All My Loving / This Boy

45.72144.1.1 is the very first pressing released on March 9, 1964. This title was released right at the height of the newly exploding Beatlemania phenomenon and sold very well. Very first pressings featured a "no dash" matrix number, while later repressings up until mid 1966 added a "dash and number".

Availability

First pressing were available starting March 6, 1964, but later pressings with dash and number were available up until mid 1966. Considering the popularity of this title, the -2 repressings most likely came as early as late March or April 1964.

General Information

This single was the sixth title design by Capitol of Canada for the Canadian market, issued on the 72000 series. It was not dubbed from a UK single this time around, as All My Loving was most likely taken from the Beatlemania mater tapes. Just like it predecessors, received massive airplay, charted to No.1 and sold well above 200 000 copies (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3). This title was the last Canadian title to be heavily exported to the USA, after which the Canadian catalogue was aligned with the US catalogue.

Pressing Information

This 45 was NOT dubbed from the UK single, unlike its predecessors. The master tape for Beatlemania was readily available and was most likely used for this single as well. Copies with "no dash and number" are from March 1964, with -2 copies coming soon after.

Matrix numbers for 45.72144.1.1 are as follows:

Side A: 7XCE 17560A
Side B: 7XCE 17560

Later repressings have been found with -2 matrix numbers on the B-Side:

Side A: 7XCE 17560A-2
Side B: 7XCE 17560

Packaging

Commercial stock copies were found in a new FLAT black Capitol sleeve as early as December 1963.

Sales

All My Loving reached No.30 upon release, and it finally dethroned I Want To Hold Your Hand to reach No. 1 in April (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 1). It went on to sell 208 251 copies in 1964, and unlike previous sales numbers that were estimates based on interviews with Paul White, these are the earliest official sales figures. The fact that most copies are a -2 at most brings forward the possibility that matrix numbering was not linked to every new metal stamper, but rather to a new lacquer higher up the chain, meaning that much more than 10 000 discs would have a particular lacquer cut, event though it came from multiple different stampers.

Added to these 208 251 Canadian copies, approximately 350 000 copies were reportedly also exported to the USA in 1964 (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography) (again, these numbers need to be confirmed since they difficultly align with matrix numbers; see next paragraph), and although they only would have counted as USA sales, they do count in today's collector's market, expanding the pool of existing copies beyond the Canadian sales numbers.

A word on sales numbers and manufacturing quantities

It seems that in many cases, the logical matrix number sequences found or records do not align with reported sales (i.e., reported sales are not always consequent with numbers of manufactured copies, according to matrix information). It is believed that in the 1960s, up to 10 000 copies could be pressed from a single stamper before being worn out and replaced (and some numbers are even more conservative, at around 2000 copies).

Technically, every time a part was replaced, a dash and number were added to the matrix, indicating it was a new generation of parts. In the sense, a record would have an added "dash and number" at every 10 000 copies (if the part was good for that long). So again, following this logic, a -2 would be a record in the 10K-20K copies range, and so on. Similarly, a record sold at 100 000 copies would see masters up to approximately -10.

Reality is always a little different, and below are possible explanations why matrix numbers could be different from expected numbers, and therefore misalign with matrix numbers:

• 1. Records of sales / memory and recollections can be incomplete or skewed
• 2. Stampers broke or wore out earlier than expected
• 3. Older stampers were re-used later

Below is a representation of the different steps required to press a record. Terminology changes from one plant to another, but the gist of it remains valid:
Lacquer > Metal Master(s) (or Father) > Metal Mother(s) > Stamper(s).

The million-dollar question is "which part of the process saw an updated matrix (-2)?": The stamper? (Every 10 000 copies), the Mother (every 100 000 copies if a mother produces 10 stampers), or the lacquer producing multiple mothers? (i.e., even more identical copies).

This would imply two other possible explanations:

• 4. Matrix numbers only changed on lacquers (and therefore on the Father producing multiple mothers)
• 5. A single mother produces many IDENTICAL stampers (without no added -2 number)

These last two seem to be the most plausible explanation, especially when looking at singles with official sales figures that have kept very low matrix numbers (like this exact variation, for example). This would account for higher reported numbers without having the high matrix numbers that would reflect the reported quantity of discs pressed. In any case, the sales numbers presented here do not always align with the records matrix numbers as we understand them and the various factors above need to be considered when exploring the different ranges of sales / pressed copies.