Beatles'65

8T.2228.3.1 is the official "all black" Datapack incarnation of Beatles'65 in Canada on the 8-Track format. This variation was issued in stereo. It is recognized by its black Ampex Datapack shell and black slick: the full album cover art on a black ground, the four programmes, the "8 EIGHT-TRACK CARTRIDGE 3¾ IPS" logo with its sunlight warning, the Capitol target logo, "MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD.". The bottom edge label features the title, the four artists' names, three white bars and "8XT 2228" in white.

Availability

This variation was available between 1971 and 1973 (for approximately 2 years) when Capitol changed its tape provider, opting for Lear Jet to manufacture its 8-Track tapes instead of Ampex (see 8T.2228.4.1 and 8T.2228.4.2). The Lear Jet tapes used the same black slick, but the shell shape is what tells 8T.2228.3.1 and 8T.2228.4.1 apart.

General Information

As for previous variations, these later 8-Track tapes from 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 used the same black Ampex Datapack shell as previously, with a black Canadian paper slick (the first black / black combination). Canadian black shell tapes were housed in a generic cardboard slip case with CAPITOL markings on the front and back.

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, yet again, their 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 originally used in white, then black, until 1973 when Capitol turned to "Lear Jet" instead of Ampex for 8-Track tape production.

8T.2228.3.1 has markings as follows:

• Black 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
• Black paper slick with the Capitol target logo and three white bars
• Black title label on the bottom edge, white text, three white bars, "8XT 2228"

Cover and packaging

The "all black" Datapack tapes were packaged in a standardized generic slipcase featuring "Capitol" text and logos (shown below, front and back). Earlier models appear to have been made from a thicker, darker cardboard, whereas later versions used a thinner, almost white type of cardboard.