THE BEATLES STORY
13 PICTURE LP BOX - 150 numbered copies
Company: "London Wavelength" - actually, TOBE MILO Records
Release date: mid December 1980
Country: USA
Sound Quality: EX-mono
COMMENTS
During the winter 1971 - 1972 the BBC assembled a radio documentary on the Beatles, that was aired on BBC Radio One from May to August 1972. It was a 13-part, 55 minutes long each, documentary including song excerpts and interviews covering the entire history of The Beatles, from their individual beginnings to the breakup of the band, taken from BBC archive materials and presented by Brian Matthew. Later that same year, the series was also aired in 13 weekly segments to radio stations throughout the United States. The U.S. version was 46 minutes each, pared down for the necessary commercials.
One of the two producers of the Tobe Milo company told us "We obtained a set of original reel masters from a local radio station. I believe partner Tom then made reel-to-reel copies of the radio station reels and those were what we sent to the disc mastering company. Tom handled most all of this project as far as design of the binders, artwork, sending masters to the pressing plant.".
The masters of the 13 LPs were cut at Greg Lee Processing. The release of the product was scheduled for November 30, 1980, but it had to be delayed because some masters had to be re-cut. The master of disc 4 was re-cut after John's death, and John's birth and death dates were added to the matrix number. Unfortunately, Tom passed away a couple years ago and the details of the mastering process cannot be fully recovered. However, the box was distributed around mid-December 1980. Some additional remarks on this, and also the other Tobe Milo releases, can be found here: http://www.rarebeatles.com/photospg/milolp.htm
This is the original order form for THE BEATLES STORY, showing the shipping date (30 November 1980), which had to be delayed. The price was $249.95, about $950 in 2024.
Thanks to MiLo for the illustration of the order form.
Matrix numbers of the 13 LPs
Disc 1. L 4077 TMB 001-A CK / L 4077 X TMB 001-B CK
Disc 2. L 4076 TMB 002-A CK / L 4076 X TMB 002 B CK
Disc 3. L 4075 TMB 003-A CK / L 4075 X TMB 003-B CK
Disc 4. L 4074 TMB 004-A CK JOHN OCT 9, 1940 - DEC 8, 1980 / L 4074 X TMB 004-A CK
Disc 5. L 4114 BEATLES - PART 5-A-RE1 / L 4114 X BEATLES - PART 5 – B RE1
Disc 6. L 4115 BEATLES - PART 6-A-RE1 / L 4115 X BEATLES - PART 6 – B RE1
Disc 7. L 4112 BEATLES - PART 7-A / L 4112 X BEATLES - PART 7 - B
Disc 8. L 4113 BEATLES - PART 8-A / L 4113 X BEATLES - PART 8 - B
Disc 9. L 4141 BEATLES - PART 9-A / L 4141 X BEATLES - PART 9 - B
Disc 10. L 4142 BEATLES - PART 10-A / L 4142 X BEATLES - PART 10 - B
Disc 11. L 4139 BEATLES - PART 11-A / L 4139 X BEATLES - PART 11 - B
Disc 12. L 4140 BEATLES - PART 12-A / L 4140 X BEATLES - PART 12 - B
Disc 13. L 4159 BEATLES - PART 13-A / L 4159 X BEATLES - PART 13 - B
ORIGINAL RELEASES
The first release consisted of a limited edition of 150 numbered copies. The sets had hardbound leather brown embossed covers with 13 individual cardboard jackets bound inside to hold the 13 picture discs. Each picture disc and jacket had a different cover, front and back, with the jacket reproducing the same picture of the disc. Each set included also a 42-page booklet with the cue-sheets of each part of the series, and, for the discs 1 to 10, the indication of the Music Copyright.
Christmas 1980. A limited edition of 20 additional numbered copies was produced on white cover, special "John Ono Lennon Oct. 9, 1940 - Dec. 8, 1980" issue. The front cover of the booklet was printed green, bound with green tape, and in some copies the cue sheets were printed on green paper. The LP jackets and records were the same as the first issue.
THE 13 PICTURE DISCS
We illustrate here the 13 LPs, with the title of the chapter of the series, the picture disc, the cue sheet (the Music Copyright is not included) and the list of the excerpts of the songs that were played in each program. In the introduction, in the first part of chapter 1 of the series, the excerpts of some of the songs were the officially released versions with audience screams to simulate live recordings. Excerpts of songs by other artists and orchestral versions of Beatles songs were included in the program as well; these are not listed here.
DISC 1 - The Birth Of The Liverpool Sound
SIDE A
Please Please Me
All My Loving
Help!
Norwegian Wood
Yellow Submarine
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
Come Together
Let It Be
Maggie Mae
Lucille
I Forgot To Remember To Forget
Money
Twist And Shout
SIDE B
Roll Over Beethoven
Long Tall Sally
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Cry For A Shadow
My Bonnie
Ain't She Sweet
DISC 2 - Getting It On To Wax
SIDE A
From Us To You
My Bonnie
Slow Down
She Came In Through The Bathroom Window
Rock And Roll Music
I Saw Her Standing There
Bad Boy
SIDE B
Please Mr,Postman
Some Other Guy
I Wanna Be Your Man
P.S. I Love You
Love Me Do
Disc 3 - Chart Success And The Package Tours Begin
SIDE A
Love Me Do
Love Me Do
Love Me Do
We Can Work It Out
You Really Got A Hold On Me
Please Please Me
A Taste Of Honey
Please Please Me
Please Please Me
SIDE B
Thank You Girl
From Me To You
Chains
Boys
Do You Want To Know A Secret
There's A Place
Twist And Shout
Disc 4 - The Start Of Beatlemania
SIDE A
She Loves You
All Together Now
She Loves You
She Loves You
She Loves You
I'll Get You
It Won't Be Long
Back In The U.S.S.R.
SIDE B
I Want To Hold Your Hand
All My Loving
Don't Bother Me
She Loves You
I Want To Hold Your Hand
Till There Was You
All You Need Is Love
Misery
Disc 5 - The World Surrenders
SIDE A
Anytime At All
Tell Me Why
I'm Happy Just To Dance With You
You Can't Do That
Things We Said Today
SIDE B
If I Fell
I Should Have Known Better
Can't Buy Me Love
I'll Cry Instead
And I Love Her
A Hard Day's Night
Disc 6 - The Life And Rewards Of Success
SIDE A
A Hard Day's Night
I Feel Fine
Eight Days A Week
I'll Follow The Sun
All My Loving
Kansas City/Hey-Hey-Hey
Everybody's Trying To Be My Baby
SIDE B
She's A Woman
I'm A Loser
Christmas Record 1964
Baby's In Black
Yesterday
Ticket To Ride
Disc 7 - When The Touring Had To Stop
SIDE A
Help!
Act Naturally
Help!
You've Got To Hide Your Love Away
Ticket To Ride
All My Loving
Can't Buy Me Love
I'm Down
Run For Your LIfe
Day Tripper
Her Majesty
SIDE B
Norwegian Wood
Girl
Nowhere Man
Michelle
Paperback Writer
Good Day Sunshine
Eleanor Rigby
Disc 8 - The Psychedelic Chapter
SIDE A
Panny Lane
Strawberry Fields Forever
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Good Morning Good Morning
When I'm Sixty-Four
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Day in the Life
SIDE B
Day in the Life
All You Need Is Love
Sexy Sadie
Here,There And Everywhere
Hello Good Bye
Disc 9 - Meditation And Corporation
SIDE A
Magical Mystery Tour
Magical Mystery Tour
The Fool On The Hill
The Fool On The Hill
I Am The Walrus
Music From Wonderwall Music
Cottonfields
Don't Pass Me By
Lady Madonna
Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da
SIDE B
Hey Jude
Yellow Submarine
Revolution 1
Glass Onion
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
Disc 10 - Hello, Goodbye Or Come Together
SIDE A
Hello, Goodbye
Come Together
Piggies
Let It Be
Mean Mr. Mustard
Polythene Pan
Get Back
Get Back
Music From "Life With The Lions"
Music From "Electric Sound"
Ballad Of John And Yoko
Give Peace A Chance
SIDE B
Blue Suede Shoes
Dizzy Miss Lizzy
Come Together
Maxwell's Silver Hammer
Here Come The Sun
Because
Carry That Weight
Cold Turkey
Something
Disc 11 - The End Of The Beatles
SIDE A
All Things Must Pass
Cold Turkey
Give Peace A Chance
Instant Karma
Let It Be
Maybe I'm Amazed
That Would Be Something
Man We Was Lonely
SIDE B
Two Of Us
Across The Universe
The Long And Winding Road
Beaucoups Of Blues
What Is Life
Isn't It A Pity
Well, Well, Well
Love
Disc 12 - The John, Paul, George And Ringo Show
SIDE A
My Sweet Lord
Loser's Lounge
Another Day
Power To The People
It Don't Come Easy
SIDE B
Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey
Bangla Desh
Back Seat Of My Car
Too Many People
How Do You Sleep
Imagine
Mumbo
Disc 13 - John, Paul, George And Ringo Today
SIDE A
Wah-Wah
Here Come The Sun
Beware Of Darkness
Bangla Desh
Back Off Boogaloo
SIDE B
Mary Had A Little Lamb
Crippled Inside
The End
Dig It
She's Leaving Home
INTEREST. The high quality leather embossed cover with the picture discs inserted in the custom jacket bound to the cover renders this Tobe Milo production probably the nicest Beatles release ever made. The content itself is historically interesting, since it features the first attempt at a complete Beatles story by the BBC, and it's also quite pleasant to listen to, thanks to its very good pressing quality. The limited number of only 150 numbered copies added a particular interest for the collectors since its appearance, and this box has always been much sought-after, reaching quite considerable prices in the market (*****). Needless to say, the version dedicated to John Lennon in the white box, produced in only 10 copies, is a must that only 10 collectors in the world can have (***** plus).
FURTHER RELEASES FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTERS
The original masters were used for further pressings on black or blue vinyl. These releases were not realized by Tobe Milo, as one of the producers told us. Clearly, some other bootlegger had access to the masters and used them for his own reissue. This version was very probably distributed in 1981 and had the disc in simple white sleeves, put inside a large cardboard package, similar to those used for shipping the LPs, sealed with silver tape.
The version in black vinyl included a black T-shirt with the "London Wavelenght" logo. The cue sheets were also included, and the sheets were printed front and reverse.
The discs of the copies on black vinyl had colored generic London Wavelength labels and the pressing markings are broad and deep, irregular, rather peculiar, particularly disc 6, and not seen in any other record. No information is available on the number of copies that were pressed, very probably not many. In the following illustration the labels of the discs 1 to 6 are in the upper row and those of the discs 7 to 13 are in the lower row.
The copies on blue vinyl had white labels with the title of the set and London Wavelength printed red; the chapter was handwritten on the label. Very few copies on blue vinyl were produced.
INTEREST. Even though not produced by the Tobe Milo company, also these two versions are rather interesting, even though, obviously, not comparable with those on picture discs and embossed leather cover (***).
