"The White Album", officially known simply as "The Beatles", was the band's 10th UK album (9th studio release) and was the first to be released on the new Apple record label which was owned partly by the Beatles themselves. It was also another first in that it was their only studio album which was a double LP issue. The ethos of this album was a return to their roots, mostly comprising a lot of straight rock tracks such as Back In The USSR, Birthday, Yer Blues, Revolution 1. Being The Beatles though, certain stand-out songs like Helter Skelter and Revolution 9 proved they were very capable of pushing boudaries.

This album was released in both mono and stereo but the mono version was obviously deleted about a year after release, toward the end of 1969. A huge number of mono copies were sold though and shouldn't be regarded as rare as far as original copies go. Of course, dealers and eBay will tell you otherwise!

Due to the very short space of time which the mono version of this album was originally pressed for, all the 1960s labels are effectively "first presses" despite slight variations in label texts. All copies came with 'Sold In The UK...' text and so should be regarded as being produced from November 1968 to mid-1969 when the mono catalogue would appear to have been deleted owing to the lack of non SIUK copies in mono. This is around the same time as Parlophone were removing the mono issues from their line, except for the three one-box issues. But there are some Parlophone LPs which don't exist as the '69 yellow and black type which indicates they were deleting these around that time of summer 1969.

If you have a label or font variation - no matter how small - that we haven't documented here, please contact us!

Credits:
Label 2 courtesy of forum member Baard
Label 3 courtesy of José Luis

Mono 1st Label

The earliest mono labels are regarded as displaying a "33 1/3" text at the top line of the left hand side detail. The labels are also quite dark although the actual shade of green varies greatly among copies. It is also quite possible to have one side with the 1st label and the other side with a 2nd label - both varieties would seem to have been produced at a similar date. Mixing and matching of these labels is seen now and then although this 1st label is the more usual mono type to find.

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Mono 2nd Label

Identical to above, but we can now see the text "An EMI Recording" to the left of the labels, above the "33 1/3" text. Crucially, the "An EMI Recording" text is all on one horizontal line. This label also dates from November 1968 but is less common in mono so it is likely to have appeared later in the pressing runs. Perhaps 1 in 4 copies have this label text. This is the last 1960s label until the reissue in 1982.

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Mono 3rd Label

This issue appeared in 1982 and was supposedly deleted around January 1986. It's most obvious marking is the "MONO" text on the label above the catalogue number on the right hand side. The "An EMI Recording" text is now on *two* lines and in parentheses: ("An EMI Recording") The tracklist has a few alterations from the previous versions. The text in general is a little narrower and taller than the earlier issues, and the publishing credits have now been moved to appear below 'The Beatles' band name at the bottom of the labels, allowing the tracklist to be clearer along with the addition of track numbers. The 'Sold in UK' text is also obviously not present. Finally the producer credit is now below the 'The Beatles' band name on the labels and not up underneath the album title as before.

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