While not wanting to begin this writeup with a negative comment, this is an album which holds little esteem in Beatles fans' minds! The main gripe is that side 2 is comprised of George Martin orchestral arrangements of songs from the cartoon video. Side 1 has a selection of songs which are quite honestly not of the calibre of The White Album or the subsequent Abbey Road. Two key tracks on side 1 are "Yellow Submarine" and "All You Need Is Love", both of which were already available as singles as well as "Yellow Submarine" also appearing on "Revolver" three years earlier.

Regardless of musical merit, this is the last Beatles album in the UK to have been released in mono - although it was actually a fold-down from stereo. The remaining subsequent Apple albums would only be available in stereo from now on. This LP is seen more as a filler after the huge amount of work that went into "The White Album" a couple of months before. Indeed, the rear of the sleeve is dedicated to promoting "The White Album" and has no mention of anything relevant to the "Yellow Submarine" LP!

This is the hardest standard release LP to acquire for the Beatles collector as far fewer mono copies were pressed up than stereo ones due to mono being phased out almost entirely from EMI's catalogue by early 1970, beginning from around early 1969. As such, only two label types are available for the mono version.

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

Credits:
Label 1 and label 2 courtesy of forum member rockinrobyn

Mono 1st Label

The first mono labels have 'Sold In UK subject to resale price conditions...' above the album name. Also the ("An EMI Recording") credit towards the left side of the label is on two lines and in parentheses. There were no subsequent reissues or label variations of the mono "Yellow Submarine" until the 1982 boxset.

Side 1 ..... Side 2

Mono 2nd Label

This is the issue from the mono boxset that appeared in 1982. The clearest marking to discern it from an original 1969 copy is the addition of the word 'MONO' above the catalogue number on the right hand side of the labels. Also, of course, the SIUK text is now missing and the tracklist layout on side two has been adjusted a little so now the songs appear on four lines instead of five. There is also a slightly increased vertical spacing between the lines. Theis copy is even harder to find than the 1969 examples! Something interesting to note with the 1982 set is that there are some copies with stereo labels that were actually mispressed with mono matrices.

Side 1 ..... Side 2

..