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Magical Mystery Tour (Capitol SMAL2835 stereo)

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 Magical Mystery Tour (Capitol SMAL2835 stereo) Released in the U.S - 27th November 1967 Side One Matrix Number - SMAL2835-A Side Two Matrix Number - SMAL - 2 - 2835 This disc is out of order with the rest of the U.K releases, but it has context. In the U.K, a double EP of the six songs on side one were released in December 1967 to accompany the Beatles' weirdly-psychedelic TV film. In America, Capitol combined the TV film songs with the other non-album tracks released in 1967 to create a genuine 12" album. I offer it here because I bought this copy from Alibaba Records on South Road in Waterloo around 1980. But the Beatles have included "Magical Mystery Tour" as part of their official canon since 1976. This was the first full-priced Beatles album I purchased. The thing about the independent record shops, that are few and far between now, was they always got in odd, imported issues of records, probably because they were cheaper and easier to get hold of than the U.K ...
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Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone PMC7027 mono)

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 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Parlophone PMC7027 mono) Released in the U.K - 26th May 1967 Side One Matrix Number - XEX637-1  Mother Stamper 6  Sub-Stamper 44 Side Two Matrix Number - XEX638-1  Mother Stamper 1 Sub-Stamper 490 I got this one from a record fair in Skipton. When I think about it now, it was a false economy, because the same promoter of these record fairs was doing venues all over the north of England. Perhaps I just fancied a day out? It was a Sunday, and I used to do a takeaway delivery job the previous night. If I did well, I'd go places the following day. Anyway, this copy of "Pepper" replaced a better copy that went missing, so for £20 it was a no brainer. My first copy of this album was on an imported EMI Greece label, stories of which I will get to in time. I remember a mate in junior school had an original copy with the cut-out sheet you see below, he brought it into school. It freaked me out completely. I hadn't heard the album the...
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A Collection Of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies) (Parlophone PMC7016 mono)

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A Collection Of Beatles Oldies (But Goldies) (Parlophone PMC7016 mono) Released in the UK - 10th December 1966 Side One Matrix Number XEX619-1G  Mother Stamper 3  Sub-Stamper 63 Side Two Matrix Number XEX620-1G  Mother Stamper 3  Sub-Stamper 93 I got this one from a record fair in Manchester. I'm not sure what the venue was called but it was /is the Co-Op headquarters, just outside Victoria station. I have about six different copies of "Oldies", one  copy in particular has a brilliant story behind its' purchase that I will leave for another time. This plays well, but it's obviously been around the block a bit. Regardless of how it's been looked after, it's been well-played, but not to a point where it's completely worn out. When I really started to appreciate vinyl and how delicate it was, I wasn't going to buy stuff just because it was there. If something was a bad copy, I didn't bother, though there was one exception which I can talk about an...
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Revolver (Parlophone PMC7009 mono)

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 Revolver (Parlophone PMC7009 mono) Released in the UK - 5th August 1966 Side One Matrix Number XEX605-2  Mother Stamper 4  Sub-stamper 38 Side Two Matrix Number XEX606-2  Mother Stamper 7  Sub-stamper 20 The first of the non-family albums. I got this copy of "Revolver" from the Beatles Shop on Mathew Street in Liverpool about 20 years ago. It cost £10, at the time. I have history with this retailer, and it's not great, but the other stories are for another blog post. The thing about the Beatles and Liverpool in the early 1980s is it took Lennon's murder for the city to realise what we'd lost, and what we actually had. The legacy the band left their hometown is incalculable. A whole raft of Beatles-related business took off after that tragic event in December 1980, and the Beatles Shop is a consequence of it. Before that date, my city didn't want to know about the Beatles. There was a general feeling that they'd left the city for the money, and didn't ...
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Rubber Soul (Parlophone PMC1267 mono)

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 Rubber Soul (Parlophone PMC1267 mono) Released in the UK - 3rd December 1965 Side One Matrix Number XEX579-1  Mother Stamper 4  Sub Stamper 27 Side Two Matrix Number XEX580-1  Mother Stamper 2  Sub Stamper 20  The last of Mum's original albums - but not. The cover is part of the family silver, but the disc isn't. Another one of my many youthful mistakes. I distinctly remember messing around with the record and cracking it over the top of my little brother's head. It snapped into two. Mum was there, and was not amused. Consequently, the cover was left empty for many years until, by happy accident, I picked up a cheap copy of the disc without a cover at a record fair in Chester. I added the inner sleeve as appropriate as well. I have another copy of this, the infamous XEX579-4 matrix, the supposed "loud" cut of this disc. When the vinyl was first cut at EMI, producer George Martin was unhappy with the sound, but thousands of discs had gone out for production...
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Help! (Parlophone PMC1255 mono)

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 Help! (Parlophone PMC1255 mono) Released in the UK - 6th August 1965 Side One Matrix Number XEX549-2  Mother Stamper 1  Sub-stamper 237 Side Two Matrix Number XEX550-2  Mother Stamper 2  Sub-stamper 201 Yet another of Mum's collection, and from a personal point of view, the cover I'm most embarrassed about because I've absolutely ravaged it. Why I thought, aged 9 or whatever I was, it would be good fun to draw moustaches and beards on the band on the back cover of the album is lost in the midsts of time. Actually, I've drawn imaginary beards on the band on the front cover too, but thankfully, the felt-tip pen has pretty much faded over time. I suppose youth can excuse a lot? Or not? The disc itself isn't in great condition, Yet again, I had to get an era-appropriate EMI inner sleeve. I really dug this album when I was a kid, I guess it was my favourite. I borrowed a tape recorder with a condenser microphone on the side off a mate from school and recorded the al...
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Beatles For Sale (Parlophone PMC1240 mono)

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 Beatles For Sale (Parlophone PMC1240 mono) Released in the UK - 4th December 1964 Side One Matrix Number XEX503-4N  Mother Stamper 1  Sub-stamper 233 Side Two Matrix Number XEX504-4N  Mother Stamper 21  Sub-stamper 263 The first of the Beatles' original albums not from the family archive. I actually do have Mum's (or Dad's) original, but of all these discs, it's the one in the worst condition. It is contained in an EMI era-appropriate sleeve. The family original didn't have the cover either, which was also the case for some later 7" singles I have too, but that's another story. In a way, it's not that surprising that this record's sleeve is missing, of all the earlier discs it was the most elaborate, yet flimsiest and easiest to damage. The right hand side of this inner cover was an indicator to a later and much celebrated front cover of 1967???? I got this copy from a long-established record fair at the Liner Hotel in Liverpool, next to Lime Stree...
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