From Me To You /
Thank you Girl

This second pressing of From Me To You in Canada features a credit change on the label, but they were, like the previous two singles, repressed from the original 1963 plates. Unlike Love Me Do and Please Please me, no dash and number copies have been documented to date, meaning they were quickly repressed once in 1964, a high demand warranting further pressings after that seems unlikely. This single was never repressed in any other format after 1964.

Availability

This second variation was available for a very short time around mid 1964 but was never repressed after this.

It is unknown how many more copies were made from the original plates in early 1964, but newer plates with a -2 matrix were never made. Sales figures and matrix numbers do not align and would need more clarification (see sales section below).

General Information

The 1964 repressings have the "Northern Songs" credits corrected to "Ambassador" and "Conrad", while still retaining the original "no dash" matrix numbers.

Different theories have been put forward as to the timeline of these three versions (Northern Songs / Hybrid / Corrected): see Piers Hemmingsen's article link at the bottom of this page. After research and comparison of copies, it is the opinion of the authors that copies with "Northern Songs" on both sides appeared first (being a copy of the UK single it was dubbed from), and that Capitol soon corrected the credits, leaving a breadcrumb of hybrids during the transition.

Pressing Information

45.72101.1.2 was cut from the same "no dash" pressing plates as 45.721010.1.1 (prepared directly from a UK 45 sent to the Canadian head office). The matrix numbers are therefore IDENTICAL to 45.72101.1.1.

Side A: 7XCE 17329
Side B: 7XCE 17330

Another important thing to consider: these initial plates were used for a second run when demand was suddenly high for Beatles material. Considering subsequent pressings never reached a -2 lacquer between 1964 and 1966, it is fair to assume that there are a few thousand "1964 no dash copies" out there.

As a reference, a stamper was usually capable of pressing up to 10 000 discs, but as a few Canadian collectors have highlighted, Canadian operations were a smaller market and had a tendency to pay extra attention to quality control and would often not "abuse" the plates until the end, but would change them earlier to ensure proper pressings.

Again, it is not known how many more copies were made from the original plates in early 1964, but newer plates with a -2 matrix were never made, which does not match with reported sales figures of 80 000 copies in 1964. Any insight on this matter would be appreciated.

Sleeve

1964 copies (until 1966) were sold in a generic THIN FLAT black Capitol sleeve:

Sales

Reported sales reached 80 000 copies in 1964 (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3), but again, the documented matrix numbers do not match with such high reported sales figures (at 10 000 copies per stamper, one could expect 30 000 copies produced). Any insight on this matter would be appreciated.

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 All My Loving, 45.72144.1.1, 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.