A Hard Day's Night
(US Format)

This is the very first issue of A Hard Day's Night in Canada. LP.3366.UA1.1 is the first pressing and was originally only released in MONO (stereo pressings came later in early 1965, see entry LP.6366.UA1.5). This very first pressing is identified by the earlier cover construction that does not yet show a "trimmable" stereo slick under the white back slick (see LP.3366.UA1.2), indicating they were produced BEFORE stereo copies were introduced in early 1965.

Availability

This first variation was available between 26 June, 1964, and early 1965 (for approximately 6 months) when the cover construction changed, featuring a stereo "underslick" (see LP.3366.UA1.2).

General Information

This album was a massive hit and was designed as a companion to the movie. The US format (that was also used here in Canada) differed greatly from the UK configuration, by its different cover, yes, but mostly by the fact that it exclusively focused on the movie (whereas as unlike the UK album, non-movie tracks were kept for another completely separate album i.e., Something New). Being a soundtrack album, the free space left by the removed non-movie tracks was filled with a selection of four George Martin instrumentals heard in the movie.

These tracks were also released on a few George Martin releases that include two early 45s.

The four tracks were also found on his "A Hard Day’s Night, Instrumental Versions Of The Motion Picture Score" album, and "Ringo's Theme (This Boy)" was featured on "Off The Beatle Track", all released on United Artists (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2).

Fun Fact

Early pressings in the USA had "I'll Cry Instead" written as "I Cry Instead". Album notes and technical information being sent from the USA, Canadian pressings also carry the same mistake. But unlike the USA, the mistake was not corrected here until 1978 when production switched to Capitol, so all United Artists label copies carry the "I Cry Instead" mistake.

Pressing Information

Master tapes were sent from UA in the USA to Compo in Canada, where the pressing masters were prepared. Production of major orders (like The Beatles) was moved from Lachine to the new Cornwall plant that opened in 1963 around the time the album was issued. It is not known with certainty where A Hard Day's Night was originally pressed; if the plant opened in 1963, it would make sense that all copies of the album were pressed at the new plant in Cornwall, but it is also possible that early copies were pressed at the Montreal (Lachine) Compo pressing plant during a transition period, and that later copies came out of Cornwall. It has also been suggested that although operations had moved to Cornwall, both plants could have still been used to meet high demands in the summer of 1964.

It is important to keep in mind that although the cover artwork identifies the Lachine plant up until the 1970s, most copies (if not all) were actually pressed in Cornwall. LP.3366.UA1.1 pressings have this matrix number hand etched in the trail off area:

Side 1: UAL-3366A-1F 1
Side 2: UAL-3366B-1H 1

Later copies can also be found with a different matrix number:

Side 1: UAL-3366-A
Side 2: UAL-3366-B

Cover

The cover construction is the differentiator for very first pressings. Early copies from 1964 have something missing from later copies: The back cover shows a MONO "underslick", indicating they were produced BEFORE stereo copies were introduced in early 1965.

To give more context, later copies used a stereo slick that was trimmed for mono copies, but the back slick being white, the trained eye can see the edge of the stereo slick under the white back slick -- copies with a stereo "underslick" are therefore from 1965-1968, while copies with a true mono slick under the white back slick are genuine 1964 copies, having been produced BEFORE stereo copies were introduced.

Furthermore, five different jacket construction types can be found with "UA1" variations between 1964-1970 (differentiated by the shape of the cardboard inner seam - where the parts of the cardboard frame are joined inside the jacket). Four of these models seem to have been used with mono pressings between 1964 and 1968: Version 1 is found mostly with the earliest pressings, while variations 2 through 4 can be found almost interchangeably throughout the late 1960s. In this sense, this variation (LP.3366.UA1.1) is found with Version 1, while later mono red pressings (LP.3366.UA1.2) can be found in either of the other three configurations noted below. Variation 5, on the other hand, is mostly found with later 1969-1973 copies, and therefore is not found on mono red label copies (see later entries).

Version 1 – Straight-cut with rounded outer edges

Version 2 – Angled and curved inner seams

Version 3 – Narrow straight-cut inner seams

Version 4 – Seamless construction

Version 5 – Wide straight-cut inner seams

Finally, the artwork for this Canadian pressing includes a manufacturing notice indicating they suposedly were pressed at the Lachine Compo plant near Montreal. The black squared marker is found on all copies up until the 1970s, but in reality it is highly unlikely that all copies of the album were pressed in Lachine (if any!). Most of the production would have been moved to the Cornwall plant, making the Lachine notice erroneous, or at most, true for a very short period of time.

Packaging

Early pressings of A Hard Day's Night were sealed in a thick loose poly bag wrapper.

The discs were not placed in a usual paper sleeve, but rather, they were house in a very distinctive semicircle plastic inner sleeve:

Promotional copies sent to radio stations were stock copies stamped as promos. Copies from 1964 that were marked as promos used a distinctive blue stamp indicating "SAMPLE COPY NOT FOR SALE".

Sales

Sales estimates projected that 200 000-250 000 mono copies were sold in Canada. Unfortunately, no official sales figures have been documented (like with Capitol sales numbers).