ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Tuesday, January 9, 1996 TAG: 9601090028
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: What's On Your Mind?
SOURCE: RAY REED
Q: The recent talk about the Beatles made me wonder: Is it possible to buy all the albums the Beatles made, from "Introducing the Beatles" to "Abbey Road''?
Also, do companies have albums they never sold that the public can buy? And if someone had all these albums in the original plastic wrappers, unopened, how much would they be worth? How is the market value determined? Are vinyl albums even made anymore?
B.H., Roanoke
A: It's hard to believe anyone could have bought a Beatles album and not torn the cover off and played it immediately.
After all, this was the group and music that caused screaming young fans to tear their hair out back in '64. (Older music fans tore their hair out, too, but for a different reason.)
Amazingly, though, a Beatles album on the Capitol label sealed in the original plastic wrap commands a price of $100 to $200, said Charles Rosenay of the Beatles Fan Club in New Haven, Conn.
Still-sealed copies of scarce albums, usually on labels other than Capitol, can sell for $1,000 or more.
A full set of unopened Beatles albums would be quite a find and would command a premium price, Rosenay said.
An auction, a Beatles fan club or a fan magazine would be the places to look for sealed albums.
Record companies don't keep old copies. They would never have the storage space.
New collectors can find original Beatles LPs in used-record shops, flea markets and tag sales. With the market's turn to CDs, many people unloaded their albums.
Typical prices for used Beatles albums range from around $20 to $25, Rosenay said.
Two items to watch for: "Introducing the Beatles" on the VJ label - the Beatles' first U.S. album release, on July 22, 1963 - had hundreds of pressings and covers. Most are worth less than $10, Rosenay said. (``Meet the Beatles," the group's first U.S. release on Capitol, came out Jan. 20, 1964.)
The Capitol issue of "Yesterday and Today," with the alternate cover showing the group dressed in butcher's smocks and using dolls and slabs of meat as props, sells for thousands of dollars.
A public outcry over the image's bloody aspects ended that production. Most "Yesterday and Today" covers show the Fab Four standing around a trunk.
Are vinyl albums even made anymore? Yes, recent releases "Beatles at the BBC" and "The Beatles Anthology Vol. 1'' had a few albums made. Specialty record shops may have them or be able to order them. They'll cost slightly more than a CD.
Serious Beatles fans can subscribe to Rosenay's magazine, Good Day Sunshine, by writing to 397 Edgewood Ave., New Haven, Conn. 06511. Subscriptions cost $12.
It tells about upcoming Beatles conventions for fans and collectors, and lists collectible items for sale.
Got a question about something that might affect other people, too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.
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