The Beatles – Meet The Beatles!

Very nice sounding US mono press. I picked it up in the used bins at my local brick and mortar for $3.99 about a year ago. The cover is a bit ring-worn, but not bad compared to some recordings of this vintage. There's literally zero surface noise or pops/skips present. The mix is exactly what you'd expect from a British pop band in 1964, clearly mixed for AM radio (In America), with vocals way up front, and guitars second in the mix, but translates well on my big system as well. I bought my original copy back in about 1971, but lost it through the flooding of my parents basement. I've looked for a decent copy all these years, so imagine my happiness when I found this 1964 copy in such great condition. It's no collectors item (going for .99 cents currently on Discogs) and it's a standard Pinckneyville Pressing, who pressed and distributed so many records (much like Terre Haute) in the Midwest of the US. All in all a very decent record, and I couldn't be happier for $3.99!

I should mention that fans are snapping up any and all Beatles records from the used bins, so anything you see should be purchased (only if its in decent condition and you don't already have this variant). They are disappearing fast. And it's mono!

This is a nice sounding US mono pressing. The sound is warm and natural. Maybe somehow different of UK and Europian pressings but to me this is very good sounding issue.

Mine has a DECCA inner sleeve which I thought was odd, except it was pressed at a DECCA plant.

I cannot find a date on my LP. It is the 1st album Meet the Beatles. There are numbers but no dates. All is credit BMI except for 2 songs Til there was you and Don't bother me which is ASCAP. Any advice on how to find out which LP this is will be greatly appreciated. This is not my specialty. I don't want to sell it if I'm not sure which copy it is. The cover is a black picture with blue "Meet The" "Beatles" is orange or brown letters. Says recorded in england and says scranton and Los Angeles on it.

Does anyone know when the 2nd pressing was actually released? I just bought a 2nd pressing last week at a local antique store. My copy meets the 2nd pressing description to a tee. Album is in good condition and cover itself is in VG condition, but has some writing on the back at the top with a Feb.'64 date (almost looks like a phone message someone wrote on it). Am curious if the 2nd pressing was released as early as Feb '64 due to the hoopla of Beatle-mania at the time.

The very first pressing records were issued on 20th January 1964 in Scranton plant only, and had The Beatles! in brown or tan.
The Beatles! in dark green were released in Los Angeles plant later this month. So the either the given record image in not the right one, or the release date should be different.

1st pressings have black label with colorband. 'Beatles' on cover in tan to brown print. No producer credit on back cover. 'ASCAP' and 'BMI' credits are missing on the label.

2nd pressings have black label with colorband. 'Beatles' on cover in tan to brown print. Label has 'ASCAP' after every title except "I Want To Hold Your Hand" (BMI). No producer credit on back cover.

Later 1964 pressings have black label with colorband. 'Beatles' on cover in tan to brown print. Some labels have 'ASCAP' after every title except "I Want To Hold Your Hand"; other labels have 'ASCAP' after every title except "I Want To Hold Your Hand", "I Saw Her Standing There" and "I Wanna Be Your Man". Still other labels have 'ASCAP' after every title except "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "I Wanna Be Your Man". Most back covers add 'Produced By George Martin in lower left.

1965 pressing has black label with colorband. 'Beatles' on cover in green print. Most have 'Produced by George Martin' in lower left of back cover. Many have 'BMI' credit to every song except "Don't Bother Me" and "Till There Was You".

(Source: Tim Neely, Goldmine Record Album Price Guide, 5th Edition, p89)