The Beatles - Sgt Pepper's ‘Fourth Proof’ Mono LP.

PMC 7027 – Original Black and Yellow Parlophone label.

Features the rarest known version of this ground breaking album, an original UK pressing in 100% original condition.  In such excellent+ condition,  the record set even smells NEW !. 

This ultra RARE and unique version of this album was effectively a preproduction sleeve,  the first  3 ‘proofs’  didn’t see the light of day,  this 4 ‘proof’ was passed around for final agreement, it is believed that only  40 – 50 copies were ever produced !.  Never meant to be released, but a number of these sleeves did find their way to the public.  As these  were ‘proof’  copies they should have NEVER have left the printing works.

There are a number of differences from the final production sleeve that make it  unique:

1. a "4TH PROOF"  and a "AR" AND " D 13217"  is printed on the top flipback on the inner gatefold of the sleeve,  there is a story about this that the old style of ‘visual’  flipbacks where on their way out and that the album was to feature the new ‘inner’  flipback design, therefore it was  thought that the above text would  NOT be  seen !.  Apparently the ‘AR’ stands for the designers initials and the ‘D 13217’  is the internal catalogue number for the printers of the sleeve, ‘Garrod and Lofthouse’.

2. The rear of the sleeve features the additional text of ‘Patents Pending’, by the time the album was officially released these pressings simply stated:   "Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd",     the ‘Patents Pending’ was removed,  it seems that by the time the album was officially launched,  Garrod & Lofthouse had got their  ‘Patents’ confirmed.  

3. Georges jacket is Pink, on standard sleeves the colour appears as Red,

4. Johns jacket is Yellow, on standard sleeves the colour appears as Green.

CONDITION:

MAIN SLEEVE:  is in excellent+ condition, the fully laminated sleeve has a really excellent shine. This is the nicest ‘4th Proof’  sleeve  that I have seen, there is very little handling wear, the colours on the sleeve are full and fresh and have not faded in anyway.  It features the original exposed flipback gatefold sleeve.   The spine is in excellent+ condition and is an indication that the sleeve has really NOT been opened, hence preserving the spine. The spine is crisp and white and all the text is crystal clear.

The original ‘DARK’ green cardboard cut-out is present and is in excellent+ condition. Again showing virtually NO signs of being handled !.

INNER SLEEVE: is the original RED/WHITE psychedelic sleeve, it is in   excellent+ condition, the sleeve is fresh and white, the record comes with a spare white inner sleeve to help preserve the original inner sleeve. There is a little rubbing wear to one of the side edges, about 30mm. 

VINYL:  is in excellent+ condition and shows little signs of being played, the vinyl is made from the ‘thick’, heavy vinyl, it is dark and has a high gloss, the audio is excellent. I have just played it all the way through on my ‘Dual’ turntable and it sounded amazing, a really powerful  top quality period Mono sound. The playback on side One was excellent, on side Two there was a little crackle on the intro. to side Two, otherwise it plays excellent.  The matrix no’s. are XEX 637-1 and XEX 638-1 and the Mother/Stampers are    ‘3 - RTH’ and  ‘0 (it looks like !) – RRA’ .     

THE LABELS:  are in excellent+  condition, they are  bright and clean,  there is a  ‘KT’ stamp on side Two.  Again the labels look as if the record has only been played once.

I am using the official grading system from Record Collector Magazine.

Grading System

The seven standard condition categories and a description of what each one means are listed below:

MINT: The record itself is in brand new condition with no surface marks or deterioration in sound quality. The cover and any extra items such as the lyric sheet, booklet or poster are in perfect condition. Records advertised as Sealed or Unplayed should be Mint.

EXCELLENT: The record shows some signs of having been played, but there is very little lessening in sound quality. The cover and packaging might have slight wear and/or creasing.

VERY GOOD: The record has obviously been played many times, but displays no major deterioration in sound quality, despite noticeable surface marks and the occasional light scratch. Normal wear and tear on the cover or extra items, without any major defects, is acceptable.

GOOD: The record has been played so much that the sound quality has noticeably deteriorated, perhaps with some distortion and mild scratches. The cover and contents suffer from folding, scuffing of edges, spine splits, discoloration, etc.

FAIR: The record is still just playable but has not been cared for properly and displays considerable surface noise; it may even jump.
The cover and contents will be torn, stained and/or defaced.

POOR: The record will not play properly due to scratches, bad surface noise, etc. The cover and contents will be badly damaged or partly missing.

BAD: The record is unplayable or might even be broken, and is only of use as a collection-filler.

+  or  – :  indicates a grading in between categories.

PACKING - ALL RECORDS ARE SENT OUT WITH MULTI LAYERED CARD STIFFNERS.

DISCOUNT WILL BE GIVEN ON POSTAGE FOR MULTIPLE PURCHASES.

ALL PICTURES AND RECORD DESCRIPTION ARE MY OWN AND ARE ALWAYS OF THE ACTUAL RECORD FOR SALE.

PLEASE NOTE THAT I WILL GET A RECEIPT FOR ANY ITEMS SENT UNINSURED, BUT I CANNOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ITEMS LOST IN THE POST !.

I WILL BE HAPPY  TO SEND RECORDS ABROAD, CONTACT ME AND I WILL LET YOU KNOW THE POST AND PACKAGE CHARGES.