LP.6051.4.1 was released on the green target label in late 1969 or 1970. This particular pressing is considered to be pretty rare because only a few copies have surfaced in recent years (maybe 5-7 documented copies as of May 2025), although there are certainly more copies out there, seeing that new copies surface from time to time. So the authors consider this variation to be "rare", but not a "Grail" as was originally thought.
It is nonetheless historically interesting because it was long believed that none of the 6000 series Beatles albums were pressed on this label. "Beatlemania!" is the only confirmed incarnation of the three albums to have been documented with a green target label to date.
Availability
LP.6051.4.1 was available for a very short time around late 1969-1970 (only one short pressing run).
General Information
This pressing is what some have called a "unicorn pressing". No green target pressing was thought to have been made for the three unique Canadian albums (Beatlemania!, Twist and Shout and Long Tall Sally). At the time, Capitol of Canada was apparently asked to align with the US catalogue, so theoretically, the three Canadian albums would have been "replaced" by Meet The Beatles, Early Beatles and Second Album, released in Canada for the first time on the LP format in 1967 and 1968. Now while the Canadian albums were never officially "deleted" from the catalogue, the US albums were favoured by the company head office for a few years.
As the story went, the holdback on the 6000 series Beatles albums would have seemingly remained until 1971 (Variation LP.6051.5.1) when album sales confirmed that Canadians showed less interest in the 3 US albums, having been originally introduced to Beatlemania!, Twist and Shout and Long Tall Sally first. The Canadian pressings had already featured these songs 6 years earlier, and were sourced from UK master tapes (in most parts), unlike the US albums that were remixed / processed differently and therefore sound different (i.e., consider to be inferior by many).
At least, this was the common belief until approximately 2015 when a first copy of the Green Target Beatlemania! surfaced in Montreal. In turn, it most likely got people going through their collections, and a few more have been confirmed since.
This discovery puzzled collectors since 1) collectors had never seen a copy before in all these years (some people obviously have, but it was never "known" by the collecting community), 2) to date, only Beatlemania has been verified on the green target label, and 3) logically, this pressing was not supposed to have been made, considering the corporate decision to follow the US catalogue.
It is not known if this pressing is a mistake, or was cancelled, but it is the only one of the three unique Canadian albums that has a confirmed pressing on this label variation. Furthermore, it is not known how many were pressed, but a handful of copies have surfaced to date. It is the opinion of the authors that more copies are out there, but it remains pretty scarce and sought after by collectors.
Pressing Information
As was the case for all previous variations, Capitol of Canada subcontracted once again the RCA pressing plant in Smith Falls (Ontario) to manufacture new batches of albums with the new "Green Target" label. Matrix numbers sequencing is still inconsistent and these copies have a lower matrix number than some of its previous incarnations (up to "dash 6"), with a “dash 4” on both sides:
Side 1: XEX-447-4
Side 2: XEX-448-4
The label design was new (the green target logo), but the text layout remained identical to previous Rainbow pressings (font, alignment, etc.).
Cover
The cover for this variation is similar to the previous variations (LP.6051.1.2, LP.6051.1.3 and LP.6051.2.1), but has a slightly larger straight inner seam (12 mm vs 10mm), printed by Parr's Litho.
Covers still featured the words PRINTED IN CANADA inside a box at the bottom of the back cover, alongside the monophonic playing instructions.
Curiously, documented covers often have an odd stripped brownish pattern on the back cover. This seems to be caused by a "glue application problem" during the slick assembly process.
Otherwise, the cover construction is identical to all previous variations, with a front slick construction.
Packaging
This edition was shipped in tight shrink wrap, with or without a plain paper LP inner sleeve. These Capitol sleeves are square and have a slight curve at the top.
Note** These inner sleeves were being used as they refilled stocks, so it is possible that leftover earlier sleeves were used as well.
