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Oh, yeah, I'll tell you something,
I think you'll understand,
When I say that something,
I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand.

Oh please, say to me,
  You'll let me be your man,
  And please, say to me,
  You'll let me hold your hand.
  Now let me hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand.

And when I touch you I feel happy inside,
It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide
I can't hide, I can't hide.

Oh yeah, I´ll tell you something,
I think you'll understand,
When I say that something,
I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand.

And when I touch you I feel happy inside,
It's such a feeling that my love, I can't hide
I can't hide, I can't hide.

Yeh, you've got that something,
I think you'll understand.
When I'll feel that something,
  I want to hold your hand,
I want to hold your hand,
  I want to hold your hand.

THE BEATLES: "I Want To Hold Your Hand"/"This Boy" MONO 45, FIRST UK PRESSING, 29th NOVEMBER 1963.
 

  PARLOPHONE LABEL: R 5084.
 
  MAITRIX: 7XCE 17599 - 1 N / 7XCE 17560 - 1 N

EMI STAMPING CODES:  AMO 1 (0)  / MDM  2 (0)*
Both sides were mistakenly, the 9 o'clock digit was double stamped with zero following the intended 1st & 2nd mothers per side.
  No Beatles single ever reached the 10th  & 20th mothers!  'Digit' in plural always applies to an any EMI mother, when an error
  like this made and it was frequently, if the mistaken double stamped digit was before the intended digit, it was crossed out or
  over stamped with an 'X.'  So this November,1963 first pressing was positively made form the first and second mothers!
  A common mistake found for the rest of the 1960's decade and that continued in the 70's, one thing for sure, no errors were
  ever made with mastering and pressing UK Beatles records, I just played this incredible, as new record without any kind
  of marks and the sound was absolutely stunning, especial on the beautiful slow tempo, r&b /soulful, "This Boy" side.
 
  BEING 1963, THE TAX CODE 'KT' IS STAMPED IN THE 9 'O CLOCK POSITION OF THE RUN-OUT GROOVES, JUST
ABOVE THE DIGITS, ONCE AGAIN, ALMOST AFFECTING THE READABILITY.  IT WAS  SURPRISING WHY IT TOOK SO
LONG TO MOVE THE TAX CODE TO THE VACANT 12 'O CLOCK POSITION, MAKING STAMPING MOTHER DIGITS EASIER.
 

  AS A VERY FIRST PRESSING, THE LABELS ARE TEXTURED, WITH;
  Recording First Published 1963"
"PARLOPHONE CO. LTD" ON THE RIMS, IN CAPITAL LETTERS
"KT" EMBOSSED ON THE CENTRE OF THE A-SIDE'S PUSH-OUT CENTRE.
 

  THIS "I Want To Hold Your Hand" SINGLE WAS BOUGHT WITH A RECENTLY SOLD "She Loves You" SINGLE IN EXACTLY
  THE SAME STUNNING CONDITION, A CREDIT TO THE ONE ORIGINAL OWNER.
  Once again the front, top right white space on the 1963 Parlophone sleeve, provided for indexing purposes for either record shops
  or owners, handwritten as usual for 1963, the A-side title is in blue ink, 'I.W.T.H.Y. HAND," ultimate authentication this record
  and sleeve have been together for every one of the 53 years they .
  MOST LIKELY THE ORIGINAL 60's RECORD SHOP, IF IT WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER, I'M DELIGHTED ABOUT TAKING
  SUCH METICULOUS CARE WHEN HANDLING AND STORING THE RECORD AND SLEEVE.
  MOST LIKELY THE ORIGINAL 60's RECORD SHOP, IF IT WAS THE ORIGINAL OWNER, MY COMPLIMENTS FOR TAKING
  SUCH METICULOUS CARE WHEN HANDLING AND STORING THE RECORD AND SLEEVE. THE GREEN PARLOPHONE SLEEVE
  NATURALLY ENOUGH THE 1963 ORIGINAL, A BARELY USED SUPERB 53 YEAR OLD AUTHENTIC PARLOPHONE SLEEVE.
  WITH UNAGED PURE WHITE 'Parlophone' LETTERING ON THE FRONT, THAT INCLUDES THE WHITE LINE UNDERLINING
  AND THEIR '£' LOGO AND TRADE MARK TEXT UNDER THE DIE-CUT CENTRE.  THE BACK DOES NOT HAVE ANY AGEING,
  WITHOUT ANY SPLITS, TEARS, JUST A GENTLE ENOUGH RECORD IMPRESSION  AND A FEW RELATED LIGHT CREASES.
  THE SLEEVE IS IN EXCELLENT+++ / NEAR MINT- CONDITION.


THE RECORD WAS ONLY PLAYED THREE TIMES WITH THE GREATEST CARE, NO SCRATCHES OR MARKS ON THE DEEPLY
  GLOSSY  TOP SURFACE.   EVEN ANY HANDLING TRACES ARE NEAR INVISIBLE TO INVISIBLE A REALLY EXCEPTIONAL
  AND BEAUTIFUL 1963 RECORD.  PLAYING WITH STUNNING SOUND QUALITY, INCLUDING PERFECT AUDIO CLARITY
  ON "This Boy".  THE RECORD IS IN MINT- CONDITION, AS I WILL EXPAND ON BELOW, ACTUALLY, THERE IS NO
  DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'NEAR MINT' OR 'MINT-' VINYL.  ESPECIALLY FOR FOR A 1963 SINGLE, I INCLUDE THE
  'MINT' GRADING, BECAUSE EVEN AN UNPLAYED RECORD WILL HAVE FACTORY/ RECORD SHOP HANDLING TRACES.
 

  During the phenomenal success of the Beatles second, third and fourth UK singles, EMI/Parlophone struggled to cope with such an
unbelievable and unrelenting demand from record shops to keep a constant supply.  At their pressing plant there were night shifts
introduced to work round the clock just to keep filling those record shops, printers also had to work flat out, not just producing
the labels and the 7" sleeves.  By November,1963, the Beatles now had two albums in constant production, as  well as three EP's,
not forgetting how EMI had one or two other labels and artists to cater for, nothing previously had come close to this frenzy and
Christmas was on the horizon. Normally teams of songwriters would have been contracted to keep up the supply of material to fill
those singles, during the early 60's decade it was essential for singles to be representative of artist's latest offerings.  Albums and
EP's & LP's were there to fill with cover versions, but the Beatles' songwriting was on a momentum that began at the beginning of
1963, stubbornly refusing to release a single that was not self composed and at  this inspired time, producing obvious No.1 hits.
With all the frenzied activity being generated during 1963, the truth is, anything released by them would have sold regardless of
the quality, but they had set standards so high, they never dreamt of allowing that to happen, if anything it spurred them onto
to attaining a genius status. With such frenzied record production it required EMI to pay other record companies to contractually
  press records and today you can pick up any one of the multitude made, it will have individual features, this is an EMI pressing.
  Back in the 60's nobody looked at tiny stamped letters in the run-out grooves, in the same way today we never give bar codes a
second glance but perhaps in the distant future, people will be examining them to find historic data.
 
  In January,1963, "Please Please Me" confirmed they were right to refuse to release "How Do you Do It?," John and Paul had the
ability to write a No.1 record.  The August,1963 release of "She Loves You" out sold even "Please Please Me" and the April,1963,
"From Me To You." "She Loves You" spent an astonishing 31 weeks residency in the UK charts, for the  first time, advance orders
alone, saw a staggering one million copies ordered from EMI by British record shops nationwide, released 29th November, 1963,
  within days of that "She Loves You" was removed from the Top Spot by "I Want To Hold Your Hand." Yet another 'record' had been
  broken by artists deposing their own previously released No.1 single. The infectious "Yeh, yeh, yeh" of "She Loves You" now gave
way to a melody and record that had such greatness attached, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" not only sold those million plus copies on
  the day they left EMI's plant for distribution, sales continued and created a four month British charts residency, well into 1964.
  Even then it was not quite done, unbelievably on the 16th May, 1964, there were so many copies still being bought, it made a chart
  re-entry for a week at No.48.  'Records' were being toppled in all directions now, during 1963, the albums,"With The Beatles" and
  "Please Please Me," occupied No.1 & No.2 in the LP charts, in the singles charts at No.1 & No.2 were, "I Want To Hold Your Hand"
  and "She Loves You."  Meanwhile in the EP charts in November,1963, you had "All My Loving" sitting at No.1, with "Twist & Shout"
  and "Beatles Hits" hovering around the second and third positions. Never in the history of popular music has such phenomenal feats
  happened again, oh yes, there was just the little matter of convincing Capitol Records in America that the Beatles might sell a few
  copies of Capitol pressed records. That depended on whether they cared to stop giving small record companies the right to release
  them and to take up their own options!   For anyone unacquainted with the events before 1964 in America, the minor labels like the
  'Swan' label were pressing the Beatles records, unable to afford the full might of Capitol's promotional machinery, it was little
  wonder "She Loves You" failed to cause a ripple when Swan released it.  In fairness Brian Epstein was asking for and prompting
  Lennon & McCartney to write something rather special to really grab the attention of America, they did, but even then it took one
  individual 15 years old American Beatles fan to actually light the touch paper.
   
  Marsha Albert nagged and urged 'Washington DC Radio' DJ Carroll James into getting an English pressed record sent over, James
  did exactly as prompted.  He was impressed, so Marsha was invited in to personally introduce "I Want To Hold Your Hand" when it
  was first being aired in America, as I said earlier, such was the true greatness of the record, there was was an immediate reaction
to hearing it. Capitol had only previously intended releasing the single when the Beatles came to America for a live appearance on
the The Ed Sullivan Show.  They were so annoyed about "I Want To Hold Your Hand" being heard prematurely on the radio and even
receiving a positive reaction, crazily Capitol were actually on the brink of bringing legal action to ban it being played on the
radio!  You could not make this up if you tried, radio DJ's ignored the threats and airplay was spreading fast, happening before
common sense about free publicity finally won Capitol over, now hastily bringing the release forward to as quickly as possible.
  The enforced historic release of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" with "I Saw Her Standing There" as a B-side in the USA only, was on
the 26th December,1963. "I Want To Hold Your Hand" sold.... and sold, I believe the figures of an astonishing 10,000 copies per
  hour in New York alone are accurate, the final total was in excess of five million!   The Beatles now had a No.1 single on both sides
  of the Atlantic Ocean, the seemingly impossible had happened.
 
The track itself stands as a definitive record, personally I would always turn to a UK first pressing to hear why, mostly because
that was the sound I grew to love in 1963, but sentiment alone is not the reason.  'The sound' originated here and the main reason
for it being so superior in content and sound to all that preceded it, was all down to Abbey Road Studio's advances.  As usual the
Beatles worked with George Martin in Studio 2 on the 17th October,1963, the difference now was the tape used for the recording
  of both sides of the UK single, "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and "This Boy," was no longer the restrictive two-track only.  By today's
  standards doubling up to four-track tape recording machines will not give the huge improvements that presented to George Martin
and his sound engineers, but in particular for the Beatles, who were learning as much as possible about the art of making records.
The best example to give is the organ on "I Want To Hold Your Hand", such an extremely low level sound that few will have picked
up on, possibly that was played by George Martin or maybe by John.  It added extra harmonic's to John's rhythm guitar and whether
  it was John playing it, one of the two extra 'new tracks' was being used to record an overdub for the mixing. Even if that was Paul,
George or George Martin, the same was true, here we have the actual start of the Beatles creating records with sounds that would
lead to some of the greatest productions of all time.  In fact it would take another six years, not until 1969, when EMI moved on
  from four-track tape, so "Sgt. Pepper" etc. was recorded with the same format as "I Want To Hold Your Hand", that best sums up
  how significant the pair of late 1963 tracks actually were.  After delving into sales figures I believe this is much more important
because the idea was to create a record that would force America to sit up and take notice of four young lads from Liverpool.
  The 17th October,1963, they recorded 17 Takes of "I Want To Hold Your Hand" and 15 Takes of "This Boy" before being satisfied
with the results and the two tracks  were then mixed.  There was a noticeable development in the creation of a record, if you play
"She Loves You" back to back with "I Want To Hold Your Hand", there was a massive improvement in how 'thick' and textured the
sound became in only those few months.  The same applies to the 1963 stereo mix, to hear that you need to check out an original
  stereo "A Collection Of Oldies, this description is all about late in 1963, it was 'mono or mono' for the singles. As such a fantastic
45 RPM mono single I still do not think there has been a full appreciation of "I Want To Hold Your Hand", too often dismissed as
'just another early Beatles track'.  Well, in 1980, John Lennon's memory provided the biggest insight into when and how it was
written, and Lennon was not given to discussing Beatles songs or recordings he was not very proud of.  Everyone should have a
  copy of the brilliant and revealing interview he gave Playboy magazine, here is John's quote from September,1980, sadly only
  three months before his murder, I think this quote also provided an insight into the very way the 'Lennon and McCartney' genius
functioned;

"We wrote a lot of stuff together, one on one, eyeball to eyeball. Like in "I Want To Hold Your Hand," I remember when we got the
chord that made the song.  We were in Jane Asher's house, downstairs in the cellar playing on the piano at the same time.  And we
had, "Oh, you-oo-oo... got that something..." and Paul hits this chord, and I turn to him and say,"That's it!"  I said,"Do that again!"
  In those days, we really used to absolutely write like that..... both playing into each other's noses."

So a huge selling UK single, but as ever my main concern is about the condition sound of any record and the most relevant thing
about this, is the absolutely stunning condition.  Every single one of those million plus made, before and after the release date,
  can placed precisely into a manufacturing sequence thanks to EMI's indexing of them all.  This record has one side pressed from
  the first 'mother' and the other side from the second 'mother', here you have the most basic details of a Parlophone label record
from 1963.  The '1N' ending maitrix on both the sides alone makes this is definitely from the first pressings made.  The superb
and unbelievable almost 'as new' condition, combine to create a major rarity for an early pressing surviving in such a miraculous
condition.  I have sold one or two top condition Beatles singles in my time, this first pressing of "I Want To Hold Your Hand"  is
a very special record, certainly up there with the most stunning condition/sounding first pressings I have handled. The vinyl is
  in really outstanding condition and both sides are gleaming like new without any marks, as I am constantly saying about ultimate
  condition 60's records,even allowing for three ultra careful plays, they were handled at several stages before even being bought.
  All this record  has, and only with difficulty can I find the very faintest, close to being invisible few wisps of handling signs
  I expect the same from factory sealed records, DVD's and CD's!  A stunning looking record and I have no hesitation in grading it
  as Near Mint condition.  So, this contains the perfect sound quality of Abbey Road's sensational mastering and EMI's immaculate
  pressing.
 
  "I Want To Hold Your Hand" has exceptionally quiet run-in grooves, just the expected faint static in the non musical bands of all
  singles, EP's & LP's, in truth they run as smooth as silk and near to silent as vinyl gets!  Then the track really kicks in with
simply staggering power of a 1963 mono pressing from Abbey Road's master tapes, that is mega loud and wall shaking!  Amazing
volume, but the mono sound remains in the most stunning audio clarity, there is not a crackle, pop or click, even at my own amp's
extremely high volume setting there is no distortion and any static is way off in the background and  nothing beyond normal for a
Near Mint/Mint- / Mint single. In my experience and being something of a fanatic about Beatles records, from a sound perspective,
there is no difference what so ever for all three permutations of 'Mint', anyone stating otherwise should not be grading vinyl.
As loudly and perfectly as it plays you can fully enjoy how it felt to bring home the latest and last Beatles single released in
1963, regardless of the volume pressed, that is a major rarity for original vinyl.  A brilliant John Lennon and Paul McCartney
composition, putting the Beatles straight into another No.1 position with all the elements that created a very distinctive sound.
John's superb lead vocal was sung with all the energy, bouyance and confidence becoming such established artists gave them,
  this time last year...... The infectious rhythm was boosted by hand claps and that sound's sharpness is sheer perfection, Paul's
bass is in fantastic audio definition as well. His harmonies with John during the chorus add even more of melodic sounds to the
very prominent vocals.  The track may have finished but I have a little more to say about the 'new' Beatles sound, John Lennon's
harmonica had been set aside and the backing of guitars, drums & bass produced a 'full' sound, the George Martin production is
  heard to it's absolute maximum.  I am not allowing any of the strong nostalgic feelings this single always invokes, to interfere
  with my assessment, sure, it sounds like just it was just bought in 1963, but I'm used to remaining objective about the pressing
  itself, this is an amazing sounding record with no wear to the music signals, just staggering to play at my full volume!  When we
  traded at record fairs, my regular customers asked me at how I kept managing to find amazing condition Beatles records, well,
I never lost the excitement of buying them as they were issued and once again, this looks and sounds like it did in 1963.
 
Amazingly with such minor static sound in the initial run-in grooves to "This Boy", I did not really need to review them, so that
  that means an ultra clear, clean acoustic guitar intro.  Of course there is the faint sound of the needle's natural static with a
fast spinning record but this is only how it left EMI's pressing plant. The excitement and pleasure records like this gave in it's
own time was unconnected to pressing details, of course that side of vinyl is essential to identify and explain, once done I am
  oblivious to such matters.  For me all that matters is this beautiful looking record is now producing crystal clear sound and not
  only is the intro clear & clean, so is the entire length of a lovely acoustic melody, that is really remarkable.  The acoustic guitar
  on the intro has astounding sound, how can this record possibly be 53  years old and sound so staggeringly true to life, digital
  re-mastering?   Nothing issued in 2016 could possibly sound better than this truly stunning sounding single.  Out off all the
  earliest Beatles non-album B-sides, "This Boy" is the toughest of all to find without those annoying loud clicks and crackles.
  A slow ballad with such intricate three part harmonies and to hear this in pristine mono sound, is a real pleasure, you do still
  have all of that amazing mono power but for a quieter ballad, this is in superbly sharp sound quality.   John's soulful, r&b lead
vocal sounds wonderful, with the backing harmony vocals so clear, you can pick out Paul and George's individual voices, that
  was  also thanks to  George Martin's skillful mono mixing of the vocal track.  Stunningly clear sound from a 53 year old single
  is never easy, but somehow this record escaped the usual heavy handed excessive playing, two plays!  So there are none of the
  loud crackles or clicks so common to this B-side on the whole song, allowing the beautiful melody to play unspoilt. In fact there
  is so little of any natural background surface sound/static, even when the music nearly comes to a stop just before the chorus.
  This is yet another brilliant original Lennon/McCartney song and considering how early this was,"This Boy" was astonishingly
  mature songwriting.  A really beautiful melody with sublime vocals, a real pleasure to hear from such an immaculate record.
{Roy}

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