Beatles'65

8T.2228.1.2 is the second white shell pressing of Beatles'65 in Canada on the 8-Track format, still on a white Ampex Datapack shell with a white slick. What sets it apart from 8T.2228.1.1 is the redrawn slick, which now reproduces the whole album cover: the "GREAT NEW HITS BY JOHN • PAUL • GEORGE • RINGO" header, the red "BEATLES '65" logotype, the umbrella photograph and the three boxed stage shots, over the "MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD." line and the four programmes. The bottom edge label changed too: it now credits "John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr" under the title, with the Capitol dome logo and 8XT-2228.

Availability

This variation was available from 1969 to 1970, when Ampex transitioned to black shells (see 8T.2228.2B.1 and 8T.2228.3.1). The same cover-art slick was carried over to the black shells, so it is the shell colour that tells 8T.2228.1.2 apart from 8T.2228.2B.1.

General Information

These first 8-Track tapes from November 1968-1970 were not manufactured by Capitol (Capitol hired subcontractors until 1976, as they were doing for vinyl records before they opened their own pressing facility in Mississauga). These early Canadian tapes featured a white Ampex Datapack shell with a white Canadian paper slick. This was different from the USA tapes released at the same time, which used 2-piece separate colored slicks instead. Canadian white shell tapes were originally housed in a unique red and black cardboard Capitol slip case onto which was glued a unique paper title sheet. These slip cases were dropped around the summer of 1969, after which generic slip cases were used instead.

As with the other variations, the song You Can't Do That (the B side of the Can't Buy Me Love single, and an album track on The Beatles' Second Album) was added to the 8-track to bring programme 4 up to the length of the other three, a common practice on the format. Every Canadian 8-track of Beatles'65 carries it.

Pressing Information

Capitol of Canada subcontracted Ampex of Canada Limited in a suburb of Toronto, to manufacture these Canadian 8-Track tapes. As Piers mentions in his Discography pt. 2 book, the Ampex of Canada 8-track tapes were manufactured in Canada using plastic “Datapack” shells (the shell model that was produced under licence from Data Packaging Corp. in the USA). These generic shells were unbranded, allowing companies to present the cartridges as their own in-house productions (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2 and 3).

The Ampex Datapack format was used in white, then black, until 1973 when Capitol turned to "Lear Jet" instead of Ampex for 8-Track tape production.

8T.2228.1.2 has markings as follows:

• White plastic shell
• Long gripper cavity
• A deep "U" shaped slot on the top left back side
• 5 clip holes holding the two halves of the shell together
• White paper slick, second design (full album cover art)
• White paper title label on the bottom edge with the four artists' names and 8XT-2228

Cover and packaging

Early Ampex releases were sold in a cardboard slip case that would fit sideways (unlike later top opening slip cases). These were generic black and red Capitol cases with a cutout to show the album cover on the inserted shell, onto which was glued a white piece of paper wrapped around featuring the specific album title and catalogue number on the edge, and the track listing wrapped on the back. These are EXTREMELY hard to find today, in any condition. These were sold in a tight shrink wrap. The red and black cardboard slipcases were available until approximately the summer of 1969, after which generic slip cases were used instead.

The slip case shown below came with a copy of this variation: the front shows the "Capitol 8-Track Stereo" panel with the cutout for the slick, and the inside of the empty case shows how the cartridge slid in sideways. Later 8T.2228.1.2 copies, after the summer of 1969, would have shipped in the generic slip case instead.