From Me To You /
Thank you Girl

This is the very first pressing of From Me To You in Canada. Like Love Me Do, this first pressing did not sell well (although slightly better). This very first pressing is easy to identify with its song credits to "Northern Songs" on both sides, which the next year, was changed to "Ambassador" (with a few hybrid copies documented, see 45.72101.1.2).

Availability

This first variation was available for a very short time starting on June 17, 1963 but didn't sell well until its second incarnation in 1964 when credits were updated (see 45.72101.1.2).

General Information

This single was the third effort by Paul White to push the Beatles on the Canadian market. But again, not being well known yet outside of the UK, this short run of records sold marginally more than its predecessor, making these first pressings extremely rare today.

Original 1963 copies have "Northern Songs" credits on both sides, while later 1964 copies have either a hybrid between old and corrected labels (using leftover labels before using new ones), or corrected labels on both sides.

Different theories have been put forward as to the timeline of these three versions (Northern Songs / Hybrid / Corrected): see Piers Hemmingsen's article link at the bottom of this page. After research and comparison of copies, it is the opinion of the authors that copies with "Northern Songs" on both sides appeared first (being a copy of the UK single it was dubbed from), and that Capitol soon corrected the credits, leaving a breadcrumb of hybrids during the transition.

Pressing Information

Just like its predecessors, From Me To You was not prepared from UK master tapes, but rather directly from a UK 45 sent to the Canadian head office for promotional purposes . This was confirmed by Graham Newton, cutting engineer at Capitol of Canada at the time (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 1). The Canadian single therefore features the UK "Northern Songs" credits that were quickly corrected on later copies (see 45.72101.1.2). Matrix numbers for all copies are as follows:

Side A: 7XCE 17329
Side B: 7XCE 17330

Matrix Numbers for this very first pressing also have no dash and number at the end, and are written in a small size. Keep in mind that the original pressing plates were still good after the first initial run, and like with Love Me Do and Please Please Me, these plates were later reused in 1964 when Beatlemania really took on. From a matrix perspective, the 1963 and 1964 pressings are indistinguishable, but the labels having corrected song credits are different enough to make it easy to authenticate a true 1963 pressing.

Packaging

Commercial stock copies sold in stores sold in a generic GLOSSY black Capitol sleeve:

Sales

As was the case with Love Me Do (45.72076.1.1) and Please Please Me (45.72090.1.1), a short run of copies were pressed (500-1000), many of which were sent to radio stations (see image below of a CBC affiliated station copy from Québec City: CKMI-TV). It sold marginally more than Love Me Do, but these 240-500 copies still remain insignificant (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3). This 45 was not exported to the USA, so there were no "extra" big batches of copies produced like it was the case for Love Me Do. Sales did pick up the following year with a reported 80 000 copies sold in 1964 (see 45.72101.1.2)