The Beatles on Compact Disc (Part Three)

The so-called "Highlight" of the first batch of compact disc releases in the (back then) new format was the release of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on or about June 01 1987. The release of the disc was to co-inside with the lyric of the title song and media tag for the release :"It was twenty Years ago today". EMI had originally released the LP version on May 26 1967 with the offical release date as June 01 1967 making the CD release exactly twenty years apart. Some fans and critics wondered if the timing of this release affected the earlier compact disc release efforts with the thin booklets and lack of proper liner notes. There were also complaints at the time of the mono only first four issues and lack of dual choice in formats between the mono mixes and stereo mixes. All of this would be rectified in 2009 with the remasters.

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was originally released in a long box which featured the artist name in blue/white above the iconic front cover image. Under the image is the tracklisting and the word "stereo" all in blue. The sides of the box also have the artist/title in blue. The back of the box features a mini version of the LP "cut outs" with the green background, a UPC code on the upper right, composer's credits and producer/engineer credits. The bottom of the box has the Capitol and Parlophone logo, the Compact Disc logo and patent/manufactuing information. The catalogue number for this release is: CDP 7 46442 2.

The CD jewel case contains the silver disc with information written in red (all previous releases have the information in black). The spine and back are also red and have the writing in black. The spine contains the title while the back contains the tracklisting information along with the usual UPC code and technical information/ Parlophone logo. The 28 page booklet as the front cover reproduced on page 01, page 02 has the numbered characters of the front cover and the next page has the character text identifying all participants. page 04 to 06 have a quote from George Martin and recording notes by Mark Lewisohn. Page 07 has quotes from Peter Blake. Page 08/09 have outtake photos for the cover shoot from Michael Cooper and a drawing by Paul. Page 10/11 reproduce the inner gatefold photo of the LP. Pages 12 to 25 feature the lyrics and various official and outtake photos for the back of the LP cover. Page 26 contains the cut out information, another Peter Blake quote and compact disc information. Page 27 contains a reproduction of the original inner sleeve design along with credit information. Last page has the tracklisting.

I have to admit that this particular package (especially the work put into the booklet) is probably the nicest of all the CDs released during the year 1987.

Original releases did NOT have the Apple logo on the back.

The Beatles On Compact Disc (Part Two)

The next series of compact discs to be released worldwide occurred on or about April 30 1987 were the following: "Help!", "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver".

All three of these releases (along with the previous four) were also issued in long boxes. Original "pressings" do NOT have the Apple logo on the back cover of the booklets. Interestingly, both "Rubber Soul" and "Help!" were re-mixed at Abbey Road in order to slightly mix the songs with less harsh separation. This is especially evident on "Rubber Soul" where some of the vocals are brought closer to the middle of the stereo spectrum. At this point of time, the three releases from April 1987 were issued only in stereo. For some unexplained (to this day) reason, some Canadian "pressed" CDs have the original stereo UK mix rather than the otherwise above mentioned "re-mix". Confused yet ?

"Help!" was issued with the tracklisting reflecting the original UK release: the long box for this release has the artist title in blue/white with the word "stereo" in blue at the bottom of the front box. The side of the box is also blue and the back of the box contains the UPC code, track listing, Capitol logo, Parlophone logo and the compact disc logo. An italic indicates which of the songs are from the movie "Help!". My copy was manufactured in the US as mentioned in small print at the lower back of the box. The catalogue number for "Help!" is CDP 7 46439 2. The eight page booklet within contains the front and back cover (the front cover having the parlophone logo, CD logo and "stereo"), the tracklisting and four photos of the individual Beatles from the back cover.

"Rubber Soul" was issued with the tracklisting reflecting the original UK release: this release has the artist title in brown/white with the word "stereo" in green. The side of the box has brown lettering and the back has the UPC code, tracklisting and same logos as "Help!". My copy was manufactured in the US. The catalogue number for "Rubber Soul" is CDP 7 46440 2. The eight page booklet contais the front and back cover - very oddly, I've never understood with the "Capitol" dome logo is shown prominently at the upper right hand side of the front cover/booklet while all the rest of the CDs have Parlophone logos. Inside of the booklet is also the tracklisting and individual photos of the group taken from the original back cover of the LP. No liner notes for all three issues.

Lastly, "Revolver" was issued with the artist's name at the front of the long box ain turquoise/white and the word "stereo" in white. The back of the long box contains the tracklisting and logos. It's too bad EMI didn't use the original back cover of the original LPs for these releases but repeated the tracklisting twice. The catalogue number for "Revolver" is CDP 7 46441 2. The eight page booklet features the front cover with the Parlophone logo, the tracklisting and close up photos of each member of the group taken from the original back cover of the UK LP.

The Beatles on Compact Disc (Part 1)

In the 1980s, the popularity of the Compact disc format was growing rapidly across the world. It was decided to release the Beatles catalogue on this format in the mid 1980s and the CDs would be released in batches starting with the first four UK LP configuration. The Capitol LPs were abandoned (for the time being) and the EMI versions from the United Kingdom were used instead. The first four CDs released contained the material from the following LPs: "Please Please Me", "With The Beatles", "A Hard Day's Night" and "Beatles For Sale". All four were release simultaneously on or around February 26 1987.

The "Please Please Me" CD was originally packaged in a long box. The front of the box has "The Beatles" with the lower half in yellow and "compact disc" writtin in white underneath. A photo of the front LP cover is shown in the middle of the box. The spine on each side has the CD catalogue number, the artist and title in yellow and "Capitol compact disc" at the bottom. The back of the box has a UPC code, the tracklisting separated by a photo of the last page of the booklet contained within the jewel case of the CD; the Capitol logo is at the bottom left, the Parlophone logo is at the bottom right. The compact disc logo is in the middle and the US address is printed along the bottom. Some copies have a sticker at the top stating that the disc was made in West Germany as some CD factories (at the time) were still being prepped for manufacture and distribution.
The "Please Please Me" jewel case features an eight page booklet with the front cover, tracklisting, liner notes from the back of the original UK LP, compact disc information and four photos of the Beatles cropped from the front cover. There are no outtake photos nor are there any bonus tracks. All tracklisting follows the UK LP. The silver disc has the title and artist at the top, the ADD designation, Parlophone logo and patent on the left, the compact disc logo, catalogue number and manufacturer on the tight. The tracklisting and all rights perimeter print at the bottom. The CD catalogue number for the "Please Please Me" CD is CDP 7 46435 2.

The "With The Beatles" CD was also issued in a long box. The box has the sam design as the "Please Please Me" CD with the following exceptions. The front of the box has "The Beatles" in red, the spines have the artist and title in red.

The booklet inside in the jewel case features a twelve page booklet with the front cover, tracklisting, liner notes from the back of the original UK LP,CD information and individual half shadow photos of the Beatles cropped from the front cover. The catalogue number for "With The Beatles" is CDP 7 46436 2.

The third disc is "A Hard Day's Night". The long box has the same design but the Beatles and spine title/artist print are in blue. The back of the box contains the individual photos taken from the back cover of the UK LP "A Hard Day's Night".

Inside the jewel case, the eight page booklet features the front cover, the title/artist, the tracklising, liner notes from the original LP and CD information. The catalogue number for "A Hard Day's Night" is CDP 7 46437 2.

The fourth and final CD released in February 1987 was a copy of "Beatles For Sale". The long box appeared in the same style as the previous three with the exception of the artist/title in green this time on the front and at the spine. The back of the box contains the tracklisting and the back cover of the original UK LP.

Inside the jewel case, the eight page boolet features the front cover, the original Derek Taylor liner notes from the LP, the inside, the two group photos from the inside of the original gatefold cover (the Washington concert photo and the photo of the group at Twickenham), plus compact disc information and the back cover of the original UK LP. The catalogue number for "Beatles For Sale" is CDP 7 46438 2.

When all four discs were originally released in 1987, many Beatles fans were upset because these discs were available only in mono. I could understand the first two being mono due to the fact that these were basically recorded on twin track, but the latter two were four-track and have decent stereo separation on the UK records. Stereo mixes for the first four releases (selected) would not be available commercially until the release of a compilation in 1993 (more on this later).

Intermission

Well...let's see now. We've covered the commercial vinyl releases from the UK, US and Canada as well as the Christmas goodies. I think up next we'll take a look at the release of the first set of Compact Discs released in the 1980s.

The Beatles Christmas Album

On December 18 1970 (the same day the UK "From Then To You" Beatles Fan Club issued thier Christmas flexi compilation), the Beatles Fan Club in the USA also released an LP containing a compilation of all the Christmas messages previously sent to Fan Club members. Entitled "The Beatles Christmas Album", this LP was not sold in stores but issed to Fan Club members through the mail in a single envelope !! The catalogue number for this LP is Apple SBC 100.

The LP was released in a cardboard cover with paper slicks (fakes have posterboard construction). The front cover is one of the prettiest of all Beatles LPs (in my honest opinion). The front has a series of 25 cubes against a dark blue background. Within the cubes are black and white photos of the Beatles individual and as a group. The first row of cubes (left to right) features photos of John from 1966, 67, 68, 69 and 1970. The sides and tops of the cubes reflect the various other photos within the row. The second row of cubes features photos of Paul in the same time frame. The third row of cubes features photos of George in the same time frame. The fourth row of cubes features photos of Ringo in the same time frame. Finally, the fifth row features group photos from 1966, 67, 68 and 1969 with the very last cube showing the LP title (due to the fact that there are no photos of the entire group together from 1970).

The back cover features the LP title taking over most of the cover "The Beatles" written in black with white border and "Christmas Album" written completely in white. At the top left of the back cover, six black and white miniature flexi cardboard covers from the UK are shown. If you were a member of the American Fan Club in the day, you probably would not have recognized four of the mini covers as they were never released in this format in the USA. The only two covers that the Fan Club would have recognized is the second row right cover ( being released in the UK for the 1967 message but issued to US Fan Club members in 1968) as well as the last two right (both released for the UK and US Fan Club members in 1969).

Underneath the "Christmas" part of the back cover there are the words: "The Beatles Fan Club" written in uppercase in black, "Copyright 1970" in upper and lower case underneath the above. The tracklisting for the LP is written for both sides with the address of the Fan Club written underneath the tracklisting on the back cover. Finally, the LP design is credited to "GROK IT!" and the photo creations are credited to Robert Bauman. "Not For Sale" and the catalogue number is written at he bottom left of the back ocver as well as the "all rights" print. The spine of the LP carries the LP title as well as the catalogue number.

Both sides of the LP carry the Apple label with a whole Apple on side one and a half Apple on side two. There is perimeter print on side one only which reads: "Mfd. By Apple Records, Inc.". The title for the LP is on side one above the playhole. The catalogue number and "side 1" are to the right of the playhole. The tracklisting and the "all rights" paragraph is written on four lines under the tracklisting. The title for the LP is on side two above the playhole and to the left. All information on the label is placed in the same position as on side 1. The trail-off area of the vinyl record contain the initials "sf" as well as the "Bell Sound" logo and a hand written triangle and line which indicates that this particular release was only pressed at the Capitol Winchester plant.

The tracklisting for this compilation is as follows: Side 1 :"Dec. 1963", "Dec. 1964" (which was the first time that American Fan Club members would have heard this message as the message released by the Fan Club in 1964 was actually the recording from the previous year), "Dec. 1965" (another new message and first release for the American Fan Club members as the Beatles (USA) Ltd. did not release the Christmas message for 1965", "Dec. 1966". Side 2: "Dec. 1967", "Dec. 1968" and "Dec. 1969".

There are a lot of fakes vs. real out there for this LP as it is fairly rare and quite in demand. The fake covers are made of white posterboard and the artwork is one piece printed directly onto the posterboard. Real covers are constructed of cardboard and the addition of paper slicks with the front cover wrapped around to the back and the seam can be seen on the back cover. The Apple labels on the vinyl should be sharp and clear. The indentation of the ring around the playhole should be five-eights of an inch away. Any ring indentation larger than that is a fake. Any coloured vinyl is fake.

Things to remember: Not all covers of fake copies have blurry print. This is why it is important to check the cover construction. Some fakes also contain the "Bell Sound" logo in the trail off area. This is why it is important to check the indentation ring.

From Then To You

On December 18 1970, The Beatles Fan Club still existed although the Beatles had officially announced the break up of the band earlier in the year. Since recording activity had halted for the group as a collective unit, there would be no chance of a new Christmas flexi being prepared. Therefore, The Beatles Fan Club released a 12 inch vinyl compilation mailed out to it's members entitled "From Then To You" in LP form. The catalogue number for this LP is LYN 2153/54. "From Then To You" was only released in the United Kingdom.

The front cover consists of a white background with the LP title written in black above a facsimile of the 1963 UK Christmas flexi front cover (bent corners and all). The back of the cover is also a white background with the remaining six front covers of the Fan Club Christmas flexis in black and white. Under the photos of the covers are the words: "The Beatles Fan Club Christmas Record 1970". The tracklist follows: Side one consists of the Christmas messages from 1963, 1964, 1965 and 1966. Side two consists of the Christmas messages from 1967, 1968 and 1969. A copyright 1970 statement follows and the Beatles Fan Club Liverpool address is used. The sleeve design is credited to "Joint Effort". The printers of the cover are West Brothers printers Ltd, London, SW19.

The LP has the Apple label. Side one has the full Apple with with title and subtitle appearing in black above the playhole. To the left is the blurb "An EMI recording", the record speed (33 1/3), Mfd. In U.K. and the side number. On the right is the catalogue number for this side. At the bottom is the tracklisting, artist, the "recordings first published" statement and finally "The Official Beatles Fan Club". Side two has the half Apple and the markings are in the same location as the full Apple side.

Fake copies of this LP do NOT have the Apple labels