Please Please Me /
Ask Me Why

45.72090.1.3 is the much more common 1964-1966 repress. This pressing now features smaller matrix numbers with a dash and number. This was reissued between mid-1964 and mid 1966.

Availability

This second variation (45.72090.1.3) now with a dash and number was available for maybe two years. These new pressings were not made from original plates, but from new stampers made from a new lacquer with smaller matrix information and a dash and number.

These later pressings were issued as needed between 1964 and mid 1966, and copies up to -3 have been documented. There are also rumors of a later "brackets Swirl" reissue, but this has never been confirmed to date. If they exist, these would have the number 45.72090.2.1.

Pressing Information

45.72090.1.3 was cut from new lacquers and have an added "dash and number" to the original matrix number. These pressings have a much smaller size marking than original pressings. The highest documented copy features a -5 on side 2:

Side A: 7XCE 17117-2
Side B: 7XCE 17118-5

Sleeve

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

Sales

Please Please Me sold an impressive 80 000 copies in 1964 alone, outperforming Love Me Do. (source: P. Hemmingsen, The Beatles’ Canadian Discography part. 3). But again, with our current understanding of the manufacturing process, the documented matrix numbers do not align 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 for higher sales numbers than matrices would indicate, 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.