Twist And Shout

Variation 2.7.1 is the ninth pressing and the last variation to be released in MONO. This pressing is recognized by its black perimeter print on the label, a slight change in perimeter print ("Capitol-EMI") and its dynaflex characteristics.

Availability

This variation was available between 1974 and 1976 (for approximately 2 years) when Capitol opened their own new pressing plant in Mississauga, Ontario. - (see next entry).

General Information

This first North American Beatles album was in fact the band’s second album, and was identical to its UK counterpart (except for additional news quotes on the front cover) released 3 days prior. The Canadian album was also made from master tapes sent from the UK head office, so it features the exact same audio as the UK mono pressing of With The Beatles (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2)

This pressing was only available in Mono. Actually, no stereo release of the LP was prepared in Canada until 1975. Many young Beatles fans would have received this LP for Christmas in 1963, during the onset of Beatlemania in Canada. This along with a few singles launched Beatlemania in Canada months before the USA.

Cover

The jacket for this very first pressing is unique, in the sense that it is the only variation that used this type of construction for its cardboard frame. Up until early April 1964, the inner seams (inside fold of the cardboard jacket) have a curved indentation in the centre. Modern Album used this jacket template until April 1964, from which point the inner seams were then straight. This original curved inner seam measured 10 mm high.

Covers up to the mid 70s used a “front slick” construction (a larger back slick, usually printed in black and white, that wrapped around the front of the cardboard cover, onto which a smaller color front slick was glued, creating a white frame effect all around the front image). Both front and rear slicks were printed by Parr’s Litho in Toronto (see the printer’s logo on the bottom right of the cover) and sent to Modern Album for assembly.

The front cover added news quotes to the original UK cover design, but the back cover remained identical, except for added Canadian legal and manufacturing information.

This is the VERY FIRST official Beatles album released in North America!

The rear of the jacket was identical, complete with sleeve notes by Tony Barrow.

Original covers featured the words PRINTED IN CANADA inside a box at the bottom of the back cover, along side the Monophonic playing instructions.

First pressings are distinguishable by the cover frame construction that featured 10 mm wide CURVED inner seams.

The top right features the T-6051 catalog number and a full dot denoting the Mono pressing placed just over the 6000 series logo.

As stated earlier, the original release of this album used the "front slick" assembly method, meaning that the black and white back slick is larger and wraps around the front, over which the smaller color front slick is pasted, making a noticeable white frame around the front cover. The proper "high quality" construction would have been the Back Slick construction to have the front slick wrap around the back, ensureing the front image would cover the whole surface of the jacket.

Using the front slick approach was a way for Capitol to save money since producing smaller color front slicks cost less than producing the larger slicks that would wrap around the back.

Slicks were printed by Parr's Litho in Toronto and assembled onto the cardboard frame by Modern albums. The distinctive Canadian Parr's logo appears at the bottom right corner of the front cover.

Pressing Information

Capitol of Canada subcontracted the RCA pressing plant in Smith Falls (Ontario) to manufacture the records. RCA Toronto cut a set of lacquers from mono master tapes sent from EMI’s UK head office (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 2). These lacquers were then used to create many different generations of stampers in the years to come (until 1975), with matrix numbers up to “dash 6” (XEX 447-6). This first pressing has “no dash” matrix numbers (XEX-447 and XEX-448).

These copies feature the"no brackets" rainbow label (see perimeter print at the bottom of the label: "Manufactured in Canada by Capitol Records of Canada" with no brackets around the word CANADA). It is not known exactly how many copies were prepared for this first run, but the original stampers being still good after this limited first run were recommissioned in early 1964 when Beatlemania officially skyrocketed, until a second set of stampers (“-X”) were needed. These first “no dash” stampers seem to have been used until later in 1964, where “-2, -3, -4, -5 and -6” stampers were then used instead.

Packaging

Early editions from late 1963 were shipped in loose poly bag wrap, with or without a red and white Capitol / Pathe paper LP inner sleeve (apparently designed by Paul White).

Sales

Sales records show that 182 396 copies of Beatlemania! With The Beatles sold in Canada in 1963-1964 (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3). These numbers including both 1963 and 1964 sales would indicate that most of these 182 000 copies were in fact sold in 1964 after Beatlemania really took off, around the time they played the Ed Sullivan Show in February.

In this manner, it could be assumed that these very first pressings (1.1.1) with the cruved inner seams were made in much smaller quantitites than 1.1.2, and that most of them were most likely sold BEFORE the Beatleamnia phenomenon took off. Remaining unsold copies of 1.1.1 would have found a home sometimes in the early part of 1964 until the next variations (1.1.2 appearing in April) was used to restock the shelves under high profile demand.

Variation 1.1.2 then, is most likely the one that constitute the core of these high sales numbers, making 1.1.1 much scarcer today.