Expert: sarah - 1/13/2010

Question
Hello, I have an old Bealtes record "introducing the Beatles" that is like a booklet. The front cover is black with a picture of the fab four. When you open the record cover front page, behind is a brief biography of all four Bealtes next to their cartoon pictures. I have done some research on the value of this rare cover but found nothing. Is this cover as rare as I think? Does it have any value?. Besides, a very light scratching sound in the background, It sounds way better than many of my 1980 records.

Answer
Hallo Juan,

did you buy the record in the 1963/64? Also, there are many version of the first releases of that album, from wikipedia: "Metal parts were already at Vee-Jay's three primary pressing plants, and 6,000 front covers were already printed. But it had no back cover prepared. So, as a stopgap, the label used a back cover slick made from one side of its standard inner sleeve, consisting of full-color reproductions of the covers of 25 "other fine albums of significant interest".[15] This cover is known by collectors as the "Ad Back" version and is highly sought-after. A second stopgap back cover was used when the "Ad Back" slicks were exhausted; because it is all-white with no printing at all, it is known by collectors as the "Blank Back" edition and is also very rare. Finally, third editions contain Vee-Jay's official back cover, with Introducing the Beatles (no ellipsis) near the top and the song titles in two columns underneath. All of these were available on the market within days of the January 10 release date.[15]

But on 16 January 1964, less than a week after Introducing... The Beatles was released, Vee-Jay was served with a restraining order stopping further distribution. Beechwood Music, Inc., Capitol Records' publishing subsidiary, owned the American publishing rights to "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You", and because the two songs had not yet been officially released in the U.S., Beechwood refused to issue a license for Vee-Jay to release them.[1] Approximately 80,000 copies of Introducing... The Beatles had been released with the two songs on them, with only 2,000 or so in stereo.[1]
[edit] Version two

In order to circumvent the restraining order, Vee-Jay quickly reconfigured Introducing... The Beatles. It removed "Love Me Do" and "P.S. I Love You" and replaced them with the previously deleted "Ask Me Why" and "Please Please Me", though some pressings of the album did not alter the track list. The new versions were prepared in late January and began appearing in stores approximately 10 February 1964.[1]

Because of the initial restraining order, version two of Introducing... The Beatles did not enter the Billboard album charts until three weeks after Meet the Beatles!. Once it did, it quickly rose to the #2 spot, where it stayed for nine straight weeks.[16] It also peaked at #2 in Cash Box, and it got to #1 in Record World magazine.[17]"

So, if the album is from 1963/64 and it matches with one of the version here described than you album is rare and it can be worth even 1000 USD.

Hope this helps.
Sara