The Find of a Lifetime?

Being a semi-serious Beatles fan I was aware that Capitol had not released the earliest Beatles album or single in the US, that honor went to a small Chicago label named Vee Jay. While at Second Hand Tunes in Evanston, IL. I came across a copy of The Beatles - "Introducing. . . The Beatles Englands No.1 Vocal Group." on the Vee Jay label. Of course my Southsider skepticism was immediately raised but for $20 and with my best friend whom I still owe a wedding present being a HUGE fan I figured that I'd take the chance. After all if a record this rare would be found anywhere, why not Evanston it's pretty much Chicago after all.

As I often do I called my buddy from the record store in a hushed voice as to not tip the store's staff off to what treasure I might have found and asked for his input. Of course he also knew that the first album had been issued on Vee Jay but didn't know of any distinguishing marks to spot a possible fake. After arriving home I Googled the title hoping to find a website with a little guidance. The first site that I found had an encyclopedic amount of information. Apparently the The Beatles first US album is one of the most faked albums ever. The fact that Vee Jay issued many, many variations of the album in a short period of time can make identifying an original a bit difficult. The copy that I purchased had many of the signs that it was the genuine article but it failed one or two of the crucial tests. In the end it looks like it is one of the better forgeries that was produced, fooling many professionals in fact. I hope that he isn't too disappointed. Below are photos of the label and back cover of the version of the forgery that I ended up purchasing.

Interesting links

http://marklev.com/ A fan site with pictures, schematics, literature, and dating for most Mark Levinson products.

http://www.arcdb.ws/ A fan site for Audio Research with specs, dating, and original pricing. So complete and accurate that Audio Research has a link to it on their official site.

http://www.6moons.com/news/news.html Frequently updated with the new releases of more obscure high end audio companies. Great photos.

http://desirableaudio.blogspot.com/ High end audio from the perspective of some very passionate individuals in the Far East. They seem to be really into the resonance tuning of their rooms with stuff like Shun Mook and the like.

http://www.audiojunkies.com/blog/ Mostly mid-fi and car audio. They also enjoy laughing at the excesses of high end. Occasionally they have some funny stuff.

http://news.cnet.com/audiophiliac/?tag=blgs.list Steve Guttenberg's blog which an interesting mix of high end and mid fi, and some wacky stuff.

http://bigblackdisk.ning.com/ Social network for vinyl lovers. Reviews of new releases from current bands.

http://www.fmtunerinfo.com/ THE source of technical information on analog and quartz lock loop FM tuners.

http://www.classicsansui.net/ Great info on classic Sansui equipment including pictures, schematics, vintage literature, and much more.

http://www.classic-audio.com/marantz/mindex.html Very informative site about classic Marantz gear which includes specs, vintage literature, and some behind the scenes stories.

http://www.stereophile.com/images/masterindex/ Want to know if and in what issue a component was reviewed? This index is an incredibly useful tool to find out. If only it had links to the reviews contained in the on line archives.

. . . and of course Wes and Stephen's Stereophile blogs are lots of fun too!