Live From Off-Center at 45 RPM

i've been collecting vinyl records since I was a kid. The first vinyl I owned was given to me by my older cousin, Bette,* who had outgrown her Monkeys records, and I became the lucky recipient. Hey, hey!

Before long, I had become an avid Beatles fan, and didn't even consider the Monkeys to be in the same league with the fab four. I was more than a simple Beatles fan, though. I was a collector** of the Beatles' records, and set a goal to own every version, (mono, stereo, label, etc.), of every LP released in America... and I came incredibly close too. In fact, there are only two*** elusive Beatles LP's that have evaded my collection... so far.

Found among my plethora of vinyl is a small, sub-collection of mis-prints, where the label is clearly not centered on the disc. Most misprints were destroyed and never released to the public, although some of the more subtle offset labels are less obvious, and could have slipped through quality control.

For your viewing pleasure, here are some examples of three post-Beatles singles exhibiting off-center labels.

This Apple label on Ringo Starr's Oh My My, is clearly not centered.

You'd think. I know, right? One of the worst songs of all time, but the off-centered label makes it worth the twenty-five cents I paid for this sappy rarity.

Cook of the House, the B Side of my Silly Love Songs 45, is also offset, making this vinyl doubly rare.

This ever-so-slightly offset label on George Harrison's Dark Horse**** 45 probably made it through quality control, but not my keen eye. The B Side of this 7" single is the rare and nearly unheard song, I Don't Care Anymore. This unusual melancholic song that alludes to George Harrison's real-life lost-love tragedy***** has never been released in any medium, other than this 7" record... my copy is even more valuable in light of the fact that the label is off-center.

HAVE A NICE SPIN!

* Bette Davis... I'm not kidding

** I became the the defacto proprietor of my brother's Magical Mystery Tour and Revolver records after he prematurely died. About that same time, I received some records from my cousin, Jan, who gave me original issues of Introducing The Beatles, Meet The Beatles, and Beatles 65. In the mid-seventies, I found an unopened original issue of The Beatles Second Album at the drug store in Panguitch, Utah. Apparently, the fab four were not too popular there, making it possible for me to discover the rare record many years ex post facto. I was in Sturgeon Bay Wisconsin, in the mid-eighties, and had the good fortune to obtain a used copy of one of the rarest of all Beatles records, The Savage Young Beatles.

*** The Beatles Christmas Album was released in 1969, but only members of the official Beatles Fan Club received copies. I was too young to be interested in the Beatles in 1969, so by the time I was collecting records, it was too late to get one, and anyone who owned a copy was not about to part with it. The Beatles Christmas Album is so rare that I have only seen two of them in my life. The most recent was priced at $200. The Beatles original issue of Yesterday and Today, the one that features the infamous butcher cover, has also evaded me. I've seen about four of them over the years. Two different friends have owned copies, and I've seen two others priced at $200 each. I won't likely pay that much, and will wait until I find them in a thrift store, garage sale, or flea market... They will come to me.

**** The Dark Horse Tour in 1974 was my first live rock concert.

***** George Harrison's long-time wife, Patty, left him for guitar hero, Eric Clapton, who also happened to be Harrison's best friend.