964

Matrix Nos: YEX 126-1 / YEX 127-1

Mothers / Stampers: 3 RT / 1 M

Run-Out Groove Etchings:

Musicians: John Lennon – vocals; acoustic and electric (six and twelve-string) guitars; piano; harmonica; tambourine; Paul McCartney – vocals; acoustic and bass guitars; piano; cowbell; George Harrison – vocals; acoustic and electric (six and twelve-string) guitars; claves; Ringo Starr – drums and percussion. With: George Martin – piano, Norman Smith – bongos.

Brief Info: No long blurbs really needed for this album that most will know more than well. It was the third Beatles album – side one’s songs used in their first feature film of the same name. The American version was issued slightly earlier than here, and has a different track listing, all the songs are now self-written. For the listener, possibly the most important factor is it was the first Beatles album to be recorded entirely on a 4-track tape, thus the stereo mix is vastly superior to the previous two albums where the sound and vocals were predominately separated into each channel. Here the mix more natural, with the vocals more central – in fact the stereo mix and separation is fantastic. This a lovely copy as well, even with considerable upgrade potential for some.

Cover Grade and Format: EXCELLENT(+): a single format with front laminate. This covers all the closed folds and ends on the back on three external flipbacks. The front has the medium-size ‘stereo’ which is correct font for a first pressing. Printed and made in England by Garrod & Lofthouse with the ‘Patents pending’ text. Also included is the original tracing paper style lined inner sleeve.

Lamination & Front: The laminate retains excellent shine, freshness and clarity and has no lifting or significant creases. Any present are mostly fine edge surface types with NO cracking and showing little. This is a cover that often chips badly, especially on the more revealing blue bottom edge and spine areas, apart from from the almost mandatory corner tips, this has avoided it on these places. Just a tiny couple of the white top edge that have considerably less visual impact. Even the right edge where the laminate ends naturally short of full width, has the mainly blue exposed strip hardly worn with any chip traces tiny, very few and faint. And this cover is 100% guaranteed untrimmed or enhanced. Any marks or dulling to this well preserved laminate are very few, gentle, little and light, even when viewed critically under light. Dating right back to the midd-1960s – of that, there is NO doubt with the medium-size ‘stereo’ on the top right – this has survived the perilous era well, and has been clearly well-stored and handled overall. This quite delicate and wear-prone front looks very attractive with only gentle hints of being over 50-years-old – not too many available ones usually are.

Cover Back: The main matt unprotected back panel has also aged well. A little gentle darkening on the left edge which is the almost the most handled part where the record is removed and replaced. Any overall discoloration, tone traces or grubbiness are very very slight indeed, with only the merest hint of it’s true vintage revealed. The lack of creasing, rubbing, ringwear and NO writing are major pluses for a cover half-a-century-old. To put the icing on the cake: the three flipbacks are superb. All solid, undamaged with barely any hint of thickening or grubbiness to their ends. They have even avoided yellowing and retain an unusual freshness. All these factors for flipbacks make an immeasureable visual difference to any almost ‘antique’ cover, like the records themselves, most collectors the terrible states these old covers are most-often seen in. Compared to most seen, this cover is getting close to exceptional – with all considered, I think my grading is somewhat conservative.

Top Edge: Two small chips (or I could have added the extra (+)), that apart, little else to fault, being clean, still white, straight and smooth.

Bottom Edge: The very end tips have rubbed, and how many will avoid that? That apart, this more vulnerable storage edge is superb, lacking the chipping or damage again often seen. The avoidance on this dark blue area is a major plus.

Right Edge(s), and Type: Clean, reasonably sharp with little wear. A little thickening but hardly any burring as seen viewed end-on, also no softening or feathering – all traits these popular old covers often acquire. Record enters on this edge that again I state, has not been trimmed or enhanced in any way.

Spine and Text: An impressive clean spine: solid, quite thick and quite straight with any bowing gentle. As laminate tends to contract over time, either lifting or bowing usually happens – avoiding both is beyond difficult. Any compression slight and the text is nigh-on perfect under the solid and uncracked laminate. Practically the whole surface is super-smooth to the fingertip with no scuffs or flaking.

Corners: Small tip rubs with very fine shape retained, no dinks or creasing.

Cover Summary: A very strong all-round example of this more fragile mid-1960’s cover, one that will prove very difficult to find much better. The lack of chipping to the deep blue edges is a massive plus on this cover, this can hardly be emphasised enough. With only mild and gentle hints of it’s vast age, this still very attractive item should please many, if not most collectors. Not perfect enough for the absolute purist or perfectionist, but this still has significant upgrade potential for many, I feel sure.

The Inner Sleeve: EXCELLENT(+): and this being ultra conservative for a very fragile tracing-paper style inner sleeve. This is a super inner with only gently discolouration giving it that more almost perfect look for it’s era. Two pristine window circles and that fragile semi-transparent lining pristine as seen through them. Hardly any creasing and all edges strong and totally unsplit with NO repairs. One tiny nick on the top recessed opening edge, that apart, this being neat and crisp as well. These stylish inners of this period are seldom seen a great deal better – and that always bodes well for a record not been removed and used as much as most.

Vinyl Condition/Visual Grading: EXCELLENT(+): a very lovely visual copy that is very clean with equally fine shine and heavily pressed. A copy with very modest plays on all the evidence with any surface marks very light, fine and faint as seen critically under bright angled light. There are NO penetrating stylus scratches to either side, any blemishes on this impressive record are very minor indeed. In fact, when viewed normally in standard room light, hardly anything is even seen. For those who chose the stereo mode back in 1964, in most-all cases did so to play them on dedicated stereo equipment. Thus stereo copies have a better chance of being found in finer condition than the mono. Stereo record players tracked lighter and included much finer styluses. But the record’s themselves are far more elusive, even rare compared to the monos. For me it seems bizarre to state any Beatles record is ‘rare’, and being honest, these are not, but they ARE much harder to track down than the standard early mono versions. Visually a super and appearing to be a lightly played record that should please many, if not most collectors again.

Album Played For Grading: Yes. [I play ALL records I offer before submitting to Ebay, also the record is played in its entirety unless clearly stated otherwise. I do NOT play snippets or joining grooves to check for sound quality and quietness – I play from the beginning to end via clinically revealing B&W speakers that include the legendary tweeter from their awesome Nautilus range that reveals every blemish or minuscule sound present on any record.]

Sound Quality and Audio Grading: This quality album plays even above it’s high visual grading with barely anything to fault. It offers strong, distortion-free sound, all frequencies are sharp and clear - sound quality is immensely high with a wide dynamic range and very detailed sound. A fantastic stereo record, brilliantly produced and engineered, now with far more pleasing separation and delivery of the music. With new 4-track technology, the vocals are more natural and central to the mix – earlier albums had the vocals from one channel, the music from the other – this fails to work well. So historically, ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ is a very important album for Beatles audiophile purists. Any surface sounds hardly registered indeed – the odd gentle sporadic tick or crackle hint nigh-on impossible to avoid – and this is an exceptional clean pressing with no tracking issues*. Few available copies will outperform this very early pressing significantly I feel sure. Both channels are clean and sharp, I am certain this record has been played very lightly and has been generally well stored and carefully handled, almost certainly in a non-smoking environment. Viewing and playing this record, I can hardly believe how old it really is – still the most popular recording artists of all-time – the majority of Beatles albums have gone round the clock several times with looks and sound to emphasise the fact. All elements of this copy are impressive, and the sound encaptures the real essence of the Fab Four perfectly. The sonic delivery and detail in these vintage grooves give spine-tingling results and pleasure especially when played on a worthy system. Nothing of any real note spoilt my pleasure when play-grading this wonderful record. It will prove very difficult to find significantly better and can be strongly recommended.

* As played-graded on a high-end Linn LP12 Sondek turntable with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Blue moving coil cartridge tracking at 2.2 grams.

Now one of the most established sellers on Ebay and still offering the finest and most accurately described and graded records I can find. I pride myself on offering a variety of genres to keep my site as interesting as possible. I will rarely offer any record that falls below a true Excellent grading, unless its of a certain rarity which will justify offering a lesser grade. I try, to the best of my ability to describe as accurately and as honesty as I can all items I offer for sale with all the relevant information I can think of to help any potential bidder and collector. You may notice I only submit records sparingly on Ebay as I Play-Grade every record I offer in their entirety – also on higher-end equipment – not just bits to guess a grade - visuals alone do not always tell a true or full story. I will mention any defects or flaws no matter how small that I notice to be fair as possible to any interested collector – I am very fussy and my buyers have the right to be too. Every record I offer, whether it be a common or rare item deserves the same respect as far as I am concerned and will be treated the same - just because an item is rare does not always mean it’s good. I get just as much pleasure offering a relatively common record in stunning near mint condition as the real rare items. All the pictures I use for your guidance are taken with a digital camera or scanned - they are NOT improved, cleaned-up or made better looking than they are with camera trickery or enhancing with digital programmes. Room light factors can make things vary sometimes, that is hard to control, especially in winter. If any picture I take looks more flattering than the actual item for any reason, I will clearly state the fact in the advert and vice-versa. I hope the item below is to your liking - any questions can be emailed and I will do my very best to answer you. I am enthusiastic, and have a fair degree of knowledge about many genres and I promise quality items - bid with confidence - excellence comes as standard and so does Near Mint regularly. Please assume all records I offer have NO jumps, sticks, warps or writing on covers or labels unless clearly stated to the contrary. Thanks for your interest and Good luck – MIKE.

Deck: Linn LP12/Hercules/Cirkus with Ittok Mk II arm and Ortofon Quintet Blue moving coil cartridge (tracks at 2.2 grams). Amps: Naim Supernait 2 with Project USB phono stage and Tellerium Black interconnects. Speakers: B&W 704 Floorstanding 3-way Monitors (bi-wired with Tellurium Black terminated cable). All records I offer on Ebay are cleaned on a professional VPI-17 vacuum machine before play-grading for the cleanest and best possible sound and will include a brand new lined inner and protective cover too. Pictures taken with a Nikon D5000 SLR Digital Camera.

PACKING - THIS IS WHAT YOU GET.

What You Get: To confirm to the strict Ebay rules on shipping, I must now send ALL my packets ‘Signed-For’ with NO exceptions. Both buyers and sellers want their packets to have a safer journey and this is not a bad thing.

I now offer the fastest possible posting, often the very next day after payment is received or within two to three days maximum (unless on holiday). I only use FIRST-CLASS Mail. The record’s cover will be placed within a BRAND NEW soft protective sleeve and the actual record will be professionally cleaned on my new VPI-17 Pro vacuum system to give ultimate clean grooves and playing surfaces and the best possible looks and ultimate sound quality. You will NOT get tired, dull looking, dust infested records inside worn and foggy covers with tatty inners from this seller and that’s a promise and guarantee. All records are posted in professional boxes (NOT Mailers, these do not offer any real protection). The record(s) are REMOVED from their main cover to avoid edge splits and placed within a brand new polylined inner. The record’s original inner will be included if available. The boxes are then reinforced with at least TWO, ULTRA THICK stiffeners for maximum extra protection – these are FOUR TIMES thicker than commercial stiffeners and are custom-made for oneadayrecords. Really rare and expensive albums will even be Double Boxed if deemed necessary and possible. When larger boxes are used, the thick record and stiffener ‘sandwich’ is then thickly embedded into bubble-wrap to bulk out the record inside the box to centre the item inside to reduce the risk of damage still further. Printed address labels are used for clarity as well as a sender label. Customers requests or special needs for P&P will be respected if at all possible but ‘Signed-For’ posting is NOT an option anymore. I do not profit on posting, better quality packaging costs, I offer probably the best-value and safest shipping possible for ultimate confidence. The boxes and ultra thick double-wall stiffeners make a near impregnable fortress for safe shipping and this is used inland and overseas for ALL my records, not just the rare and expensive. I will invoice any winning bidder as soon as possible after the auction ends. My ‘loss’ or ‘damage rate’ is minuscule in over 14 years of Ebay trading and I consider that pretty exceptional. The only damage rate acceptable for this seller is ZERO and I think my packets will offer just that. It would take a vicious postman or postal service to damage these for sure. Oneadayrecords is a MAILER-FREE ZONE – they offer next-to-no-protection, and should be banned, no ‘professional’ should consider using them in my opinion. I discount of course for multiple purchases with a maximum of FIVE records per box (one double can sometimes be included subject to total weight). All postage costs are below and at the top of the listing.

NOTE: First Time Bidders: Please ask me first.

PLEASE NOTE: I now exercise my right to open a dispute after the Ebay rule of TWO days if no payment is received. I will then cancel the dispute to end the bid, again after the mandatory FOUR days and then offer the item to the runner-up or relist. The non-payer will also be blocked from my Ebay site as will any suspicious bids or bid withdrawals. Small businesses need prompt payment to trade and these strict rules WILL be applied.

SHIPPING COSTS & CONDITIONS – THESE comply with EBAY’S RULES - PLEASE READ CAREFULLY:

Posting & Packing: UK & CHANNEL ISLANDS all now sent via Recorded Delivery:

1 LP (FIRST-CLASS Recorded Delivery with Standard Royal Mail Insurance) [Signed For] = £4.75

1 LP (Special Delivery with Standard £500 Maximum Insurance) [Signed For, Next Day] = £7.50. (this includes insurance of £500). Add £1 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: EUROPE & SCANDINAVIA. (Airmail Only):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £12.50 (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3). Add £2 per extra LP.

Posting & Packing: ALL OVERSEAS (non-European) e.g. USA (ANY PART OF); South America; New Zealand; Australia; Canada; Japan and other Far East; (Airmail Only: I NEVER use Surface Mail):

1 LP (Small Packet ‘Signed For’ with Standard Royal Mail Insurance [£50 maximum]) = £16.50 (£17.50 for double sets). Add £3 per extra LP. (enhanced Royal Mail insurance is an optional extra £3)

Payment Conditions:

I prefer PayPal or cheque from UK winning bidders. I can accept PayPal from overseas bidders or direct payment into my bank account.

Potential Bidders: I will cancel any bids I feel are time-wasters. A maximum 3 days for communication and 7 days for payment to arrive - if not I will relist the item or offer to the runner-up. Fast deals get great feedback from me. Any questions - please ask and thanks for looking.

My Guarantee: If any winning bidder is not satisfied with their purchase I will offer a complete refund. I will not refund if any defect detail is clearly stated on the advert and missed by the buyer, so read the item description carefully. If any overseas collector does not understand anything in my listing, please email and ask me to help. Thank You.

SOME GENERAL GUIDES TO WEAR AND CONDITIONS TO HELP YOU DECIDE

My Use of Description Terminology: Surface Marks = Superficial, usually light marks, hairlines or light scuffs that rarely sound. Scratch = a needle mark that goes below the record’s surface, some will sound, some will not, my play-grade will inform. Original = a record that has been pressed with the first label design which does NOT necessarily mean a very first pressed record. First Pressing = A record that I believe or know to be a genuine very first pressed record. I do not claim to always know for sure, and that’s why I state the stamper and matrix numbers if at all possible, for those who claim to know what they all mean, the information is there for the collector to decide. I prefer to use terms like ‘Early Copy’ rather than ‘First Pressing’ if I am not totally sure. Surface Sound = Mild, light sound, usually light crackle or similar. Distortion = Break up of the actual sound caused by groove wear or damage from a chipped stylus – the most undesirable form of unwanted sound, vintage mono records were the most prone to this happening but not exclusively so. The symptoms of distortion are high frequency clipping, moderate constant crackle or an echo type sound quality. Violin, piano and vocals are most prone to groove-wear distortion. Feathering = Fraying or softening of the entry edge of a cover. Covers with feathered entrance edges are more likely to have had the actual record inserted and removed more than a non-feathered, sharp-edged cover which are always far more attractive. Set Off, actually a printer’s term for dark ink leaving mild residue on pale or white ink when rested upon. e.g. when a gatefold cover has black ink closed against white, this can leave some black residue on the pale area – this is mostly unavoidable or course.

The Argument for Vinyl Original sound and mix (mono mixes are rarely available on CD), high quality sound on clean copies (played on a hi-end dedicated analogue system – breathtaking sound!), beautiful, large format covers, artwork, inserts and even full size posters etc; huge investment potential, and the pleasure of owning ‘the real thing’.