LP.2228.4.1 features the new green target label, appearing in 1970. The record itself did not really change: it was pressed by RCA from USA-supplied stereo plates as every stereo pressing since December 1964, and the jacket kept the arrow-banner design without the monophonic notice.
Availability
This variation was available between 1970 and 1971 (for approximately one year) when the target label changed from green to red (see LP.2228.5.1).
This album was never released on the Apple label in Canada, which is why no LP.2228.3.x entry exists and variations jump from LP.2228.2.6 to LP.2228.4.1.
General Information
In 1969, Capitol decided to modernize its branding. A new logo (the target logo) was significantly different from the traditional dome logo, and labels were updated accordingly, featuring both the new target design as a backdrop to the label itself (green) and as a brand identifier (purple / black logo) at the top of the label. The new look inevitably made its way to Canada as well, but the design was introduced slowly in 1969, with most Beatles re-releases appearing on this label later in 1970 (as is the case with this variation of Beatles'65).
The delay is a plain business matter: Capitol did not throw away perfectly good copies, so leftover rainbow-label stock in the warehouse was sold off before a title was pressed on the new label (which is why the official label change of 1969 and the first green target pressing of Beatles'65 in 1970 do not line up; see LP.2228.2.6).
Green target pressings are relatively harder to find today as they were pressed in much smaller quantities (and for a short time), as dictated by a naturally decreasing demand for the band's back catalogue, fans always being more drawn to the more recent albums.
Pressing Information
As was the case for all previous variations, Capitol of Canada subcontracted the RCA pressing plant in Smiths Falls (Ontario) to manufacture new batches of albums with the new "green target" label. The records were still pressed from USA-supplied stereo plates (sent from Capitol's Scranton pressing plant) originally introduced in December 1964:
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. The label design was new (the green target logo), but the text layout remained identical to the previous rainbow pressings (font, alignment, etc.).
The perimeter print now reads "MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD.", spelled out in full along the bottom of the label (the rainbow labels used the shorter "MFD. IN CANADA BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD.").
Cover
The jacket for LP.2228.4.1 keeps the front slick construction of the 1960s covers, with straight inner seams (10 mm high). Both slicks were still printed by Parr's Print and Litho in Toronto.
The front slick keeps the arrow-shaped stereo banner and the "File Under: The Beatles" line; the back cover carries no monophonic notice, as on LP.2228.2.6.
Some copies were found with the sideways mono catalogue number still showing along the right edge of the front cover, the same untrimmed printer's number seen on the rainbow-label LP.2228.2.3 and LP.2228.2.5. Older covers from those print runs were apparently still in stock and were used with the new green target discs. This is another sign that disc and cover production were not synchronised, but this time the other way around: old covers housing newer pressings, rather than older discs sold in newer covers.
Packaging
Copies of LP.2228.4.1 were packaged with a tight shrink wrap.
These were now sold with a generic plain paper LP inner sleeve.
