Beatles'65

LP.2228.2.4 is the second stereo pressing of Beatles'65 in Canada, appearing in July 1966. It is the stereo counterpart of LP.2228.2.1 and LP.2228.2.2: the label is the stereo version of the "rainbow brackets" design (ST-2228), while the record was still pressed from the same USA-supplied stereo plates as LP.2228.1.3 (stamped matrix numbers with the IAM logo). The front cover keeps the arrow-shaped stereo banner and the back cover its "Also Available in Regular Monophonic" notice.

Availability

This variation was available between July 1966, and mid 1968 (for approximately two years) when mono was phased out and the "Also Available in Regular Monophonic" notice was dropped from the back cover (see LP.2228.2.6). Copies with the sideways catalogue number on the front cover circulated during the same period (see LP.2228.2.5).

General Information

In mid 1966, Capitol Records of Canada was reincorporated as CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD. From this point on (July 1966), all new labels would feature the new corporate information (known as the "brackets label"). This rainbow label design remained in use until Capitol changed its design in favour of the green target label (see LP.2228.4.1).

Stereo was becoming increasingly popular through 1966 and 1967, but mono was still the dominant format here until it was phased out in mid 1968, which is why the stereo brackets variations are harder to find than their mono equivalents. Unlike the mono edition, which alternated between Canadian and USA plates, the stereo edition of Beatles'65 stays with the typical USA-supplied plates until the mid 1970s (the X2 side 1 stamper turns up on every stereo pressing through the Dynaflex era, see LP.2228.6.2).

Pressing Information

As with all previous variations, Capitol of Canada subcontracted the RCA pressing plant in Smiths Falls (Ontario) to manufacture this batch of pressings. The records were pressed from the same USA-supplied stereo plates (sent from Capitol's Scranton pressing plant) introduced with LP.2228.1.3 (same X2 stamper on side 1 and B6 on side 2), and carry the same stamped markings as LP.2228.2.5 and LP.2228.2.6:

Side 1: ST1-2228-X2 #2  
Side 2: ST2-2228-B6 #2  

These pressings feature a 70 mm deep-groove pressing ring, a hallmark of early RCA Canadian manufacture. Labels feature the "brackets" rainbow label (see perimeter print at the bottom of the label: "MFD. IN CANADA BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD." with brackets around the word CANADA).

Cover

The jacket for LP.2228.2.4 features an identical build to its predecessor: the inner seams (the inside fold of the cardboard jacket) are still cut straight and measure 10 mm high.

Covers up to the mid 70s used a “front slick” construction (a larger back slick, usually printed in black and white that wrapped around the front of the cardboard cover, onto which a smaller colour front slick was glued, creating a white frame effect all around the front image).

Both slicks were printed by Parr's Print and Litho in Toronto and assembled onto the cardboard frame by Modern Albums. The stereo jacket is the same as the one used on LP.2228.1.3: arrow-shaped stereo banner and "File Under: The Beatles" line on the front, and with the "Also Available in Regular Monophonic" notice on the back below the Full Dimensional Stereo logo.

Packaging

Copies of LP.2228.2.4 were packaged with a tight shrink wrap.

These were sold with / without the red and white Capitol / Pathé "ATTENTION" paper LP inner sleeve.

Sales

Records show that 6,376 copies of Beatles'65 sold in Canada in 1966 (this includes variations LP.2228.1.3, 1.4, 2.1, 2.2 and 2.4) and 2,620 in 1967 (variations LP.2228.2.2, 2.3, 2.4 and 2.5), mono and stereo combined (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3, "Sales of Beatles Records in Canada"). Stereo copies were still the minority within these figures. Over its first four years, Beatles'65 therefore sold a total of 151,152 copies in Canada (1964 to 1967), all formats combined: these Capitol figures are per title, not per format, so from July 1965 they also include the reel-to-reel tape (see RE.2365.1.1).