A couple of days ago I wrote about finally getting a CD copy of the 2000 Beatles compilation, The Beatles – Number One. It was a little unusual in that it was the Taiwan CD release and it has some different packaging associated with it.

In that post I mentioned that when this title originally came out in the year 2000 I got the vinyl edition, and that Apple Records had gone to a lot of extra trouble to make it something really special.

As a result it is really quite a collector’s item if you can get hold of a copy. Here are a couple of pics of my copy of the vinyl Beatles – Number One:

Beatles 1 - front cover

Beatles 1 - rear cover

Because this is a two-record set, the cover is a gate-fold. Here’s how it looks when opened up:

Beatles 1 - gate-fold open

This is the custom record label on each disc:

Beatles 1 - vinyl record label

The inserts inside are extensive.

Firstly, there are four individual photos. One of John Lennon, one of Paul McCartney, one of Ringo Starr and one of George Harrison. While these ones are psychedelic in style, the idea is clearly reminiscent of the four photographs that came with the original vinyl editions of the Beatles “White Album”:

Beatles 1 - the four individual photos

Each LP is protected by a cardboard inner sleeve. These are also highly produced with unique artwork, photographs and information:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve one (rear)

Each inner sleeve contains photo images of Beatles singles released around the world:

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (front)

Beatles 1 - inner sleeve two (rear)

Finally, the set contains a big, fold-out poster of Beatles picture covers from around the world showing different singles releases:

Beatles 1 - large poster

Nice work Apple.