LIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C.
Company: Contra Band Music
Matrix Number: 3795 C/1 / 3571 B
Release Date: April 1974
Country: USA
SIDE A
1. announcer's intro ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN 2:12
2. FROM ME TO YOU 1:47
3. Paul intro I SAW HER STANDING THERE 2:37
4. George intro THIS BOY 2:16
5. Paul intro ALL MY LOVING 2:10
6. Paul intro I WANNA BE YOUR MAN 2:05
7. Paul intro PLEASE PLEASE ME 1:50
8. Paul intro TILL THERE WAS YOU 2:05
9. SHE LOVES YOU 2:14
10. Paul intro I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND 2:19
SIDE B
side B of LIVE IN EUROPE AND U.S. TV CASTS
Source:
1 to 10: Washington Coliseum, February 11, 1964
Sound Quality: F-mono
COMMENTS
This historic concert was The Beatles’ first live gig in the U.S.A., so this record was extremely interesting when it first came out, even though the sound quality was quite poor. It had probably been scheduled for release a year earlier as a 2-LP set, coupled with SWEDEN 1963, as indicated by the matrix number of Side A (3795 C/1, while SWEDEN 1963 is 3795 A/B). However, for unknown reasons, the producer of CBM preferred to keep this master in storage for a while, until he eventually released it coupled with a repressing of Side B of LIVE IN EUROPE AND U.S. TV CASTS.
RELEASES
1. April 1974 (photograph below the title). The first pressing had a light blue insert cover and the jacket had the J. Fish drawing printed on the back. The disc itself had blank white labels, and the inner sleeve was made ofbrown paper, as was typical of the CBM records distributed in early 1974.
2. Summer to late 1974. These reissues had the same insert and jacket with the J. Fish drawing, and the discs had the yellow label with the pirate logo. No copies were seen with the other label used after summer 1974, the green label with pirate.
3. 1975. The insert was printed in "rainbow" colors, from red to blue; quite often it was glued on the cover of a legit record, such as a record by Raffie Quinones. The labels were yellow with small Godzilla or red with King Kong.
INTEREST. The first pressing has a high historical interest; it was a must when appeared and retains a good collectible value (***). As always, CBM made a large number of repressings (**/*).
THE KING KONG "SWEDEN" MISMATCH LP
In 1975 CBM decided to include the SWEDEN 1963 LP, from matrix 3795 A / 3795 B, in his series of cheap repressings with a simple insert with title, track listing and the King Kong logo. However, he mistakenly took the couple of stampers 3795 C / 3571 B for pressing the records (the stampers for both sides of a record were always stored together at the pressing plant). The result is a mismatched record titled SWEDEN, with the track list of Sweden 1963, but indeed the record inside was a copy of LIVE IN WASHINGTON. The disc had the red label with King Kong.
THE KING KONG "FIRST UNITED STATES PERFORMANCE" RELEASE
Company: Contra Band Music as KING KONG RECORDS
Matrix Number: A-1070-A / 1070-B
Release Date: Early 1975
Country: USA
SIDE A
1. announcer's intro ROLL OVER BEETHOVEN 2:12
2. FROM ME TO YOU 1:47
3. Paul intro I SAW HER STANDING THERE 2:37
4. George intro THIS BOY 2:16
5. Paul intro ALL MY LOVING 2:10
SIDE B
6. Paul intro I WANNA BE YOUR MAN 2:05
7. Paul intro PLEASE PLEASE ME 1:50
8. Paul intro TILL THERE WAS YOU 2:05
9. SHE LOVES YOU 2:14
10. Paul intro I WANT TO HOLD YOUR HAND 2:19
11. John intro SHOUT! 2:02
Source:
1 to 10: Washington Coliseum, February 11, 1964
11. from AROUND THE BEATLES TV show, May 6, 1964
Sound Quality: 1-10: VG-mono; 11: G-mono
COMMENTS
In early 1975 CBM got a tape in improved quality of this show, derived from the soundtrack of the program "THE BEATLES plus The Beach Boys and Lesley Gore" broadcast in a closed circuit, and he used it for an LP under the King Kong label. In this case, the concert was split on the two sides of the record, with the inclusion of Shout! from the "Around the Beatles'' TV show as the last track, possibly to match John's intro announcing a song previously released by the Isley Brothers after I want to hold your hand. Actually, John referred to Twist and shout. The liner notes refer to this show as the Cleveland, Ohio, concert, and a photograph from the stage was used, but it was probably an unintentional mistake, since very often the bootleggers did not know with precision the source of the material included in the tapes that they traded.
RELEASES
1. Early 1975 (photograph here above). The first release of the King Kong version had an insert in blue paper with a red-printed photo, the rubber-stamped title, with the King Kong logo and some liner notes explaining the details of the photograph. The disc had red labels with the King Kong logo.
2. 1975. Soon after, a better quality insert was prepared, with the same liner notes, re-typed and with the title placed on the right of the photo. This insert was used for all the subsequent repressings. They often had white blank labels.
3. 1975. A cheap repressing used the insert pasted over the jacket of a legit record, Bobby King was seen, with a sheet of white paper covering the back cover. This release had yellow labels with small red Godzilla and was probably produced simultaneously with the similar release with the insert pasted over the cover of a legit record and the yellow label with the small Godzilla logo of LIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C. (see above).
1975 - 1976. A further release had the number 1070 added on the left of the King Kong logo, on an insert printed on purple paper in a smaller size; the disc had the red King Kong label. In 1976 a final repressing had the red labels with pirate, and the insert was again yellow and lacking the number 1070 by the side of the King Kong logo.
INTEREST. This is one of the very few records under the King Kong label that were indispensable to get when they appeared. The rubber stamped one is quite rare (***/****), the other repressings are more common (**/*).
THE JAPANESE JL COUNTERFEIT OF LIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C.
1975. The Japanese company JL Records counterfeited the LIVE IN WASHINGTON D.C. version with a printed copy of the "rainbow" insert, with the number JL 508 added on the bottom left; the disc had blank labels and was pressed from the matrix number JL 508 A / JL 508 B (machine-impressed).
INTEREST. Interesting for the japanese market and for completists (**).
THE WHITE KNIGHT COPY OF THE KING KONG RELEASE
In 1980 the King Kong record was copied by White Knight Records as 1ST U.S. CONCERT!, matrix number WK 20 A / WK 20 B, orange custom label with the company name and the title, b/w glossy printed cover with red inserts and text.
INTEREST. Useless copy. *
NOTE. This concert reappeared on a record by Wizardo Records, which will have its own entry, as well as other releases from other companies produced in the eighties.