Past Masters (Vol. 1 & 2)

Past Masters was introduced when the Beatles catalogue was reissued on CD, and the UK album became the worldwide official standardized catalogue. This double album set was designed to complete the discography by offering every non-album track that was issued in the 1960s (many singles were never featured on any album). This way, the consumer who would buy all the albums + the Past Masters set would have the complete Beatles discography. Although many new albums were released since 1987, this still holds true, and Past Masters remains in the core Beatles offering to this day.

This set was therefore introduced first and foremost for the new major market being promoted (CDs), while LP versions were becoming more of a novelty or collector's item. Past Masters was never pressed on vinyl in Canada, but was imported from the USA instead. Canada did press the albums on the current formats of the time: cassette tapes and CDs.

Cassette Tapes (1988-2000)

K7.91135.7A.1
C4 without Bar Code

1988-1992

K7.91135.7B.1
C4 with Bar Code

1993-1994

K7.91135.7E.1
Apple logo, Black Shell

1994-1995

Compact Discs (1988-Present)

Canada started pressing Beatles compact discs in 1989, as the "official" Beatles catalogue was being standardized through the CLJ and CD series. Early copies were pressed by Disque Americ and CINRAM, while later copies were pressed by EMI, before differing to Cinram again until today. Keep in mind that throughout these pressing periods, CDs were also sporadically imported from the US and the EU to meet demand, instead of being locally made.