Beatles Let It Be US Apple LP label and pressing questions

Hi, finally registered and posting after 6+ months as an avid lurker.

HUGE record fanatic since age 4 ('73), starting with the Beatles. Had some great pieces that, sadly, I wasn't old enough to care for properly or hold onto. Looking to re-acquire a few items, starting with an early 70's US Apple pressing of Let It Be. My questions:

When viewing label pics online, the red Apple is certainly familiar, but not the text. It looks like a more "modern" font, and the LET IT BE / THE BEATLES looks bigger, than their other Apple LP releases. Has anyone seen anything different, or am I just not remembering my original copy accurately?

In researching this, I was also surprised to read how this LP was commonly counterfeited. Referring to http://beatlesblogger.com/tag/let-it-be/, is that all true & valid? Any other ways to spot a fake visually?

Lastly, before I start shopping, is there any difference in quality between the 70's UK (non-box) and US pressings? If all other things are equal, I sure did like that gatefold cover...

 

I remember that I once bought an american pressing with that gatefold cover which turned up in some german shops and looked more attractive than the regular german pressing. But I returned it, cause it sounded terrible like a damaged record. Later I found the japanese version with the similar fold out cover. And a brilliant pressing (EAS 80561) So I would recommend that to you if you like that cover so much.

 

All true and valid as well. This forum is quite good as well

http://forums.stevehoffman.tv/threads/let-it-be-vinyl-pressing-question.258259/

Most of the copies of LIB you will come across will be fakes unfortunately. Finding one with the Bell Sound correct etching is worth it though. Out of all of the later US albums LIB fares the best as opposed to say the WA where the US stereo is not as good as the UK cut. And is has the cool gatefold sleeve as well

Stereo 2 Box UK pressings that have the "Gramaphone Co.. " rims are exactly the same as the originals for about 1/3 to 1/4 of the price. And the pre 1973 Apple albums as well. UK monos are another story all together.

 

There was a thread containing the "inside" story of the excess inventory which led to the cutouts of Let It Be, back in the '70s. The story was told by a member here who was working for a major wholesaler at that time.

I believe the thread dates from 2008 give or take. His write-up was an interesting read. I wish I could provide a link. Maybe someone else knows a name, or remembers contributing to that thread and can retrieve it.

Oh. Seek out the white vinyl pressing done in Great Britain in 1979 (I believe), as part of a set that included a green vinyl Abbey Road and a yellow Magical Mystery Tour. Why this white one? Just to have something specific to search for that has some rareness to it. The challenge is finding a good quality sleeve. Both the Let It Be and Abbey Road covers in my collection have shape issues that seem to be related to the original lamination. Magical Mystery Tour is perfect - it isn't laminated.

 

That looks to be correct. I have a copy of the original 1970 US "Let It Be" and it has identical fonts to those in the photo.
I also have a copy of the fake which duplicated the label pretty well, but the sound quality is appalling!
The legitimate copies also have the "Bell Sound" logo stamped into the run-out area - the fake has it hand scratched..... something to look out for if you try to replace your original copy!
Also, as has been mentioned above, the UK early 70's Apple and single/twin EMI box labels (with Gramophone Co.) rims are excellent sounding pressings as many were still using the same masters as the original pressings had used.

 

Legit pressings also have smaller pressing rings (the 1.5" diameter that was typical of Capitol pressings), and Scranton pressings' center labels were printed on coated stock rather than the uncoated paper used by the Los Angeles, Jacksonville and Winchester plants. Looks like the image as on the opening post of this thread is a Scranton. Fakes have 2.75" pressing rings.

 

I've seen a fake up close, and you can tell by looking at the label. It looks like it's a photo or copy of an original label. I believe it had a 2.75" pressing ring, but you can see the 1.5" pressing ring, because the label was a photo of a legit label.

 

The originals used to be plentiful on the used market, but the fakes are even more so! The real piles of crap pressing started to turn up in 1976. Fairly early they were in cutout bins meaning 71-72, because they weren't pressed or distributed by Capitol-EMI in the US. The US lps, cassettes and 8 tracks virtually vanished 72-76.

I have a Canadian pressing I like.

 

Ahh, that's a great thread, thanks! (i probably should have posted my questions there...)

 

Its a big conundrum about whether to get UK pressings or not - the post from the UK is a killer (to some folks) and UK LP's are not too common in the States. When you have done 50 posts the classifieds will become available and theres a few sellers here who have UK vinyl for sale every once in a while.

Those early 2 box Gram rimmed LP's are not whats in the "blue box" that is frequently mentioned on this forum - those are all 1978 to 1986. But the LP's that comprise the contents of those blue box's are even cheaper and loads of forumites here swear by them. They have "An EMI Recording..." ath the beginning of the rim text. The blue boxes were imported to the US for quite a while and lots of unplayed sets out there - I remember one guy here got one very recently for $295 complete (and mint) - thats less than $20 a record.

 

Reissued with a purple Capitol label and no gatefold sleeve (but with a poster included) in February 1979.

 

This thread inspired me to dig out my US copy of the "Let it Be" Lp that I remember buying from Musicland in the mid to late 1970s. I remember they had a huge display of them on sale like it was a new album even though it was several years old. It's definitely a legit copy with the Bell Sound stamp, sf, and the Phil and Ronnie. It must have been pressed in Winchester, VA as it has a stamp that looks like a tipped over wine glass - no IAM stamp.

I read someone mention that there was excess stock of this album. Were their older warehouse copies released to record stores in the mid to late 1970s? Must have been as Musicland had a pile of them for sale and I'm guessing they were all legit as the copy I bought definitely is.

 

Thank you everyone, now I have plenty of info to go on as I begin my quest!!

 

"Let It Be" is such a curious album... many feel that it is a 'bad' album, yet it contains some undeniably fantastic songs. Other artists would have given their right arm to have written many of those songs, but I think that LIB just doesn't measure up to the standards that the Beatles themselves had established for the previous 7 years.

The LIB film is an invaluable document without a doubt but it also has colored our impression of the music from the film. Nevertheless, the LIB album has a definite mood about it, one of disengagement and boredom, and the cover's stark black graphics only serves to reinforce that mood.

"Let It Be" is a very fitting tombstone to the Beatles' working relationship... it maintains the established quality of the songwriting and musicianship, yet it makes it painfully clear that they were finished with being Beatles. Heck, even the album's title sends that message.

I'm glad that it was released after "Abbey Road," but I am also glad that we now know that after the "Get Back" fiasco, they managed to rally the forces one more time, to produce one of the finest albums of their career.

 

That's interesting; although I know a bit of what was going on for them during that time, I've never thought of LIB as being "dark", I guess since I have so many positive memories about it. It was the first Beatles LP I got for myself (my older brother usually acquired the records until that point)... and I loved it, even "Dig It" which seemed like a rare glimpse into their humorous side (like "You Know My Name..."). And I agree there are some incredible songs. I think a full-fledged version of "I've Got A Feeling" would've fit right in on Abbey Road.

 

Here's the two labels in question:
First, the 'real' Apple release....


And here, the fake......


You can quite clearly see the new pressing ring on the fake, along with the photographed/photocopied original pressing ring closer in!
The writing in the top-left of the genuine one is notes I made to indicate the matrix and pressing details from the run-out area.

 

had no idea these were bootlegged heavily, just pulled mine out looks more like the first picture yarvelling posted phew! I mean I would have been pissed my copy I paid $1.50 for was a bootleg

 

I bought an original LIB in early 1978 from a local department store in St. Louis county named Golde's. I almost never saw another shopper in the record department every time I was there, but they kept their stock current. From my earliest memories there, around 1975, I remember they had a few copies of LIB displayed on the endcap with a large red "$2.99" sticker. (Most other albums were selling for $5.99 or $6.99.) A few weeks after I bought my copy the rest disappeared. The entire record department was shut down less than a year later.

 

I have had a used copy of this for over 30 years and it wasn't until I joined this forum that I learned it was a fake. Now, I'm in the mood to track down an original. I do have a Purple Capitol, but still ...

 

I knew my beat-up, scratchy (like someone frying bacon in the speakers), £3 bargain bin copy of the US Let It Be had to have some redeeming features after all - at least it's a genuine wreck...

(Actually, it doesn't sound bad under the surface noise and I LOVE that gateful sleeve and the red Apple labels)

 

You can clearly hear the difference between them too! The genuine has that good, well recorded and solid sound typical of Beatles' albums!
The fake on the other hand, sounds as though someone has recorded the original LP with a cheap cassette recorder..... from a different room!! It's SO thin and distant sounding! You could never mistake it by listening!!

 

I have a pressing from Holland and it sounds so good. I'm done looking for a better sounding version of this record.

 

It's so true. The comparison is a worthwhile topic because the authentic version is a MUCH better sounding record. The above quoted thread in the third post has a ton of info to help people avoid the fake. For all the confusion this LP gets a bad rap. It's really one of the better sounding original US LPs.

 

Being from St. Louis originally, I remember Golde's. I was only in one of their stores a couple of times since there were none near where I lived. But, I don't remember a record department - they had probably closed them down by then.

Anyway, back on topic......I bought my Let It Be album in St. Louis at a CMC music store. They mainly sold home and car stereo equipment. They had a stack of the albums shortly after it was released and were selling them for $3.49. I thought this was a pretty good deal at the time. Mine is an original. Shortly after buying it I saw the UK box with the book at another store. I don't remember for sure how much they wanted for it - I think it might have been $15.99? Since I had already bought the album I just couldn't justify or afford the UK import.

 

Ours came from Korvette's in Valley Stream NY, big $2.99 or $3.99 sticker... of course the perception at our young age was "It's bargain-priced because it's not as good as their other albums..." As for the sound quality, I wouldn't have heard the difference from a legit copy on the crappy phono I had as a kid! Too bad I didn't hang on to it, I could've used it as a reference for a real or fake version.