A Hard Day's Night
(US Format)

This variation was released on the retro rainbow label, pressed by Cinram (a Capitol subcontractor) around 1987. This pressing is the scarcest of the retro rainbow pressing variations, and features a completely new and high quality Columbia-made master (the same as the one featured on the Columbia pressing (LP.11921.13.1). These pressings can be recognized by the 29 mm pressing ring with a 70 mm recessed plate.

Availability

This variation was available after August 1988 (for only one batch, maybe a few months). This pressing is relatively scarce, and possibly the rarest pressing of the album. This was the very last Canadian pressing of A Hard Day's Night.

General Information

After the CBS Don Mills pressing plant halted vinyl record production in August 1988, it hired Cinram to take over pressing operations. They were therefore de facto subcontracted by Capitol to press Beatles records for one last time just before Beatles vinyl LP production was completely stopped in Canada, in favor of imported records from the UK and the USA. These pressings are pretty rare since very few copies were made, in a very short period of time, they are quite sought after because they are scarce, but also because they are amongst the best sounding pressings, and these were the very last Beatles LP pressings in Canada. Cinram was to be used again later to press Beatles CDs.

Pressing Information

This pressing was manufactured at yet another (the last) Capitol subcontractor vinyl pressing plant: Cinram. For these 1987 retro rainbow pressings, Cinram used lacquer cuts prepared by Columbia who had prepared new masters for every Beatles title on LP in 1984. These pressings can be identified by the 29 mm pressing ring with a 70 mm recessed plate.

Matrix numbers feature the new Columbia-made stereo mix and matrix number:

SW-11921-A 1A 2HDK:
SW-11921-B 1A 2HDK:

Even though Columbia prepared a brand new master, the original "fake stereo" mixes were still used on these new releases. Only the George Martin instrumentals were in true stereo.

Cover

This Capitol reissue features the same cover as the previous few variations, with the Capitol dome logo added to the top left of the front cover, while the back cover legal information shows the Capitol / EMI information. This Ever Reddy cover also used a similar posterboard construction.

Packaging

This edition was shipped in tight shrink wrap, with a square polyethylene inner sleeve. These Columbia (CBS) sleeves are square and have a straight cut opening with UNEVEN sides (making it easier to open to manipulate the record inside).