Update (10/10/2012): The official Record Store Day Facebook page just confirmed a new date for the corrected, repressed single is October 22. Check your local stores for more details!
Original post (10/5/2012): Bad news for anyone looking for EMI’s repressed Beatles 50th anniversary single: you’re not going to find it anytime soon.
The label announced in a statement earlier this week that the single would be pulled from the release schedule. Embarrassingly, EMI cites a “faulty” pressing as the issue – namely, that the Please Please Me LP version of A-side “Love Me Do” (which had session drummer Andy White playing drums, with Ringo Starr relegated to tambourine duties), rather than the famous single version with Mr. Starkey at the kit. Worse yet, the label added, “it is yet to be decided whether the single will be repressed.”
Here’s hoping that Beatles vinyl box set won’t have any issues.
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Yeah I inquired to my local record shop about the 7″ today and the owner sent me back this message:
This is from our distributor: Word is that EMI have recalled all the stock of the 50th anniversary edition of the Love Me Do 7″ vinyl single , because the version on the single is incorrect. Under strict instructions from Apple the stock is to be destroyed.
The single version as you probably know featured Ringo, and the album version featured Andy White with Ringo on the tambourine. The mistake is that they have supposedly put the album version on the new 7 inch.
At the moment EMI have no plans to replace it with the correct version.
This information came from one of the retailers who had already shipped their pre-orders, so there will be a number of lucky owners of this rarity when the post arrives tomorrow….
Meanwhile, we are wondering that perhaps Ringo may have had something to do about this, due to his own faulty memory. Whenever Ringo tells the story of Love Me Do he always has it backwards, that it was the version with Andy White on the drums which became the single, whereas the Ringo version was on the album. So perhaps it is the Ringo version on the new 7-inch and Ringo through Apple may have withdrawn it because he thinks it should have been the Andy White version
Darn it. I was really excited for this, considering how incredible the sound on the 2010 Record Store Day 7″ of “Paperback Writer” is.
According to Amazon UK, as of October 5:
“Release Date Change
EMI has confirmed that this product has been temporarily recalled due to a manufacturing defect. As a result the release date has been moved to 22 October, 2012. Apologies for any inconvenience this may have caused.”
Copies already up to $330 and rising in active eBay auctions.
Unbelievable! The exact same thing happened back in 1982 when the single was reissued to mark it’s 20th anniversary. That time around it did reach the shops and sold well before the error was bought to EMI’s attention. Their answer was to press up a 12″ containing both versions! Possibly the shortest 12″ of all time?! Have these people learnt nothing?
wonder how many copies actually made it, and have not been returned? someone is going to get rich off these!
As an upright citizen, I am returning my copy so that it may be properly destroyed.
An EMI-Japan, EP release of “Love me do (original single version)/P.S. I love you” has just been announced and ships on 2012/11/14
http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=TOJP-40002&utm_source=MAIL&utm_medium=html&utm_content=121017-TOJP-40002&utm_campaign=pop
Amazon.co.uk have it for £4.99 with a release date of October 22. Grab it now!!!!!