Song, Pictures And Stories Of The Fabulous Beatles, Vee-Jay VJLP(S) 1092, July, 1964. This album is nothing more that a fancy repackaging of the second version of Vee-Jay’s Introducing The Beatles. Although the company assigned the release a new number and prepared a different and more elaborate cover, Vee-Jay did not bother to print new labels for the records placed in new jacket. The jacket has a gatefold cover whose front flap is two-thirds of the full jacket’s size. The multicolored front flap features a black background with “BEATLES” in large stylized orange print. The lower half of the flap is dominated by the same Dezo Hoffmann photograph that was used Capitol’s I Want To Hold Your Hand picture sleeve. The phrase “All our best” appears above the photograph in hand-writing and autographs of the Beatles are reproduced below. The exposed portion of the white background inside right flap has the same color drawings of each of the Beatles faces that were used on the jacket for the Souvenir EP and the picture sleve Do You Want To Know A Secret single. In typical teenage magazine cover language, the purchaser is urged to “LOOK INSIDE” for the complete story of each Beatles favotite male and female singer, foods, types of girls, sports, hobby, songs and colors as well as their real names, birthplaces, birthdays, height, education and hair and eye color. Once opened , the inside gatefold lives up to its promise of personal information and is graced with additional color tinted pictures. The back cover leaves no doubt that Vee-Jay was marketing this record for young girls. Below Ringo’s color tinted piture is the phrase “RINGO LOVE” and a blue dash-bordered heart containing the phrase “PICTURE HERE”. Similar pictures, language and hearts appear for the other Beatles. The cover goes so far as to give the following instructions: PASTE YOUR PICTURE WITH YOUR FAVORITE BEATLE AND YOUR FRIENDS WITH THEIR FAVORITE AND FOR YOU FELLOWS TOUGH LUCK!!
On the mono covers the number VJ 1092 appears on the lower right corner of the front flap.
The normal stereo covers have the front jacket slick positioned to reveal the number VJS 1092 and the word “STEREO” in blue at the top of the cover. The stereo cover have same gatefold and back jacket as mono cover.
As was the case with Introducing The Beatles, Vee-Jay had the factories improvise stereo covers when only mono covers were available. Mono cover with a white rectangular sticker containing the word “STEREO” in black.
Mono cover modified by a red rectangular sticker with “STEREO” in black affixed to the lower right corner of front.
The album covers were paired with Version Two Introducing The Beatles records. While one normally finds the colorband brackets logo label or the all black with silver print large VJ logo label with this album, other variations have been found with this jacket, including the colorband oval logo label.
Some album covers for Song, Pictures and Stories were customized for verious Beatles concert locations. These souvenir album have a black banner sticker with white print affixed to the album’s front gatefold proclaiming “SOUVENIR OF THEIR APPEARANCE AT [VENUE, CITY, DATE”.
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