The historic set features copies numbered 007, 008, and 009
In a landmark acquisition for music collectors and Beatles fans alike, Rockaway Records has secured an extraordinary trio of 1968 Beatles White Album LPs, numbered 007, 008, and 009. Valued collectively at $250,000, this set not only includes the lowest three-digit U.S. number to ever surface (“007”), but is also believed to be the lowest sequentially numbered group of White Albums ever offered for sale anywhere in the world. According to noted Beatles experts and authors Frank Daniels and Bruce Spizer, these “three-digit” White Albums were made as a test run for the number stamper at Bert-Co in Los Angeles, where the cover slicks and inserts were printed. Low numbered White Albums from the US and UK are extremely collectable, with numbers less than 100 selling for tens of thousands of dollars each. Numbers less than ten are virtually unheard of, with an extreme example being Ringo Starr’s personal UK mono pressing “No. 0000001,” which sold in 2015 for almost $800,000.
“In our nearly 50 years in business we have had countless amazing Beatles artifacts, but never a White Album with such a low number, let alone tree consecutive low numbers!” Rockaway Records co-founder Wayne Johnson states.
Rockaway Records started in 1979, shortly after brothers Wayne and Gary Johnson attended the legendary Capitol Swap Meet. It took place in the parking lot next to the Capitol Records tower in Hollywood, where collectors and sellers would park their cars to buy, sell, and trade records.
What began as a part-time mail order business quickly grew through the years. By 1992, Rockaway had become the largest – and one of the most respected – record stores in Los Angeles, specializing in rare and collectible vinyl and memorabilia. Rockaway swiftly gained a reputation throughout the world for its honesty and expertise.
Wayne and Gary travel worldwide buying valuable collections from collectors and music industry executives. Music industry collections are especially interesting to Rockaway, since they are usually very diverse and can include everything from records, posters, autographs, RIAA awards, t-shirts and more. Rockaway is one of the few, if any, businesses that has the expertise in all these fields to evaluate and acquire all these items. Rockaway competes with the larger auction houses and often gets much higher returns on music-related items because of their extensive knowledge of the marketplace gained during their 45 years of unparalleled experience in the music industry. Often times they pay much more than the seller was expecting. Seldom outbid on valuable collections, none is too large for Rockaway either. They recently paid close to $1,000,000 for an enormous Beatles collection!
Today, with most sales done online, Rockaway no longer operates as a traditional retail record store but does have an appointment-only showroom in Los Angeles. It regularly contains some of the most amazing records and music collectibles, attracting customers from around the world, including Jimmy Page and Robert Plant from Led Zeppelin, Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, and Chris Robinson from the Black Crowes. What began as a hobby 45 years ago quickly evolved to become the world-renowned business it is today.
