The Beatles & Frank Ifield on Stage - AUTHENTIC MONO PORTRAIT 1964 US Veejay LP
£
599
$
793
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Description
PLEASE READ FIRST!
I'm having to make this even clearer as people are still buying records I'm grading low and as a 'collection filler', and then complain about the audio quality when they try to play them. As I do not own a record player I VISUALLY GRADE my records, so I cannotguarantee that discs will be click, skip and noise free (although any marks that may cause such problems will be highlighted in the description).
All photos are of the actual item on sale. I do not use stock or 'borrowed' images.
THE BEATLES
The Beatles and Frank Ifield on Stage
Original, Authentic Mono PORTRAIT Cover!
On offer here is one of the true Holy Grails of Beatles collecting! This is an original, genuine copy of the Beatles US VeeJay LP, The Beatles and Frank Ifield on Stage that features the insanely rare Portrait cover!
This is NOT a counterfeit or bootleg copy. This is 100% the real deal and completely authentic and genuine!
Back in 1963, after the huge initial success of the group in the UK, George Martin started to approach EMI Capitol in the hope of releasing their music in America. However, Capitol were convinced that they would be a failure so refused. George Martin therefore started to approach smaller labels and eventually a deal was signed with VeeJay, a small Gospel label.
After two initial attempts to release a single completely failed VeeJay pretty much just sat on what they had. It wasn't until Capitol just couldn't ignore the Beatlemania any more and decided to start up a huge hype for their forthcoming album Meet the Beatles. When VeeJay realised what a goldmine they were sitting on they immediately rushed out Introducing the Beatles, much to Capitol's displeasure. A legal fight soon ensured which eventually ruled that VeeJay were free to use what they had unti their publishing right expired. Therefore, they were free to continue issuing Introducing the Beatles which, due to Capitol's hype, sold astronomically.
VeeJay decided to be very sneaky and had the idea of repackaging what they had with new covers and guises to try and fool the public into thinking they were buying new Beatles material. An album was released called Songs, Pictures and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles which just contained an Introducing the Beatles disc inside a cover that just had some stories and drawings of the group. VeeJay also issued the Intro album alongside a Four Seasons album and issued a double LP titled 'The Beatles Vs The Four Seasons' - an album concept that sold dismally.
VeeJay also released an album titled 'The Beatles and Frank Ifield On Stage', again, to make it look like new material was being released. The title, however, was grossly misleading as it was a live recording of the two acts, as the title implied, but just a selection of studio recordings. Just four songs were of the Beatles. This initial issue, called Jolly What!, featured the drawing of a stately gentleman wearing a Beatle wig.
Just before VeeJay were to lose the publishing rights they decided to reissue The Beatles and Frank Ifield one last time. It was issued in a completely different sleeve that featured a portrait of the Beatles on the front with their four songs listed proudly on the cover. Again, a repackaging of old material sold under the guise of being a new album of new material.
However, just as production started and records starting being sent out, their publishing license expired. It's thought that literally just a couple of thousand copies were ever manufactured (some people say it was around 3,000) and just a hundred or so ever making it onto the shelves before everything had to be recalled.
Today it's believed that the Portrait cover of The Beatles and Frank Ifield is the rarest American album ever to be released! Just a few thousand were ever manufactured and just a handful made it out to the shops, so now, over 50 years later, there are probably just a few dozen copies of this album left in existance!
This is a 100% authentic, genuine copy of this album. There are so many fakes out there but this copy passes every single test that confirms that this is the real deal!
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The print is sharp and clear with zero blurring, and the cover is a darker, almost navy blue. Fakes have a much brighter blue and can have blurred print and text.
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The spine clearly has the title of the album printed on it. This spine print is missing on fake sleeves.
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The seat for John is clearly there, an artifact that was cut when counterfeiters were recreating the sleeves for bootlegging. Fake sleeves do not have this seat
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The catalogue number is at the bottom right cover of the front cover. This is missing on some fakes.
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Inside the mouth, at the top and bottom, the overflaps of cardboard inside are 1/4" long. On fakes this is either much longer (over half an inch) or completely missing.
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As for the disc, the Audiomatrix stamp is visible on this copy, although worn. The MR (Monarch Records) circle stamp is clearly visible as you can see in the closeup photo below. These only feature on genuine discs and are either not on fake discs, or have been crudely hand-etched in.
This album is just so, so rare that copies never, ever come up for sale! Here's your chance to pick up a copy of this true holy grail of Beatles collecting!
Please check out large, detailed photos of this record at the bottom of this listing.
Title The Beatles and Frank Ifield on Stage (Portrait Cover) Year of Release 1964 Catalogue Number VJLP 1085 Label Oval VeeJay with Rainbow Tax Code on Disc - Sleeve Manufacturer - Side 1 Matrix Number 64-3852 Side 2 Matrix Number 64-3853 Side 1 Stampers - Side 2 Stampers - Cover Condition The cover is in FAIR condition. First things first, this cover is *not* mint, far from it. However, it is still looking alright and is certainly perfectly presentable. The front has some wear but is predominantly clear. The mouth edge and bottom seam has cellotape residue / staining as you can see in the photos. The top seam is heavily worn but doesn't look to have split. The spine has wear but the print is visible and readable. The bottom seam has unfortunately been subject to water damage and there is discolouration around a small chunk that has either been cut away or come away at some point. A close-up of this can be seen below. The back has yellowed a little and has some cellotape staining down the mouth edge and along the bottom seam. The water damage on the front is more noticeable on the back as you can see and has caused a chunk of the cover to come away and create a brown stain. The album's first owner Alf Rowden has written his name twice - once in black marker pen on the right side and in pen at the top along with a date of Feb 6th, 1965. This is either the date he bought the record, or the date it was given to him. Either way it's interesting as this album was recalled in late '64.Overall, the cover is holding up but has the aforementioned wear and damage. This does not detract, however, that this is an insanely rare and highly collectible record and one that I can almost guarantee that you don't currently have in your collection!
Inner Sleeve Condition - Inserts Condition - Disc Condition(VISUALLY GRADED) The disc is in G+ condition. The disc has a nice shine to it but has a fair amount of light scuffing along with some slightly heavier looking marks. There's nothing serious or nasty looking, however! Label Condition The labels are in VG+ condition. Both labels are clean with just a little spindlewear and a touch of wear around the centrehole. Nice, clean labels.
All records have been visually graded under a strong, 125W natural light desk lamp.
Records are posted out tracked and insured (where applicable) to comply with eBay and PayPal seller protection policy.
The P+P costs given on each auction are for that auction only. If you win more than one auction please wait until I've
sent you out an amended invoice to combine postage.
All LPs will be mailed out in a strong, corrugated cardboard LP mailing box with the LP outside the sleeve and extra
sheets of corrugated cardboard will be used where applicable.
My Vinyl Grading:
MINT No true preowned disc can be mint. The highest I will ever grade a disc is NM+/M- if it looks untouched and unplayed, but the MINT description will only be for records I personally know have never been played (i.e. I personally bought from new) or for copies that are still sealed. NEAR MINT (NM) For discs that look near flawless and which may have just the slightest, barely visible little whispy marks here and there. EXCELLENT (EX) For discs that still retain a brilliant, clean shine but does have some light scuffs here and there. VERY GOOD (VG) For discs that still look clean and have a nice shine to them, but do have a fair amount of light scuffmarks and/or some light scratches. GOOD (G) For discs that look like they have been loved and have a fair amount of scuffs and surface scratches. Not in terrible condition, but would look like it would play with a lot of crackle. FAIR (F) For discs that may have some life left in them but are pretty trashed with numerous surface scuffs and heavier scuffs and scratches etc POOR (P) For discs that are unplayable and look completely trashed. Discs like this would only ever be offered if they were insanely rare.price rating
