THE BEATLES INTRODUCING BEATLES 1st ALBUM V. RARE '64 VEE JAY MONO LP VJLP-1062

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·       THE BEATLES - INTRODUCING THE BEATLES - ORIGINAL 1964 VEE JAY RECORDS MONO LP VJLP-1062
 
·     HAS THE HALLMARKS OF THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC U.S. PRESSING!
 
·       ORIGINAL BLACK VEE JAY LABEL WITH MULTICOLORED SPECTRUM (“RAINBOW”) BAND ALONG THE LABEL’S EDGE AND “BRACKETS” VERSION OF THE LABEL (VEE JAY LOGO IS ENCAPSULED IN WHITE BRACKETS)
 
·       This album has NEVER been available on legitimate Compact Disc or in any other way, manner or format.
 

(?PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from another auction. What you see is what you’ll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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This album, of course, is the abbreviated version of the U.K. "Please Please Me" album. Capitol had passed on the Beatles for several months, before finally realizing what they had the rights to and elected to license their music starting with the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single. Before Capitol picked up the first rights option, Beatles music was licensed stateside to a small Chicago-based R&B label, Vee Jay. Originally slated for a July 1963 release, Vee Jay saw little public interest in the previous two singles they released, "Please Please Me" and "From Me to You" and chose to indefinitely delay release of the album. Other small independent labels picked up the licensing option for subsequent Beatle music, such as Swan Records releasing the "She Loves You" single. When Capitol finally took up their first-rights option starting with the "I Want to Hold Your Hand" single and Beatlemania took hold in the U.S., Vee Jay elected to finally release "Introducing the Beatles" in January 1964, choosing to deal with any potential legal consequences later in order to generate immediate revenue.
 
There are two versions of this album. A publishing dispute led to Vee Jay replacing "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" with "Please Please Me" and "Ask Me Why" within a couple of months. Consequently, the version with "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" is the rarer of the two. Legal battles between Vee Jay and Capitol over 1964 finally resulted in a settlement where Vee Jay could continue to issue the album until October of that year, upon which the rights would revert back to Capitol. Capitol would go on to issue "The Early Beatles" in 1965, a further abbreviation of the British parent album. In fact, two songs from the UK "Please Please Me" wouldn't even be issued by Capitol on an LP until the 1980s.
 
Since "Introducing the Beatles" was cancelled, the album has been heavily counterfeited over the years, usually mastered from needledrop recordings of the originals, sounding quite inferior and tinny. Authentic Vee Jay releases, especially in mono, have a noticeably warm and loud sound; authenic stereo copies are true stereo mixes from the U.K. album. Also, no stereo version of a fake exists; although some covers of fakes say stereophonic across the top, all fakes are in mono.
 
There is much, much more to the story behind this album; more than I can provide here in the space given me to write this review. Bruce Spizer and Frank Daniels have done immense research and wrote excellent books on this album as well as the history of Vee Jay Records; highly recommended materials if you're interested in acquiring a copy of this album. There are also very good websites that offer a tutorial on how to tell a legitimate copy from a fake.
 
In the CD age, this album is unnecessary. On vinyl, it's a priceless artifact that will be a key part of your collection. Get both versions if you can (sure, sure...but first, you have to find yourself a non-existent CD version, which might take some time  :-)) -- op.ed.).
 

(EXCERPT FROM AN ONLINE REVIEW BY RUSSELL NEWTON, ALL MUSIC GUIDE  /ALLMUSIC.COM/)

 
Who would have thought exactly 55 years ago that an album by four obscure Brits from a run-down port city where God said good night and fare-thee-well would make such a seismic impact on the world of Rock music - actually music, in general - and become one of the record collectors' most coveted prizes? Well, here it is, in all its glory, the original US pressing of this album. Or, let me rephrase myself: THE GENUINE, authentic pressing of the second version of this album, in mono, with BRACKETS Vee-Jay logo, on a "colorband" Vee-Jay label. All the elements of the genuine "Introducing the Beatles" album are here.
 

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