Fantastic and extremely rare unlaminated front cover to the band’s A Hard Day’s Night album presented to a stewardess on The Beatles’ flight from London to Liverpool on July 10, 1964, signed in black ballpoint, “John Lennon,” “George Harrison,” “Paul McCartney,” and “Ringo Starr,” with each band member signing on the line of his image. Scattered edge and corner creases, otherwise fine condition.
Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from noted Beatles expert Frank Caiazzo, which reads, in part: “This flat…was actually a factory pressed cardboard printed front cover of the ‘A Hard Day’s Night’ LP, before being fully constructed into an LP cover (after which a thick, heavy laminate was applied to the front cover). All four have autographed the item beautifully in black ballpoint pen…The fact that it had not yet had the heavy laminate applied in the LP construction process allowed for signing, thus making it an extremely rare front signed Beatles album cover. This item is similar in every way to others which have surfaced which were signed on July 10, 1964, for stewardesses who worked for British Eagle Airlines who were working on the Beatles’ flight from London to their hometown of Liverpool to attend the Northern Premiere of their first feature film…The Beatles gifted the stewardesses working the round trip same day flight with a signed album flat as a ‘thank you’ for the good service they provided on that day…One of the photos taken on that day depicts some of the stewardesses holding other album flats, while Paul McCartney is getting ready to board the plane.” Also included are five second-generation photos from July 10, 1964, including the photo mentioned in Caiazzo’s letter.
On this date, the band traveled to Liverpool for an appearance at the Odeon Cinema for the premier of their first full-length film. The afternoon before the premier, the Beatles’s went to a civic reception held in their honor at the Liverpool Town Hall, attended by several dignitaries including the lord and lady mayor. Over 200,000 people packed Speke airport and the motorcade route to the theater, an outpouring so overwhelming, it has been said that the group valued this reception more than any other in their career. It was also on this date that the album’s soundtrack was released, skyrocketing to number one on the charts. Only a very, very limited number of these covers were signed by the band on the flight, most likely less than five, elevating this cover to the highest level of Fab Four signed memorabilia.
