Rare pair of metal mothers for a 1964 Vee-Jay Records release of Introducing… The Beatles, the first studio album released by the Beatles in the United States. Produced from a master reference lacquer, metal mothers are used to create the stampers used in the production of vinyl records, which press a vinyl puck into the final grooved record. These metal mothers, which measure 14″ in diameter, are marked in the trail off areas with "ARC," "URJ," and "3-25-4." One is marked "63-3402" and the other is marked "63-3403," corresponding to the A-side and B-side of the second version of Introducing… The Beatles. Housed in a cardboard sleeve marked, "Mothers, Introducing The Beatles, 63-3402, 63-3403." In very good to fine condition, with a split to one edge of the cardboard sleeve.
Vee-Jay's release of Introducing… The Beatles was fraught with legal difficulties. The first version, which featured the unreleased singles 'Love Me Do' and 'P.S. I Love You,' had to be pulled from circulation within a week of its release, as Vee-Jay had not obtained the correct license for the songs. Vee-Jay quickly reconfigured the record with 'Ask Me Why' and 'Please Please Me' in their place, but could not stave off Capitol Records' lawyers. Vee-Jay and Capitol battled in court throughout the early part of 1964, and injunctions against Vee-Jay's album were issued, lifted, and restored more than once. Because the album was often pressed quickly between restraining orders, there are almost two dozen different label variations, including mono and stereo copies, manufactured at numerous pressing plants. On April 9, 1964, the two labels settled, and Vee-Jay was granted the right to publish the record until October 15, 1964—at which time the metal stampers and affiliated parts were supposed to be destroyed.
Accompanied by a detailed letter by Bruce Spizer, author of The Beatles Records on Vee-Jay, in part: "The initials URJ are found on many Vee-Jay records pressed during 1963 and 1964. It is believed that they are the initials of an engineer at Universal Recording Corporation in Chicago who mastered lacquers for Universal's customers. The 3-25-4 sequence most likely indicates that lacquers that generated the mothers were mastered on March 25, 1964. The 63-3402 number is the matrix number for side one of Introducing The Beatles and 63-3403 is the matrix number for side two of the album. The lack of an 'S' following the number indicates that the mothers were for mono rather than stereo albums. The initials ARC indicate that the mothers were used to create stampers to press the albums by Allentown Record Co., Inc. in Allentown, PA.
The information in the trail off areas does not match any ARC pressings of the album in my collection; however, this is not a concern as ARC was most likely sent more than one set of masters to create the metal parts to press the album. The ARC recordings in my collection have a date of 2-11-64 and an Audio Matrix machine stamped logo indicating a mastering date of February 11, 1964, and the manufacturing of the master metal parts by Audio Matrix. There is no Audio Matrix stamp on the mothers I examined. This is explained by the fact that Vee-Jay stopped using Audio Matrix in the spring of 1964. For example, Audio Arts, Inc. in Hollywood, California mastered the single Love Me Do on April 15, 1964, and also prepared six lacquer masters of the single for shipment to factories. Audio Arts did not press a logo into its metal plates.
Based on the above, it is my opinion that the mothers I reviewed were manufactured by and/or used by Allentown Record Co., Inc. from masters prepared on March 25, 1964, by a company other than Audio Matrix (possibly Audio Arts). My examination was a visual only review. I did not play the mothers on a turntable to check to see if the mothers play version two of Introducing The Beatles.
Although all metal parts pertaining to the Beatles Vee-Jay singles and albums were, by court order, supposed to be destroyed on October 15, 1964, a handful of masters, mothers and stampers have survived. While I have previously examined metal parts for singles, the mothers described above are the only metal parts I have ever seen for a Vee-Jay Beatles album."
