The Beatles' Story

LP.2222.2.2 is the fourth pressing of The Beatles' Story in Canada, and the first one in STEREO, some three and a half years after the mono release. It is still on the "brackets" rainbow label and still in the 1-4, 2-3 pairing configuration, and the lacquers were cut in Canada for the first time on this title (hand-written matrix numbers). This rare Parr's front slick carries the arrow-shaped "Capitol Full Dimensional Stereo" banner at the top, the one detail that tells it apart from the later stereo jackets.

Availability

This variation appeared in early to mid 1968. The album was selling very slowly by then (see the sales figures on LP.2222.2.1), and Hemmingsen describes a limited number of stereo copies pressed for back catalogue orders. The arrow banner jackets only lasted as long as the leftover Parr's slicks did, so this was a short-lived and rare variation: once that stock ran out, the stereo jackets were printed without the Parr's slick (LP.2222.2.3). Copies with the banner do not surface very often.

General Information

The Beatles' Story had been available in stereo in the USA since its release in November 1964 (STBO-2222), but Capitol of Canada waited until 1968 to issue a stereo edition here. The reason possibly lies in the album itself: most of the double set is narration, and a stereo version had little to offer (Something New was held back in mono until 1968 as well, see LP.2108.2.3) (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2).

The labels now read STEREO on the left, above the "A Capitol Records, Inc., U.S.A. Recording" credit, with the catalogue number STBO-2222 and the disc number (1-2222 or 2-2222) on the right. As with the mono pressings, disc 1 holds sides 1 and 4 and disc 2 holds sides 2 and 3 (the "automatic changer" pairing, explained on LP.2222.1.1).

Pressing Information

Capitol of Canada subcontracted once again the RCA pressing plant in Smiths Falls (Ontario) to manufacture this batch, on the "brackets" labels. But where all the mono pressings had come from plates supplied by Capitol's Scranton plant, a new set of stereo plates was made in Canada: the run-out shows hand-written matrix numbers, the mark of lacquers cut by RCA in Toronto.

The tapes themselves came from New York. The W that follows each matrix number is a New York lathe letter. New York was usually supplied with second or third generation tapes from Hollywood (see LP.2222.1.1 for the full story). The tapes sent to Canada were copies as well, so these Canadian lacquers were cut from yet another generation, one step further from the original source than the American plates used on the US pressings (a difference that is probably very hard to hear, considering how much of this album is spoken word) (source: Pink Floyd Archives, "U.S. LP Manufacturing Information").

The numbers use dots on sides 1, 2 and 4 (STBO.1.2222) and dashes on side 3 (STBO-3-2222). The W suffix is written almost half-way around the run-out from the number itself, so it is easy to miss at first glance.

LP.2222.2.2 has markings as follows (by disc, in the pairing order):

Disc 1, side 1: STBO.1.2222  W7
Disc 1, side 4: STBO.4.2222  W5’
Disc 2, side 2: STBO.2.2222  W5’
Disc 2, side 3: STBO-3-2222  W8

Read together, these markings tell how the record was made: lacquers cut by RCA in Toronto from New York tapes, then pressed by RCA in Smiths Falls.

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 gatefold is the Canadian jacket introduced with LP.2222.1.2, printed by Parr's Print and Litho (Toronto), with the small vertical "Litho in Canada" credit and the Parr's logo at the bottom right of the front cover.

What sets this jacket apart is the arrow-shaped "Capitol Full Dimensional Stereo" banner across the top of the front slick. Parr's only supplied the colour picture for the front (the black and white back, which wraps around the cardboard, was the jacket maker's job). For its 1966 reprint of the Beatles' Story front (Long Tall Sally got the same treatment), Parr's made the sheets taller so that the old stereo banner could sit above the picture; for a mono jacket, that strip was simply cut away (source: Capitol 6000, "Stereo Banners"). No stereo edition followed at the time. When Capitol of Canada finally issued one in 1968, the jacket manufacturer (Modern Album) most probably used up that old stock of untrimmed slicks (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3). The same leftover slicks also ended up on mono red target copies of Long Tall Sally (see LP.6063.5.1).

By 1968, that arrow design was a few years old. A redesigned banner ("New Improved Full Dimensional Stereo") had appeared in 1965, and it is the one found on the Canadian stereo copies of Beatles VI, Help!, Rubber Soul and Yesterday And Today. Still, Capitol of Canada brought the earlier arrow back for a number of its stereo slicks in 1966 and 1967 (among the Beatles albums, the stereo Beatles '65 of December 1964 was the last to carry it before that) (source: Capitol 6000, "Stereo Banners"). Today, stereo copies of The Beatles' Story with an untrimmed Parr's slick rarely turn up.

The top of the front still reads "File Under: The Beatles", now with STBO 2222 in the corner, and the back keeps "MADE IN U.S.A. FACTORIES: SCRANTON, PA. - LOS ANGELES, CALIF." at the bottom, along with the RIAA seal, as on the earlier Parr's jackets.

The inside slick was printed for the stereo edition. The photos and the programme are laid out as on the mono gatefold, but the "High Fidelity Recording" box (and its "ALSO AVAILABLE IN STEREO" line) is replaced by a "STEREO This recording may also be played safely on most modern monophonic equipment" note next to the Capitol and EMI logos, and the small print under the logos names Capitol Records (Canada) Ltd.

Packaging

The 1968 stereo copies were still shipped in a loose poly plastic wrap, which let customers open the gatefold in the shop and look at the photos inside (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2).

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