BEATLES MAGAZINE: WHITE ALBUM VINYL GIFTED BY GEORGE HARRISON SELLS FOR £10,000

Tuesday, 4 March 2025

WHITE ALBUM VINYL GIFTED BY GEORGE HARRISON SELLS FOR £10,000

An rare vinyl album by The Beatles, gifted by George and Pattie Harrison to a friend, has sold for £10,000.

The self-titled 1968 record, commonly known as the White Album because of its plain white sleeve, was sold on Monday by Tracks Auctions music memorabilia auctioneers in England.
A photo of the item on the auction house's website shows the name of the band embossed onto the record sleeve along with the serial number 0000012. Its plain white cover was designed by pop artist Richard Hamilton.

The item is described on the web page as an "extremely rare low numbered stereo vinyl pressing of The Beatles White Album":

An extremely rare low numbered stereo vinyl pressing of The Beatles White Album. PCS 7067. It is number 0000012.

The minimalistic sleeve design was conceived by Richard Hamilton who not only suggested this approach but also the idea of the consecutively numbered sleeves which would ironically give a limited edition feel to a potentially multi-million selling record. Very few copies of the album with this low a number have surfaced on to the market.

Provenance: the album was given by George and Pattie Harrison one afternoon in 1968 when the couple called round to the vendor’s flat in London. It comes with a letter of authenticity which reads:
'In the sixties I was a fashion photographer in London. I'd known Pattie Boyd for some time and I was at her mews flat just off Hyde Park Corner one evening in 1964. The phone rang, I answered it, and it was George Harrison calling from the USA where The Beatles were touring. When he got back we met and became friends. Over the course of the next few years we saw quite a lot of each other at restaurants, clubs like Tramp and Crazy E, my flat in London, their house in Esher, later on Friar Park.

A few anecdotes:
George took me to recording studios.
He gave me a 12-string guitar.
One night he came round to the flat with John and Paul!
George bought me a jacket from Granny Takes A Trip in the Kings Road
We were in the 'All You Need Is Love' video!
They sometimes brought the latest releases and, for instance, I had a treasured acetate demo of Across The Universe which got played so much the stylus nearly went through it. But then, they weren't very tough.
There was a low number copy of the White Album that they'd brought round to the flat one day and when I spoke to George on the phone I mentioned I had it, he said – ‘keep it, it's yours’. It is this copy of the White Album, number 0000012, given to me by George and Pattie, that I have consigned to the Tracks auction beginning on the 21^st February 2025.'
The record does not come with black inners, poster and the four photographs.
The condition of the labels is very good.
There are numerous light surface marks over all four sides of the vinyl. The condition of the vinyl is very good minus.
The sleeve has a spine split along the tope edge, ring wear, and several creases to the front and reverse covers. There are also crease marks to all four edges. The condition is good.

Very few copies of the album with this low a number have surfaced to the market," the description adds.

The lot details include a letter from the vendor which describes how they became friends with Harrison, the band’s lead guitarist, and his then-partner.

Of the record, the letter says: "There was a low number copy of the White Album that they’d brought round to the flat one day and when I spoke to George on the phone I mentioned I had it, he said - 'keep it, it’s yours’."

The note includes details of the seller’s friendship with Harrison and says the musician once gifted them a 12-string guitar and a jacket and visited their home along with John Lennon and Paul McCartney.

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