ORIGINAL 1st US MARCH 23, 1964 VEE-JAY RECORDS PRESSING VJ EP 1-903 PROMOTIONAL COPY
THE BEATLES SOUVENIR OF THEIR VISIT TO AMERICA 1964
ASK ME WHY THE BEATLES SPECIAL D.J. PROMOTION VEE-JAY RECORDS TITLE SLEEVE
THE RAREST OUT OF ALL BEATLES RECORD SLEEVES
1st ISSUE PROMOTIONAL WHITE / BLUE LABELS WITH THE ASK ME WHY TITLE ON 2 LINES
MONARCH, LOS ANGELES PLANT PRESSING WITH THE DELTA NUMBERS
Original 1st US Vee-Jay Records promotional pressing of The Beatles Souvenir of Their Visit to America released on March 23, 1964 featuring a one-sided extended play Ask Me Why The Beatles promotional title sleeve, the rarest of all Beatles record title sleeves. Issued in an extremely limited number, this one-sided black white sleeve contains a bold banner mentioning only the Ask Me Why single on the front and has an open end at the bottom edge. 1st print white / blue promotional labels with the Promotional Copy banner on on the left and right under the Vee-Jay Records brackets logo and VJ EP 1-903 catalog number. This is the 1st out of 2 promotional pressings The second pressing released in June, 1964 and is easily identified by the Side 2 label where the title of the Ask Me Why track is written on 2 lines unlike the 2nd pressing where the title is written in large font in one line. This promotional issue was pressed in Los Angeles at the Monarch plant containing the factory identifiers in the form of the delta numbers. The full matrix numbers are as follows: Side 1 Misery / Taste of Honey : 64-3915 51772 URJ Side 2 Ask Me Why / Anna : 64-3916 51772X URJ. The mastering of this copy was done by Jerry DeClercq, the Chicago based recording and mastering engineer while working at Universal Recording Studio.
This is the first time that we ve come across a promotional copy of this issue with this incredibly rare original picture sleeve in many years of selling vinyl. It s in great vintage condition and is graded as Near Mint Minus. The picture sleeve doesn t have any splits, writing or residue, only having some very light small age discoloration spots on the back side and the bottom of the front side. There s some very light waviness along the mouth, which perhaps isn t even worth mentioning at all considering the rarity of this issue. The vinyl is graded as somewhere between strong Very Good and Very Good Plus visually with its audio being Excellent. It has some very light non-feelable surface marks as well as scuffs from the picture sleeve. The beautiful white / blue promotional labels are in Excellent condition, very clean and don t have any scuffs, wear or spindle marks. The vinyl plays amazing having a warm and pleasant warm sound.
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