The Beatles' Story

LP.2222.6.2 is the Beatles' Story on the first generation orange label (gold perimeter print), pressed by Columbia (CBS) instead of RCA. It is easy to tell from LP.2222.6.1 by its label layout: STEREO at the top, the title in large type, and "(T1-2222)" under the side number. This pressing introduces the new label font and layout used on all the later reissues of the album.

The authors do not own a copy of this variation. It has been documented as existing from the side 1 label shown above, and photos of all four sides will be added when a physical copy is found.

Availability

This pressing was available circa 1973 or very early 1974, after the RCA pressing of LP.2222.6.1 and until the second generation orange labels took over in 1974. Like the other Columbia pressings of the period, it was most likely pressed in a small batch, as orders came in.

General Information

Around 1973, Capitol of Canada started sending some of its Beatles titles to the Columbia (CBS) plant rather than to RCA. This is the first Beatles' Story pressing manufactured by CBS, and its label layout was carried on to the second generation orange labels of LP.2222.7.1: STEREO printed at the top, the title set in large type, and the small line under the side number reading "(T1-2222)", the prefix of the old MONO catalogue number, even though the record is in stereo. The RCA labels of LP.2222.6.1, on the other hand, carry no STEREO mention at all. So the layout of the label seems to follow the plant more than the label generation.

As with every pressing of the album, disc 1 should hold sides 1 and 4 and disc 2 sides 2 and 3 (the "automatic changer" pairing, explained on LP.2222.1.1).

Pressing Information

This pressing most likely carries the same hand-written lacquers as LP.2222.6.1, cut by RCA in Toronto from New York tapes in 1968, with only the pressing plant changing. But it could also have introduced the new Capitol lacquers found on two sides of LP.2222.7.1 and LP.2222.7.2; this will be verified when a physical copy is located.

LP.2222.6.2 most likely 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

This pressing would have been made from lacquers most likely cut by RCA in Toronto from New York tapes, then pressed by Columbia (CBS) in Don Mills.

As a CBS pressing, it should feature the 68 mm thin pressing ring of that plant, instead of RCA's 70 mm deep groove.

Cover

The authors do not own a copy, but this pressing most likely came in the same Canadian gatefold as LP.2222.6.1: the "Litho in Canada" credit with no Parr's logo on the front, STEREO under the Capitol logo, and the Canadian back slick ("MANUFACTURED AND DISTRIBUTED IN CANADA BY CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD."). The photos below show that jacket.

Packaging

As with every Canadian copy of the album, these were shipped in a loose poly plastic wrap, which let customers open the gatefold in the shop.

These were most likely sold with the plain paper inner sleeve used by Columbia (type 2 on the Inner Sleeves page), recognized by the small die-cut tab at the top and its reverse shape on the bottom flap. CBS had its own sleeve models, different from the ones found with the earlier RCA pressings.