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Vee-Jay covers the interesting story of this label.
Here are A and B of a record they put out.
I’ll provide you with these tidbits:
The record shown lacks a sleeve.
I found it in a record bin in the boonies someplace in North Carolina, and paid $2. it was a, like, Mom and Pop antique shop. I still wisht I’da bought the armadillo charranga they had.
(a charranga is the lil bitty guitar-like thing you see in use by your local Andean buskers, and sometimes in the context of mariachi combos. It’s similar to a uke, but has more strings, if I recall aright.)
It’s not clean. Someone stepped on it and pivoted, possibly while wearing Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars.
Alright record geeks, (there are at least two of you out there….) GO! What’s so special here? I’ll help, never fear!
Offhand, I can think of a few things:
1) it’s a 45 with four tracks on it
2) VJ records was not the Beatles’ US label (it was Capitol)
3) I’m not entirely sure that some of those tracks ever made it onto LP.
Wel, you’re on the right track. 45s with more than two tracks were generally referred to as EPs, for extended play; And yes, the tracks made it onto at least one LP.
You’re also correct in noting that Capitol was the US label. However, It’s also accurate to argue that Vee Jay was as well.
What does this imply?
Okay, but do they play?
–Karen
’bout half. The sneaker-grind pretty well hoses “Ask Me Why”, and “Anna”.
C’mon people! Get with the baseless speculation and pseudo-expert assertions over heah!
It’s a contested issue at the time as to who held what rights to the Beatles material between Vee Jay and Capitol. This was one of the remaining contested releases.
Also of interest is that according to
http://www.dermon.com/Beatles/Veejay.htm
the later promo copies had Ask Me Why in bolder print, making this an earlier promo edition.
So THAT’S what an EP is (or was). I always thought it was a full-size LP with fewer songs per side.
NOW we’re getting somewhere.
Scott: well, that’s an EP too. There were also 10″ 33 1/2 RPM records released (notably the Clash’s Black Market Clash) which wrre like abbreviated albums, and they are EPs too.
Moving on from Eric: So, if VeeJay got into a contest of legal wills with Capitol, and Capitol won, what does that mean for recods such as this, or the Vee Jay Lp, released in the US BEFORE “Meet the Beatles”, “Introducing the Beatles”, from which these tracks were taken?
I’m guessing recall and destruction of unsold and undistributed copies. Making yours an exceedingly rare piece, and hence, you are now a multi-bajillionaire who will share the wealth with the commenters on this post only, in the form of blogging grants, like that Macarthur stuff.
Did I get it?
Yours is the closest, Scott.
There was no recall of the record, but since VeeJay was under considerable pressure fom Capitol to quit repackaging the Beatles tracks, this record is supposed to be the single rarest Beatles vinyl. Since promos were issued in smaller numbers than consumer versions, the run that it came from might be quite small.
Here’s a price listing for a clean copy, with picture sleeve (probably not a promo copy):
Beatles 45s: 06} The Beatles Souvnier EP, w/ Picture Sleeve (VJ 1-903,Sleeve Has very small ring-ware, Looks Great=VG++)$120.00
Here’s some more info:
Vee-Jay & Tollie Singles – his guy wants FIVE HUNDRED BUCKS for his clean copy.
Since mine is badly scuffed and lacks a sleeve, it’s not that valuable. But boy howdy, when I went to look it up I had some heart palpitations, let me tell you.
Here’s a lineup of label styles that the EP was issued with (mine’s down at the bottom): Vee-Jay.
The LP that VeeJay owned was also issued in bewildering variety. I have a copy of that too, in a special three-quarter gatefold edition (“Songs, Pictures, and Stories of the Fabulous Beatles”) that was sold by streetvendors in conjunction with the US tour in, um, ’64? I assume mine was purchased at the concert here in Seattle. The young woman who owned it has written endearments all over the moptops, such as “Dreamy”, and “Married”. The copy I have was played to death, and is plenty worn.
The LP was widely, almost frantically, forged, because certain variations of the LP became the holy grail for Beatles collectors. I don;t know if that’s still true. But I have listings for the “ad-back” variation (the very first edition, as I understand this confusing story) for over a thousand bucks.
Crazy. Mind you, I’m not a Beatle collector; I mean, I’m not rabidly anti-Beatle or anything but the ubiquity of their music, in combination with its’ strength, drastically limited the potential diversity of pop and sped consolidation in the record industry: witness Vee-Jays’ demise.
Not that Vee-Jay was gonna survive without Beatlemania – they were already in dutch for stiffing Frankie Vallee and the Four Seasons for something when the Beatles record blew up on ’em.
Have a 45 rpm, tollie RECORDS, Disc Jockey Advance Sample, 63-3188 VOCAL, Beachwood Music-BMI, LOVE ME DO (McCartney-Lennon) THE BEATLES T-9008, and P.S. I LOVE YOU. Is it worth anything??
Thanks, Mark
i have a copy of a beatles 45 manilla cover
tollie RECORDS love me do / p.s ilove you t-9008.
if it is worth anything i would love to know oh and it’s in mint condition not a scratch
i have the ask me why vj 1903 with the record you are showing . i have 2. these are some of the rarest promos in the world,. email me if you are interested