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02 21 2013

Recent Finds

Records Authenticated - February 2013

From time to time, we are very pleased to be able to authenticate some very interesting Beatles records. Here are two important records that we authenticated during the month of February 2013.

The Beatles - With The Beatles - Parlophone PMC 1206 - white label test pressing (November 1963)

This white label test pressing was manufactured at EMI's plant at Hayes, Middlesex at the very height of British Beatlemania in November 1963. The "EJ Day" mono jacket carries the track title "You Really Gotta Hold On Me" on the back. The labels are hand written. This LP was authenticated on February 20th, 2013. Only a handful of these white label test pressings were made for quality control purposes.

The Beatles - Yesterday And Today - Capitol T-2553 - original June 1966 Canadian butcher cover

This is only the third original Canadian Capitol laminated mono butcher jacket to surface. The item was authenticated on February 12th, 2013.

The authentication service for rare items is provided at no charge, provided that we are able to feature the images of the more interesting records on the www.capitol6000.com web site.

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02 12 2013

Celebrating the 50th anniversary of the
Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You 45 (Capitol 72076) in Canada

Monday, February 18th, 2013

Piers Hemmingsen

The Beatles first official Canadian 45, other than the My Bonnie / The Saints 45 issued on Decca in April 1962 credited to Tony Sheridan And The Beat Brothers, was issued in Canada on the Capitol label on Monday, February 18th, 1963. This was the very start of Canada's 50 year "Love" of The Beatles!

What you need to know about this important vinyl disc from February 1963!

Here are the five most important things "Beatles people" should know about this important record on the date of its 50th Anniversary in Canada:

1. THE TRACKS WERE BOTH DUBBED FROM THE BRITISH PARLOPHONE SINGLE

The original 45 that was issued in Canada was actually "dubbed" from a red-label Parlophone "factory sample" 45 sent over to Paul White at Capitol Records Of Canada in Toronto. RCA Victor studios on Mutual Street in Toronto did the dubbing at Capitol's request and RCA created a unique Canadian master. The version of Love Me Do on this Canadian record featured Ringo Starr on drums and not Andy White. In fact, this is the same version of Love Me Do that appears on the "Rarities" Beatles album that was issued by Capitol in 1980.

2. VERY FEW COPIES WERE PRESSED AND SOLD

The initial batch of approx. 1,000 copies were pressed in early to mid February 1963 at RCA Victor's pressing plant at Smiths Falls, Ontario. Approx. 200 of these records were sent as promotional copies to radio stations across Canada, with the idea that those targeted stations would play the 45 in order to generate local interest. According to Capitol's Paul White, there was very little interest in the 45 upon its initial release, the disc did not chart, and only 170 copies were sold in Canada during the weeks of February and March of 1963.

3. SO WHERE ARE THE ORIGINAL 1963 COPIES?

Following the Canadian chart success of the Beatles' She Loves You 45 on Capitol in December 1963, the Love Me Do record was re-pressed by RCA Victor in early 1964 at Capitol's request. To date, no early 1963 radio station library copies of Love Me Do have surfaced. It has always been assumed that the early 1964 pressings carry the same label credits as the original pressings from February 1963, but that is only an assumption, as no one yet has been able to produce an authenticated copy from February 1963. The original 1963 pressings would have been shipped to stores in a black glossy stock Capitol sleeve.

4. LOVE ME DO WAS ONLY ISSUED IN CANADA

Most importantly, Capitol USA decided not to issue any of the Beatles first four Parlophone 45s in the USA. Conversely, Capitol Records of Canada did issue all of these 45s during 1963 and this helped to build a strong fan base in Canada. The single was not issued in the USA until early 1964.

5. EXPORTS TO THE USA

Because Love Me Do had not been issued by Capitol USA during 1963, many thousands of copies of Love Me Do on Capitol Of Canada were exported to the USA when the demand there for Beatles 45s peaked during the frenzy of Beatlemania.

HOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOU HAVE AN ORIGINAL 1963 CAPITOL OF CANADA PRESSING?

Collectors of the Canadian Capitol Beatles singles can identify the 1963 pressings of the three later singles issued in Canada in 1963. All three of these were also pressed by RCA Victor at Smiths Falls, Ontario.

72090 - Please Please Me / Ask Me Why - the B side publishing credit is shown as Dick James Ltd.

72101 - From Me To You / Thank You Girl - the B side publishing credit is shown as Northern Songs Ltd.

72125 - She Loves You / I'll Get You - the A-side run-out matrix number has no trailing dash after the etched "7XCE 17395"

(early 1964 copies have a "-2" and appear as 7XCE 17395-2).

But to date there has been no sure way to differentiate a February 1963 pressing of the Love Me Do single from an early 1964 "no dash" pressing. To date we have sampled over 20 copies of the "no dash" version of the single and we have yet to come up with a conclusive way of distinguishing a 1963 copy from a very early 1964 re-pressing that also has no dashes. Some collectors have stated that they can tell a 1963 pressing of the Capitol Love Me Do 45 by the colour of the swirl labels. The images below show the etchings in the run-out areas of the "no dash" Capitol 72076.

Capitol Records And Paul White, RCA Victor Toronto and Smiths Falls

As we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Beatles first record in Canada, we must also acknowledge the huge role of Paul White and his team at Capitol of Canada, and also for the team at RCA Victor, Toronto and Smiths Falls in Ontario where the records were created all those years ago. Those pioneers are to be saluted, and these incredibly rare records are their great legacy for us collectors. Happy 50th Birthday to the Capitol edition of Love Me Do / P.S. I Love You ... from all of your fans!

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02 06 2013

Recent Sales

It is this time of the month again, and who better than the great Pink Floyd to kick off the sales column! Both of their first albums have sold in original stereo format this last january, The Pipers At The Gates Of Dawn for 50$, and A Saucerful Of Secrets close behind at 47$. The Yardbirds' rare Heart Full Of Soul album went to a lucky buyer for 170$ after a hard bidding battle for this rare item difficult to find in whatever condition while one of the motorcycle movie soundtrack Born Losers was also up for sale and was won for 10$. Another very hard to find single sold last week: the Canadian pressing of Apple 1800, Yellow Submarine/Thingumybob reached 204$.

It would be difficult to ignore Beatles sales on a Capitol discography website, and this month again, they sold really well. Their first album Beatlemania seems to be an all time favorite with sales recorded over the many different variations and reissues available over the years. A first early loud cutcopy from 63 sold for an amazing 300$ in VG++ condition, while a rare unbanded version variation simultaneously sold for 47$. Two other early black rainbow label copies sold for 50$ and 81$ respectively. Even the more common 3rd generation purple label variation from 1980 and a sealed copy from the same period both sold for 23$. Finally, in the Albums department, the rare iTunes promo LP limited to 1000 copies worldwide has sold for a whopping 811$.

In terms of singles, some rare items have shown up on the radar for January. A mint minus copy of the Canadian green starline Please Please Me 45 has sold for 66$ while a sleeveless copy of the Canadian EP sold for 96$ and a CBC archive copy of Sie Liebt Dich with the radio station sitcker sold for 313$. The yellow label My Bonnie sold more conservatively at 20$. Last but not least, a cool promotional vintage poster for the red and blue albums sold for 20$.

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02 01 2013

Capitol 6000 Beatles Contest 2013 ... Ready, Steady, Go !

Friday, February 1st, 2013 - 12 Noon EST

Welcome to our SECOND ANNUAL Beatles contest. Our grand prize winner in March 2012, was Gilles Pepin. (http://www.capitol6000.com/beatlemanic.html)

Our good friend Gilles won last year's contest (and prize !) because he was the first to be able to identify the title of the original 1964 Beatles fanzine that contained the special "Beatlemanic" stickers that were inside the magazine. This years' Capitol 6000 Beatles contest might be a bit tougher for you all out there.

BEATLES FOREVER!

It has been almost 37 years - ouch - since the Beatles Forever series of 26 singles in special picture sleeves was launched by Capitol EMI in Canada. We are not sure, but we think that the series was created to tie in with the launch of Capitol's brand new in-house 45 RPM pressing facilities in Mississauga, Ontario ... which opened for business in June 1976. And perhaps the title of the series was poached by author Nicholas Schaffner for his 1977 book "The Beatles Forever".

TO BE A WINNER

What we are looking for is the absolute first person who can provide detailed dimensions of the 1976 "Beatles Forever" counter display box. So far, we have two older pictures of the box, as seen below (by courtesy of Fred Young, the moderator of the Beatles Canadian Reference Guide Yahoo Discussion Group).

What you see above on the left is the front view of the box. On the right is the view of the box from the right hand side, and you can see that the vertical back piece is folded down toward the front of the box.

The display boxes were sent out by Capitol Records of Canada to record retailers across the country, from Newfoundland to British Columbia, so we are guessing that there were hundreds of these boxes at one time. We know that quite a few would have survived and these would be cherished by some of you lucky collectors out there.

To enter the contest, you may need to own one of these boxes, or at least know someone who has one... or maybe you will know where to find one. We'll need picture proof as well.

Please read the following questions very carefully.

THE SKILL-TESTING QUESTIONS

What we need to know from you is the following:

a) The width of the box in inches.

b) The length of the box in inches.

c) The height of the box in inches.

d) The height (in inches) of the rear piece that carries the Beatles graphic and the text "The Beatles singles".

Finally, we require your best guess of how many Beatles Forever singles would fit in the display box when it was placed in the record shop.

Now, in order for you to provide all of the above box dimensions, we will also require from you 3 or 4 high resolution colour pictures of the display box which we will then use on this web site. Your name will be credited alongside any of those pictures used.

A second prize will be awarded to the first person who can name the commercial artist who designed the original Beatles Forever artwork.

FIRST PRIZE

Paul White .. yes THAT Paul White .. the man who issued the Beatles on Capitol almost a whole year before Capitol USA ... has kindly personally autographed an original, and slightly used, 1963 Capitol Of Canada Beatles promotional photo.

Note: Although not the actual picture signed by Paul White, this unsigned copy is similar to the first prize copy.

This is truly a one of a kind Beatles item and would look great with any original Twist And Shout album.

SECOND PRIZE

A perfect pair of MINT and NEVER USED Beatles Forever picture sleeves from 1976, to put inside your Beatles Forever box.

Three To Get Ready... Now Go Cat Go !

So get your rulers and cameras out NOW, and send in your dimensions and pictures to this email address: piers@capitol6000.com

Beatles Forever ! Bonne Chance - Good Luck !

Note: The following people cannot enter the contest: Piers Hemmingsen, Serge Pelletier, and Paul White