The Beatles U.S. Singles/Vee-Jay

Non-Capitol Label Recording
Vee-Jay Records
#3 Please Please Me / From Me To You (VJ 581)
(Update: 11th. October 2019)

Picture Sleeve

INDEX

#3-1 Promotional Record / Monarch Records Press
#3-2 Oval logo / ARP Press
#3-3 Oval logo / Monarch Records Press
#3-4 Brackets logo / ARP Press / Picture Sleeve
#3-5 Brackets logo / Southern Plastics Press
#3-6 White label / Southern Plastics Press

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Notice* Click the disk of each image, so you can see the large picture image.

#3-1 Please Please Me / From Me To You (Promotional Record "Monarch Records Press": VJ-581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		Promotional Record (First Press: 30th. January 1964?)
SLEEVE: FRONT		SLEEVE: BACK	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!

SLEEVE CLOSE UP			LABEL CLOSE UP
		The wide tab-cut sleeves were printed and manufactured by Bert-Co Enterprises of Los Angeles.		Vee-Jay had developed a new label style for its promotional records. The labels have blue bracket logos on the left and right sides of the center hole and black print above and below the center. The words “PROMOTIONAL COPY” appear in blue below the logos.
LABEL CLOSE UP: SIDE-1
					Master number "63-2967", publisher's name "Concertone Songs ASCAP", and running time "2:00" were printed at the bottom of the label.
LABEL CLOSE UP: SIDE-2
					Master number "63-3218", publisher's name "Gil Music Corp. BMI", and running time "1:49" were printed at the bottom of the label.
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		VJ-581
LABEL		Vee Jay Promotional White label with bluebracket logo with black print
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		Monarch Records in Los Angeles, California
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA ?46527 (hand etched) (MR) symbol and Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA ?47843 (hand etched) (MR) symbol and Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
SLEEVE STYLE		1964 Vee-Jay Right Brackets Record Sleeve (Wide Tab-cut version)
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	Concertone Songs-ASCAP
	SIDE 2	Gil Music Corp. BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		-
COMMENTS		VJ 581 combined the A sides from Vee-Jay's first two Beatles singles. The promotional copies for this record differ from those previously issued by Vee-Jay. By 1964, Vee-Jay had developed a new label style for its promotional records. The labels have blue bracket logos on the left and right sides of the center hole and black print above and below the center. The words “PROMOTIONAL COPY” appear in blue below the logos. There are two variations of the promo record for the re-issued Please Please Me single. Type-1: has the song titles on two lines. It has the same trail off area markings as Monarch Pressings, indicating that these promotional records were manufactured by Monarch with the same stamp- ers used to press the A-sides of the first two Beatles singles. Type-2: The second variation, it has the song titles on one line. These discs were pressed by ARP. Total promo copies of the single were most likely limited to under a few thousand units. Some Vee-Jay right brackets record sleeves have a wide tab at the top of the front side of the sleeve. This tab was cut into the sleeve to facilitate the removal of the record from the sleeve. These wide tab-cut sleeves were printed and manufactured by Bert-Co Enterprises of Los Angeles.

#3-2 Please Please Me / From Me To You (1st. Press "Oval Logo / ARP Press": VJ-581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		30th. January 1964? / First Press
SLEEVE FRONT		SLEEVE BACK	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!

		LABEL CLOSE UP
			The first pressings of the record have silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the oval logo.
				The master number and the word "Vocal" are to the left of the center hole in roman type.
LABEL CLOSE UP
			The publishing information (on two lines) and running time of the song are to the right in roman type.		"ARP" and Audio Matrix logos, hand etched master number and initial "RA"
LABEL CLOSE UP
			This disc was made by ARP from stampers generated from the same metal parts used for the A-sides of the first two Beatles singles. Has thin print with "VJ" before the record number。
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		VJ-581
LABEL		Vee Jay Black rainbow with oval logo type-1A
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		The American Record Pressing Co. ("ARP") in Owosso, Michigan
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo and script "ARP"(machine stamped)
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo and script "ARP"(machine stamped)
SLEEVE STYLE		Vee-Jay Company Sleeve Type-2
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	Concertone Songs-ASCAP
	SIDE 2	Gil Music Corp.-BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		-
COMMENTS		VJ 581 combined the A sides from Vee-Jay's first two Beatles singles. realizing the visual appeal of the Beatles, Vee-Jay prepared a picture sleeve. A black and white version of the photograph used for Vee-Jay's "Introducing The Beatles" albumappears on the sleeve, which has a white background with the song titles and the Vee-Jay brackets logo in black print and "THE BEATLES" in bold red print. While the sleeve may have been issued with all of the record's numerous variations, is it most often found with the oval and bracket colorband variations. In oder to churn out as many copies of the record in as short a period of time as possible, Vee-Jay did not limit the production of this disc to ARP, Monarch and Southern Plastics (). The label contracted with additional pressing plants to help meet the huge demand. When pressing plants ran out of Vee-Jay label backdrops, they did not wait to be resupplied. Instead, each factory created its own Vee-Jay labels by typesetting the company's name, in either large block letters or thin print, onto the blank labels. There are five confirmed variations; 1-A: has thin print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on wo lines. With the exception of the location of the "ARP" logo, the trail off area markings ("ARP" and Audio Matrix logos, hand etched master number and initial "RA") 1-B: This label has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on two lines and space between "THE BEATLES" and record number. All trail off area markings (stamped Audio Matrix and (MR) logos, hand etched master number , job number ?47843 and initials "RA"). This styrene disc was manufactured by Monarch Records. 1-C: has thin print without "VJ" bofore the record number and with publishing information on three lines. This record was made by Southern Plastics with the same stampers it used to press the A sides of the first two Beatles singles. The remaining oval logo variations do not have the Audio Matrix logo in their trail off areas. This is because the metal parts for these records were not prepared by Audio Matrix. In early 1964, Vee-Jay moved its headquarters from Chicago to Los Angeles. When additional stampers were needed for the single. They were prepared locally in Hollywood, California, by either AMF Engineering Corporation or Audio Arts, Inc. Unlike Audio Matrix, these companies did not machine stamp their logos in the trail off areas of their stampers. Another difference appearing in the trail off areas of the other oval variations is that the initials "URJ" appear instead of "RA". This hand-etched initials are found in the trail off areas of many Vee-Jay singles and albums pressed in 1964. 1-D: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on wo lines and no space between "THE BEATLES" and the record number. The initial "URJ" are hand etched into the trail off area along with "T1" and the master number. 1-E: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on three lines and no space between "THE BEATLES" and the record number. The initials "URJ" are hand etched into the trail off area along with "T1" and the master number followed by "-1". The characeristics of 1-D and 1-E are identical to those of singles released by Columbia Records in the 1960's. As Columbia previously pressed singles for Vee-Jay, these styrene singles were manufactured in February of 1964 with left over oval label backdrops. One variation was pressed by Columbia in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the other by Columbia in Bridgeport. ()Three of the primary pressing plants used by Vee-Jay were; (1) The American Record Pressing Co. ("ARP") in Owosso, Michigan ARP pressings have a raised relief script "ARP" machine stamped logo in the trail off areas. (2) Monarch Records in Los Angeles, California The discs manufactured by Monarch Records are easily identified by a circled (MR) symbol machine stamped in the trail off areas, which also contain a hand etched job number preceded by a "?" symbol. (3) Southern Plastics in Nashville, Tennessee The lack of any pressing plant information in the trail off areas

#3-3 Please Please Me / From Me To You (1st. Press "Oval Logo / Monarch Records Press": VJ-581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		30th. January 1964? / First Press
SLEEVE FRONT		SLEEVE BACK	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!
Picture sleeve (Sorry, I don't have it)		Picture sleeve (Sorry, I don't hav it.)
		LABEL CLOSE UP
			The first pressings of the record have silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the oval logo.
				The master number and the word "Vocal" are to the left of the center hole.
LABEL CLOSE UP
					This styrene disc was manufactured by Monarch Records. The label has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, and space between "THE BEATLES" and record number.
The publishing information (on two lines) and running time of the song are to the right.
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		VJ-581
LABEL		Vee Jay Black rainbow with oval logo type-1B
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		Monarch Records in Los Angeles, California
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA ?46527 (hand etched) (MR) symbol and Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA ?47843 (hand etched) (MR) symbol and Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
SLEEVE STYLE		Picture sleeve (Straight Cut Top)
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	Concertone Songs ASCAP
	SIDE 2	Gil Music Corp. BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		Photo: Angus McBean
COMMENTS		VJ 581 combined the A sides from Vee-Jay's first two Beatles singles. realizing the visual appeal of the Beatles, Vee-Jay prepared a picture sleeve. A black and white version of the photograph used for Vee-Jay's "Introducing The Beatles" albumappears on the sleeve, which has a white background with the song titles and the Vee-Jay brackets logo in black print and "THE BEATLES" in bold red print. While the sleeve may have been issued with all of the record's numerous variations, is it most often found with the oval and bracket colorband variations. In oder to churn out as many copies of the record in as short a period of time as possible, Vee-Jay did not limit the production of this disc to ARP, Monarch and Southern Plastics (). The label contracted with additional pressing plants to help meet the huge demand. When pressing plants ran out of Vee-Jay label backdrops, they did not wait to be resupplied. Instead, each factory created its own Vee-Jay labels by typesetting the company's name, in either large block letters or thin print, onto the blank labels. There are five confirmed variations; 1-A: has thin print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on wo lines. With the exception of the location of the "ARP" logo, the trail off area markings ("ARP" and Audio Matrix logos, hand etched master number and initial "RA") 1-B: This label has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on two lines and space between "THE BEATLES" and record number. All trail off area markings (stamped Audio Matrix and (MR) logos, hand etched master number , job number ?47843 and initials "RA"). This styrene disc was manufactured by Monarch Records. 1-C: has thin print without "VJ" bofore the record number and with publishing information on three lines. This record was made by Southern Plastics with the same stampers it used to press the A sides of the first two Beatles singles. The remaining oval logo variations do not have the Audio Matrix logo in their trail off areas. This is because the metal parts for these records were not prepared by Audio Matrix. In early 1964, Vee-Jay moved its headquarters from Chicago to Los Angeles. When additional stampers were needed for the single. They were prepared locally in Hollywood, California, by either AMF Engineering Corporation or Audio Arts, Inc. Unlike Audio Matrix, these companies did not machine stamp their logos in the trail off areas of their stampers. Another difference appearing in the trail off areas of the other oval variations is that the initials "URJ" appear instead of "RA". This hand-etched initials are found in the trail off areas of many Vee-Jay singles and albums pressed in 1964. 1-D: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on wo lines and no space between "THE BEATLES" and the record number. The initial "URJ" are hand etched into the trail off area along with "T1" and the master number. 1-E: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number, publishing information on three lines and no space between "THE BEATLES" and the record number. The initials "URJ" are hand etched into the trail off area along with "T1" and the master number followed by "-1". The characeristics of 1-D and 1-E are identical to those of singles released by Columbia Records in the 1960's. As Columbia previously pressed singles for Vee-Jay, these styrene singles were manufactured in February of 1964 with left over oval label backdrops. One variation was pressed by Columbia in Terre Haute, Indiana, and the other by Columbia in Bridgeport. ()Three of the primary pressing plants used by Vee-Jay were; (1) The American Record Pressing Co. ("ARP") in Owosso, Michigan ARP pressings have a raised relief script "ARP" machine stamped logo in the trail off areas. (2) Monarch Records in Los Angeles, California The discs manufactured by Monarch Records are easily identified by a circled (MR) symbol machine stamped in the trail off areas, which also contain a hand etched job number preceded by a "?" symbol. (3) Southern Plastics in Nashville, Tennessee The lack of any pressing plant information in the trail off areas

#3-4 Please, Please Me / From Me To You (2nd. Press "Brackets Logo / ARP Press": VJ-581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		early March 1964? / Second Press
FRONT --> Click!		BACK --> Click!	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!

FRONT COVER CLOSE UP		LABEL CLOSE UP
				Second pressing has silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the brackets logo.
					The master number and the word "Vocal" are to the left of the center hole.
LABEL CLOSE UP
					The "ARP" pressing has thin silver lettering print on black label with "VJ" before the record number.
The publishing information (on two lines) and running time of the song are to the right.
LABEL CLOSE UP
			With the exception of the location of the script "ARP" logo, the trail off area markings ("ARP" and Audio Matrix logos, hand etched master number and initial "RA")
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		VJ-581
LABEL		Vee Jay Black rainbow with brackets logo type 2-A
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		The American Record Pressing Co. ("ARP") in Owosso, Michigan
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo and script "ARP" (machine stamped)
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo and script "ARP" (machine stamped)
SLEEVE STYLE		Picture Sleeve: Straight Cut Top
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	Concertone Songs-ASCAP
	SIDE 2	Gil Music Corp. BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		Photo: Angus McBean
COMMENTS		VJ 581 combined the A sides from Vee-Jay's first two Beatles singles. realizing the visual appeal of the Beatles, Vee-Jay prepared a picture sleeve. A black and white version of the photograph used for Vee-Jay's "Introducing The Beatles" albumappears on the sleeve, which has a white background with the song titles and the Vee-Jay brackets logo in black print and "THE BEATLES" in bold red print. While the sleeve may have been issued with all of the record's numerous variations, is it most often found with the oval and bracket colorband variations. Second pressing has silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the brackets logo. There are three confirmed variations. 2-A: has thin print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on two lines. All markings in the trail off area of the "Please Please Me" side are identical to the markings found on the A-side of VJ 522-1. This record was manufactured by ARP with the same metal parts used for the first two beatles singles. 2-B: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on two lines. As it has the same trail off area marking as VJ581-1B, this record was manufactured by Monarch Records with the same stampers used to press the first two Beatles singles. 2-C: has thin print without "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on three lines. All markings in the trail off areas are identical to VJ-581-1C. This disc was made by Southern Plastics with the same stampers it used for the first two Beatles singles.

#3-5 Please, Please Me / From Me To You (2nd. Press "Brackets Logo / Southern Plastics Press": 581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		early March 1964? / Second Press
FRONT --> Click!		BACK --> Click!	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!

LABEL CLOSE UP
			Second pressing has silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the brackets logo.
				The master number and the word "Vocal" are to the left of the center hole in roman type.
LABEL CLOSE UP
					The "Southern Plastics" pressing has thin silver lettering print on black label without “VJ” before the record number.
The publishing information is on three lines to the right of the center hole in capital letters.
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		581
LABEL		Vee Jay Black rainbow with brackets logo type 2-C
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		Southern Plastics in Nashville, Tennessee
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo (machine stamped)
SLEEVE STYLE		Generic tan sleeve
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	CONCERTONE SONGS-ASCAP
	SIDE 2	GIL MUSIC CORP.-BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		-
COMMENTS		VJ 581 combined the A sides from Vee-Jay's first two Beatles singles. realizing the visual appeal of the Beatles, Vee-Jay prepared a picture sleeve. A black and white version of the photograph used for Vee-Jay's "Introducing The Beatles" albumappears on the sleeve, which has a white background with the song titles and the Vee-Jay brackets logo in black print and "THE BEATLES" in bold red print. While the sleeve may have been issued with all of the record's numerous variations, is it most often found with the oval and bracket colorband variations. Second pressing has silver lettering on a black label with an outer rim colorband featuring the brackets logo. There are three confirmed variations. 2-A: has thin print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on two lines. All markings in the trail off area of the "Please Please Me" side are identical to the markings found on the A-side of VJ 522-1. This record was manufactured by ARP with the same metal parts used for the first two beatles singles. 2-B: has thick print with "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on two lines. As it has the same trail off area marking as VJ581-1B, this record was manufactured by Monarch Records with the same stampers used to press the first two Beatles singles. 2-C: has thin print without "VJ" before the record number and publishing information on three lines. All markings in the trail off areas are identical to VJ-581-1C. This disc was made by Southern Plastics with the same stampers it used for the first two Beatles singles.

#3-6 Please, Please Me / From Me To You (8th. Press "White label / Southern Plastics Press": VJ-581)
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TRACK LISTING	SIDE 1	Please Please Me (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
	SIDE 2	From Me To You (J. Lennon-P. McCartney)
RELEASE DATE		late 1965? / 8th Press
SLEEVE FRONT		SLEEVE BACK	SIDE 1 --> Click!	SIDE 2 --> Click!	DISK --> Click!
Company sleeve? Sorry, I don't have it.		Company sleeve? Sorry, I don't have it.
LABEL CLOSE UP
			With "VEE JAY RECORDS" printed in small print below large "VJ" letters. Has black print on a white label.
				There are two reported variations. The rarer label has the master numbers on the label, but this label, the master number does not appear on the label.
LABEL CLOSE UP
					this label "Please, Please Me" label include commas.
Running time of the song are to the right.
LABEL CLOSE UP
			On the "Please Please Me" side, the trail off area have the marking (stamped Audio Matrix logo and hand etched master number 63-2967 and initial "RA"), this record was made by Southern Plastics.
OTHER ITEM
-

CATALOG NUMBER		VJ-581
LABEL		Vee Jay white label with "VJ" logo
MIX		MONO
PRESS FACTORY		Southern Plastics in Nashville, Tennessee
MATRIX No.	SIDE 1	63-2967 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo
	SIDE 2	63-3218 RA (hand etched) Audio Matrix logo
SLEEVE STYLE		Unknown
VINYL COLOR		BLACK
PUBLISHER'S NAME	SIDE 1	Concertone Song ASCAP
	SIDE 2	Gil Music Corp. BMI
RUNNING TIME	SIDE 1	2:00
	SIDE 2	1:49
COVER DESIGN/ PHOTO/ NOTES		Photo: Angus McBean
COMMENTS		8th, pressing has black lettering on a white label with "VEE JAY RECORDS" printed in small print below large "VJ" letters. There are two reported variations. The rarer label has the master numbers on the label, but this label, the master number does not appear on the label. On the "Please Please Me" side, the trail off area have the marking (stamped Audio Matrix logo and hand etched master number 63-2967 and initial "RA"), this record was made by Southern Plastics.