A Hard Day's Night
(US Format)

LP.6366.UA7.1 features a slightly different label than LP.6366.UA6.1, where the design itself is identical, but the perimeter text was changed. This variation, then, has the second of two Sunrise variations, featuring the "UNDER LICENSE" perimeter print, identical to the one found on purple 3rd generation labels from 1980-1983 (see LP.11921.11.1). This was the last official United Artists release of A Hard Day's Night.

The UA Sunrise and Capitol Purple label variations have an unexplained overlap (logically, either LP.11921.10.1 or this variation (LP.6366.UA7.1) should not have been used in the natural sequence of label evolution).

Availability

This second Sunrise pressing would have been available only for a short time in mid-Fall of 1980 before the label would have changed to "Liberty", but by then, EMI had bought the rights to the UA catalogue and the album became a Capitol Records reissue and migrated to the purple label (see LP.11921.10.1 and LP.11921.11.1).

General Information

EMI was still just about to acquire United Artists, and although pressing operations had been moved to Capitol's Mississauga pressing plant these UA pressings were to be the last to be issued by the company. This UA label variation was the last to be used on A Hard Day's Night before the album was officially transferred under Capitol Records in 1980.

The transition from the sunrise to the Capitol purple label is quite puzzling because it does not follow the logical order of label evolution. At first glance, it would seem that (having the same perimeter prints), the sunrise and purple labels were available at the same time, in both label generations. But it seems unlikely that Capitol would have reissued the album on UA once it had acquired the rights to the album and released it on its own label with a different catalogue number. The back and forth between the two labels therefore seems unlikely. All in all, there is one variation too many to follow the natural sequence of label designs (if either LP.11921.10.1 or LP.6366.UA7.1 had not been used, the logical sequence would be clear).

The authors see two possible explanations: either 1) the two labels were curiously available simultaneously during a transition period from UA to Capitol (which seems unlikely), which would mean the sunrise and purple labels "alternated" twice between 1978 and 1980, or...

2) a more logical (non-alternating) timeline would mean that earlier 2nd generation purple labels were mistakenly used when the labels had already been updated to the "Under License" perimeter print. This would also mean that the first official Capitol reissue happened slightly later than the previously estimated 1978-1980 period (i.e., in the Fall of 1980, after the "Under License" perimeter text had been introduced in mid to late 1980).

This remains to be officially confirmed, more information on this transition would be appreciated, but the authors tend to lean towards option 2. The oddball pressing would be the first purple incarnation (LP.11921.10.1), explaining the very few copies that surface today, compared to the other variations.

The theory is further supported by the fact that some collectors have reported seeing A Hard Day's Night still available on the second sunrise label in 1980 while the rest of the Beatles' catalogue was being pressed and sold on Capitol's purple label (3rd generation). One could also add the fact that the matrix numbers are completely different on purple label pressings, and the I Cry Instead mistake was corrected only on the Capitol reissues (e.g., when Capitol gained the rights to UA).

It therefore seems unlikely that leftover sunrise labels would have been reused on these new Capitol pressings; if it was the case, these sunrise pressings would carry the new matrix numbers, the new 11921 number and the corrected I'll Cry Instead title--they do not.

Pressing Information

This pressing is made from the same Captiol master as the last pressing on the Tan label (LP.6366.UA5.1), and features identical matrix etchings:

Side 1: UAS-6366-A²
Side 2: UAS-6366-B

Cover

The jacket is the same posterboard as the previous Tan label pressing. The images were printed directly on the cardboard frame instead of a pasted slick, with its long left-aligned legal text at the bottom of the back cover. It also featured the same mistake smudge above the word "Ontario" on the right side. This smudge in the printing master was carried until the mid 1980s.

Packaging

These tan label pressings were wrapped in a tight shrink wrap, and the discs were housed in a plain paper inner sleeve.