Beatlemania!
With The Beatles

LP.6051.9.1 was still released only in STEREO. This pressing is recognized by its darker purple label and the dome logo found in the perimeter print of the label. It also features the smaller 25 mm pressing ring, and a different textured outer ring surrounding the pressing ring, characteristic of Cinram pressings.

Availability

This variation was available for a short time in 1977 (for approximately a few months) when a temporary subcontractor (Cinram) was seemingly used while Capitol was adjusting its operations at its new plant in Mississauga, Ontario. The regular "capitol pressings" returned a few months later (see LP.6051.10.1).

General Information

This pressing features the new "old-style" purple label, but unlike the standard ones found on the following pressings, this one is slightly darker, features the dome logo in the perimeter print, and features a different pressing ring (25 mm vs 39 mm).

This pressing also has the characteristic of offering a hybrid of a new stereo mix and the previous rechannelled mix (one side a new true stereo, and the other an older rechannelled stereo mix).

This pressings is an odd and scarce series of pressings. It features a darker purple label with the Capitol dome logo in the perimeter print. It seems that Capitol subcontracted Cinram to press these records while operations were still being adjusted in the new pressing plant.

Pressing Information

This pressing was available in Stereo only, but features a hybrid between true and rechannelled stereo. Cinram was subcontracted to press this series of reissues. The pressing ring is indicative of Cinram, and some copies have CR markings in the etched matrix area.

Matrix numbers are once again different: side one features a new, true stereo mix. while side B still has the rechannelled stereo mix found on LP.6051.8.1:

Side A: ST 6051 TLC-A
Side B: ST 6051 XEX-448-RE6 JAMF

The JAMF marking indicates the lacquer was cut at "Just Another Mastering Facility" in Toronto, so Side B is taken from the same lacquer as the previous variation (LP.6051.8.1), while Side A is made from a lacquer cut at "The Lacquer Channel" in Toronto, from an Apollo blank lacquer disc. Side A therefore has a newer true stereo mix.

Narrow and Wide stereo mixes

What is the difference?

Still today, there is much talk and confusion about the stereo mixes of the first three Canadian Beatles albums on Capitol Records (Beatlemania, Twist And Shout and Long Tall Sally). Being issued before Capitol USA signed a distribution agreement for the Beatles catalogue, these three albums were assembled and managed solely by Capitol of Canada, and therefore never suffered the "Dexterized" sound that Capitol USA imposed on the British catalogue in order to "Americanize" European material. Therefore, not being managed by the parent company, these albums were the only Beatles albums to remain available in mono until the mid 1970s, unlike the rest of the catalogue that made the normal transition to stereo in 1968.

Unfortunately, the transition of the three Canadian albums seemed a little bit forced, witnessing difficulty choosing a proper sounding mix for these early "new" stereo releases. So, saying the Canadian Beatles albums did not suffer any "Dexterization" is not exactly true as early stereo mixes of these three albums sounded extremely unnatural, and sometimes closer to mono than one would expect from a stereo release.

A true stereo mix?

These first stereo mixes are sometimes so close to mono in fact, that still today, among collectors there remains a certain confusion as to when, and how these three albums made a proper switch to stereo. There is talk in the collecting community about narrow and wide mixes without a clear definition of what they are. To further add to the confusion, many copies are hybrids between the two narrow/wide mixes (or mono/narrow); all of this while some specific tracks remain in mono on official stereo releases until 1987 (like tracks from singles that were never mixed in stereo).

How rechannelled stereo is made

First, one needs to understand what the Narrow stereo mix is about. Fans and collectors have named it the narrow mix because it sounds exactly like that: narrow, with almost no separation between the right and left sound channels; ultimately adding only a little more "space" to the mix with processed echo and extreme EQ to create an IMPRESSION of stereo.

The authors tend to be careful before naming the narrow mix "stereo" because in reality, it is often not a true stereo mix created by placing instruments on either side of the sound spectrum. The narrow mix is in some cases a processed or rechannelled mono mix, similar to what Capitol USA called Duophonic stereo. This sound engineering "tour de force" consists of taking a mono track, and by boosting reverb (echo) on one side, and drastically changing the equalization on the other channel, it creates noticeable differences between the two sound channels (echo, brighter sound on one side, while having a boomier bass sound on the other), which creates a subtle ILLUSION of stereophonic sound.

These manipulations took place in the 70s, in the Canadian mastering studio, and have nothing to do with original mixes created by EMI in England. These narrow mixes seem a little bit inappropriate today, because of the odd audio result, of course, but mostly because these techniques were often used when stereo mixes were unavailable or did not exist. In the case of these three unique Canadian albums, original stereo mixes already did exist at EMI because Please Please Me and With The Beatles had originally been prepared in stereo at Abbey Road in 1963. Collectors today can’t help but wonder why these original stereo masters were not used from the start, instead of trying to dupe listeners by forcing a stereo mix out of a mono track.

What does it mean for collectors today?

The result is definitely not unanimous, and although it technically is not mono anymore, these are not regarded as true stereo mixes by collectors, even though the label states it is a stereo release. The authors therefore prefer to talk about a "rechannelled stereo mix" than a narrow mix. Theses mixes usually have matrix numbers that bear both the new stereo number and the old mono matrix ("ST 6054 XEX-455-2" vs XEX-455 for example). Later true stereo mixes only have the new stereo number .

True stereo mixes then, do not consist of creating an illusion of stereophonic sound from a mono mix, but are instead tracks that were mixed in stereo directly from the multi-track recording session tapes, allowing engineers to place different parts of the recording from left to right in the sound spectrum. Although true stereo mixes could be made years after tracks were recorded (like it was the case with Anthology material, Love, or the recent series of remixes), these were usually made at the same time as mono mixes, prior to the record’s original release. Most Beatles tracks were prepared in both mono and stereo, although some rare singles that never made it on an album were only mixed in mono. The authors therefore prefer to talk about wide mixes as "true stereo mixes".

Capitol eventually got it right a few years later, offering fantastic sounding true stereo mixes of Beatlemania, Twist And Shout and Long Tall Sally. The later standardized Beatles catalogue (US versions of the Beatles catalogue) was made from US master tapes sent from Scranton or L.A., but these three unique Canadian albums were prepared from tapes sent directly from the UK head office, ensuring our versions of songs like All My Loving sound much more like the UK mixes.

Making sense of the evolution of these different stereo mixes

Making sense of the different stereo mixes is a challenge, but the real challenge lies more in the identification of when they appeared, and when they were replaced by a newer mix. Capitol and their pressing subcontractors never wasted any production material and used pressing plates until they were worn out. Plates for both sides of an LP did not necessarily wear out simultaneously, causing many copies pressed during a transition period between new masters to be hybrids between two mixes. It seems that a clear desire to produce a uniform series of reissues only happened with the retro rainbow label in 1984. Indeed, only then was a completely new master made from a proper true stereo mix finally introduced. This new master is quite apparent when comparing the width of the dead wax on each side.

Below is a reminder of the average transition between mixes. As noted previously, there is no definite change between versions, and many copies offer a hybrid transition coupling of mixes. But this list below provides a good idea of what was available and approximately when they can be found:

Beatlemania! stereo mixes

• • Mono until circa 1975

• • Orange label 2nd, 1975 : Narrow stereo (JAMF Lacquer)

• • Orange label 3rd, 1976 : Narrow stereo (new different JAMF lacquer)

• • Purple label 1st, 1977 : Hybrid between Narrow (JAMF) and true stereo (TLC)

• • Purple label 2nd, 1978 : Narrow stereo (JAMF lacquers from 1976)

• • Purple label 3rd, 1980 : True Stereo (TLC lacquers)

• • Retro Rainbow, 1984 (CBS & Cinram): True "wide" stereo, (New Columbia master)

Cover

The cover of this variation is similar in design to previous variations (unmarked, stereo designation, etc.), but now features a posterboard construction (image printed directly on the cardboard frame instead of glueing paper slicks). This results in a much thinner flimsier cover, and a cover with no white frame around the front cover image. This information on the back cover also features the new legal information as well as the new target logo.

Packaging

This edition was shipped in tight shrink wrap, with or without a plain paper LP inner sleeve. These Capitol sleeves can be square or rounded and have a large flap on the bottom and side.

Note** These inner sleeves were being used as they refilled stocks, so it is possible that leftover earlier sleeves were used as well.