The Chantels I Love You So US Orig'58 END EP201 1st Press 7"45 RPM Extended Play

$

460

ORIGINAL 1st US END RECORDS 7” 45 RPM EXTENDED PLAY PRESSING

THE CHANTELS ~ I LOVE YOU SO (1958)

MONSTROUSLY RARE PICTURE SLEEVE WHICH WAS SUPPOSED TO BE WITHDRAWN FIRST
(OUR VERSION OF THE STORY ABOUT THE “SOUTHERN PLANTATION” PHOTO SESSION AND WITHDRAWN “WE ARE THE CHANTELS” LP COVER)

MONARCH, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA PLANT PRESSING WITH THE DELTA (△) SYMBOL IN THE RUNOUT GROOVES

VERY EARLY -1A / -1B MATRIX NUMBERS

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

~ Before placing a bid, please make sure to attentively read our updated international shipping policy ~

Original 1st US pressing of The Chantel’s “I Love You So” extended play album released on End Records in April, 1958. The Chantels became the first female rhythm and blues band  to release an EP. The album includes “Sure of Love”, “I Love You”, “Prayee” and “How Could You Call It Off?” The picture sleeve of this LP is considered to insanely rare and finding it is practically impossible, especially in such condition. Besides its rarity, there is one more circumstance that makes it incredibly collectible. The design of the picture sleeve uses one of the photos from the “Southern Plantation” photo session, which shows the girls’ standing against a church in white gloves without which the entrance to the church during slavery was prohibited. Although the “I Love You So” single from this album went pretty high up in the R&B charts, the cover of the EP didn’t evoke so much controversy and resentment among the racially sensitive public as the cover of “We Are The Chantels” LP that came out in October of the same year. If there was a necessity to withdraw and repackage an album it should have been not the “We Are The Chantels” LP but this “I Love You So” EP. When creating the artwork for “We Are The Chantels” the background with the church was completely removed and it neither evoked any associations with racial discrimination nor the girls looked like slaves, unlike the photo on the EP cover. The LP covers, unlike the “I Love You So” EP, were almost immediately withdrawn and replaced with a repackaged version. Among our currently listed items, you’ll find not only the original withdrawn version in brilliant condition but also an extremely rare original of the earliest repackaged “Juke Box” version whose vinyl contains the “11/14/58” date stamp. Incredibly rare original 1st issue laminated front cardboard picture sleeve with the “EP-201” catalog number in the upper right-hand corner as well as the back cover and spine. The back cover contains the biography of the band. Original 1st print End Records label variation without “A Product of End Music Inc., New York, N.Y.” credit. 45 RPM Extended Play EP-201 labels with a two-part doggie logo. 1st Monarch, Los Angeles, California plant pressing with only a Delta (△) symbol in the runout grooves and without a “MR in a Circle” logo, which was the standard for the Monarch pressing of the 1950s. The full matrix numbers are as follows: Side 1 - Side 1: EP201A △21628; Side 2: EP201B △21629. Monstrously rare highly collectible EP in beautiful condition of one of the most outstanding Doo-Wop girl bands ever.

★

 It's very hard to find the picture sleeve of this issue in such a beautiful Excellent Plus condition. The cover doesn't have any splits, ring wear, writing, residue or scuffs. The bottom left of the front cover contains a light factory defect in the form of an unevenly applied paste over slick underneath the laminate in one place. The rigid spine contains a fully readable text. The back cover is super clean only having a few very light and small indentation marks in the upper right-hand corner. The bottom right corner contains a rubber ink stamp with a price. I grade the vinyl as Very Good Plus. It's a great example only containing some very light non-feelable surface marks as well as scuffs from the picture sleeve, most of which are seen only under a strong light source. The labels are very clean and in Near Mint condition. The vinyl sounds great only having some very light occasional static and a couple of very light ticks on the "Sure of Love" track. Most likely, the static and ticks will go away if the record is professionally cleaned using a VPI cleaning machine.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

We don't accept bids from the accounts created during the auction or the ones created by the blocked bidders. The buyers with a low rating, please contact us prior to placing a bid. In order to assure a safe transit and prompt delivery we prefer shipping our items with Priority Mail, it concerns the domestic shipping as well as the international. You can be sure that your purchased item(s) will be professionally packed as we don't save on the packing materials. 100% of our buyers are satisfied with our packaging. We guarantee an exact and professional description of each item. If for some reasons something escapes our attention, please let us know. Please do it before you make the decision to open a return request. We'll put our best effort into providing the best customer service. We 100% guarantee a full refund and issue a partial refund only in certain rare cases. We're a Top Rated Plus seller and an opened return request would negatively affect our seller performance. Who would like that? Opening a return request is your right, however, we're sorry but we'll have to block you and it's our right. We're not going to hide the fact that we prefer to see among our customers the intelligent, decent and kind people. If you don't possess these qualities, you won't like dealing with us. We don't list items for an auction often and when we do it's a small quantity as these items are highly collectible and very rare.

FOR INTERNATIONAL BIDDERS' CONSIDERATION

Due to the high risks involved when it comes international shipping, we’ve recently stopped sending our items with USPS First-Class Mail International and now use only USPS Priority Mail International Express. However, if your order exceeds the amount of $5000, we’ll have to ship the package with FedEx as oppose to USPS.

I don't have the information concerning the existing customs regulations and policies in your country. Before placing a bid please find out more details about it yourself. I don't take any responsibility for the length of customs clearance. I also don't have any opportunity to influence the work of postal carriers in any way. For this particular reason, I ship internationally only with expedite shipping service that includes signature confirmation. My capabilities are limited to the professional packing that assures a safe transit throughout the way and fastest shipping dates. After shipping the package I don't accept any claims related to the work of postal service or problems related to the absence of knowledge related to the customs clearance in your country. If you have any negative experience related to the postal service and you'd like to insure the purchased item please contact me about it beforehand. Keep in mind that just like you, I'm interested in our transaction being concluded successfully but my abilities are limited to the service I describe above.