← Beatles Albums Released in Canada
Meet The Beatles
Reel Tapes (1964)
Meet The Beatles was not issued on LP before 1967, but curiously, the only available format for the album in Canada in 1964 was on the open reel tape format. As little as 191 copies sold between 1964 and 1967, making this Canadian reel extremely rare today.
As a general rule for Canadian Beatles reel tapes, both the tapes and boxes were manufactured in Canada, but slicks were often made by using US artwork. The best way to distinguish the Canadian pressings from the US issues is the color of the box: Canada always used WHITE cardboard boxes, while the USA used either BROWN or BLUE boxes.
Long Playing Albums (1967-1988)
Mono Rainbow Parr's
Stereo Rainbow Parr's "ALSO"
Stereo Parr's no "ALSO"
Stereo Rainbow Unmarked
Green Target (RCA)
Red Target (RCA)
Orange 1st (RCA)
Orange 1st gen. (Columbia)
Orange 2nd, ™ (Columbia)
Orange 2nd, ® (Columbia) 1
Orange 2nd, ® (Columbia) 2
Orange 3rd gen. (Capitol)
Purple 1st gen. (Cinram)
Purple 2nd gen. (Capitol)
Purple 2nd, Black cardboard
Purple 3rd generation
Purple 3rd ST-2047B CDA mix
Retro Rainbow (Columbia)
8 Track Tapes (1968-1975)
Beatles 8 Track releases are usually found in five main series produced in Canada between 1968 and 1980: White shell with white paper labels, Transitional hybrid configurations, Black shell (AMPEX Datapack), Black shell (Lear Jet) and Black Shell (Capitol) many of which have their own "sub-variations". See the TAPES section for more details.
Cassette Tapes (1968-1993)
Cassette tapes were introduced in Canada as late as the fall of 1968 or early 1969. Cassettes could/would have been imported from the USA prior to this. There appears to be eight main series of cassette tapes produced in Canada between 1968 and 1993: Blue Spine, Black spine, Light Bue Spine, Black and Yellow, Black and Yellow SDR, Light Blue SDR, color Inlay (5 series) and Modern Apple tapes, all of which have their own "sub-variations".
Fantasy Items
Unofficial releases / Bootlegs / Counterfeits
Not many Canadian releases have been conterfeited over the years besides the truly unique Canadian records. Meet The Beatles saw a bootleg release by Dr Ebbett's because of a unique (mistake) mix of "Don't Bother Me" found on a purple label pressing from the 1980s ( Dr. Ebbett's).
