Beatles Beat LP (pressing history?)

I've always been curious about the history behind the "Beatles Beat" album from Germany.

I knew my copy was not an original -but what I didn't realize was that the originals also had different cover art.

I believe this is what the original cover looked like.

http://www.musicpriceguide.com/640032/The-Beatles-Beat-1965-German-Book-Club-LP-Odeon-6086.html


What confuses me is the history behind this album.

It seems to have been compiled sometime in the Spring of 1964.

I was told that original pressings were mono only - but the link and the attached photo (from the same link) show a "stereo" indication in the upper right hand corner of the sleeve. The verbage in the link states that the album was apparently sold through an unusual retail channel (the German Book Club - or "Deutsch Buch Gemeinschaft").

There is an entry for this album on discogs.com showing the same cover (but a much less clear jpg). The actual record label is pretty easy to look at on discogs.com

I remember at one point, Joe Brennan was pretty sure that the album was mono only when it first came out - but looking at his usenet guide, I am not so sure he kept that opinion.

I see several possibilities

1.) mono only pressing in 1964
2.) stereo only pressing in 1964
3.) mono and stereo pressings in 1964
4.) mono pressing in 1964, stereo pressing in 1965
5.) mono and stereo pressings both released in 1965

I'm curious if any can decipher what is on that orange label.

I clearly see the word "mono" on the orange label but I just ran that three word phrase through babelfish and it translated the german into "also mono playable"... which makes me believe that the LP shown is actually a stereo copy (or as described in the price guide link as a mixture of stereo and fake stereo).

I'm not sure if I should trust the 1965 date in the priceguide link.

My gut feeling is the album was mastered in the spring of 64 and actual copies may not have started selling through the odd retail channel until 1965. And that all copies were actually the same as in the photo (which has the same "matrix number" as whats on the orange label). It just doesn't make sense for what was probably a mail order retail channel to have sold both mono and stereo pressings.

 

There is a book about German releases called "Komm, Gib mir deine Hand" that is supposed to be excellent. The author was authorized to go through the EMI Electrola archive in Cologne.
I also have the more common Beatles Beat issue with the familiar cover of the Beatles showing their right hands. My copy is on the blue label. Many tracks are fake stereo, but the LP sounds great despite this.

 

This edition is not the regular Odeon "Beatles Beat" original, but a book-club edition, with a special cover. Some book club editions are very rare and expensive, often featuring special cover artwork or compilations especially pu together for that market.
The regular EMI Odeon original, however, has the same front cover artwork as the blue Odeon label you probably own. And the regular Odeon original is pretty sought after in itself.

 

Here's the cover art (I borrowed from the www). I've got a mid-70s issue with the blue label also.

 

I've got a 1C072 copy with the green odeon last week.

Sorry if this a thread crap but I would like to know if a 1C072 Beatles disc had always two types of the label, the apple and the green odeon.

 

The web link I referenced to in my original post had that Book Club version going for HUGE dollars.

Can you list out all of the versions you know exist?

I'm guessing there wasn't a 1964 stereo edition for one specific reason. The late 60s version I own has a stereo mix for "I Want To Hold Your Hand" that I don't think existed in 1964 (not the "wide stereo" version that showed up in Australia - which was the only stereo mix in existence in the Spring of 64)


This is my best guess concerning the history of pressings:

1.) 1964 "regular" Odeon original (mono only?)
2.) 1965 Book Club edition (stereo only ? )
3.) late 60s stereo edition


I believe my copy is the "blue label" Odeon. It has the "right hand" cover
with the red background.

I'm guessing that #2 and #3 are the same album - with respect to the sound of the tracks. I base that mostly on the fact that my late 60s copy has stereo mix # 2 (of three) for "I Want To Hold Your Hand".... Mixed after 1963, but before 1966...


For what its worth I had to stare at that Book Club Pressing for a long time before I saw the word "Beat" (its in black lettering - with the BE above the AT). I'm wondering if the staggered black lettering for LE (above S) was a nod to the French moniker (LES BEATLES) (even though there clearly is a black letter THE in smaller type above the word beatles)

 

Are you referring to the deep green 60s Odeon (like here: http://www.beatlesvinyl.com/germany/g_hdnm_l.jpg) or light green/half white later Odeon label (like here: http://www.beatlesvinyl.com/germany/g_ggh_l.jpg) ?

 

For what its worth, discogs.com lists four different pressings. The last they admit was a bootleg.

http://www.discogs.com/Beatles-The-Beatles-Beat/master/230679


I know this web-site is always a "work in progress" but I still check it constantly and I've added information to it when I have something to add
(which is very rare).

Note that there is nothing listed for 1964.

I don't interpret that as meaning it didn't exist - just that no one with a copy has supplied any information about it.

 

Yes, based on available documentation, mixed 8 June 1965. Similar to the 1966 mix that appeared on A Collection of Beatles Oldies, but definitely different.

 

The later label.
I was hardly interested in the Beatles German vinyl before I scored the 10+ ones last week. Any informations on good sounding German vinyl are welcome.

 

On the light green/half white Odeon label, can anyone here give me an idea of which period these discs were made in? I have Rubber Soul on this label? My Revolver from Germany is an Apple label.

 

Late '70s/early '80s? I thought that coincided with the 072 series.

 

Looking at the beatlesvinyl link just referenced.

Looks like the album was pressed at least 8 times (including the
Book Club version). Nine times if you count the alternate
title (AND NOW) issued also through the international Book Club.

I added the dashes where I thought they belonged.

I'm guessing the first two say "O" versus "STO" to denote
mono and stereo (STO being stereo). My guess is those
are from 1964.

I'm not sure why the catalog number transitioned from "STO 83" to
"STO 73"... unless the first stereo copy was entirely fake stereo.

I'm guessing the late 60s "1C 062" and "1C 072" were still
mono and stereo versions. And after that, everything
was stereo (note the catalog number doesn't change for
the last three)

The dates are my best guess

Odeon O 83 692 (1964)
Odeon STO 83 692 (1964)
-------------------
Odeon STO 73 692 (1965)
Impression 6086 (DBG Odeon) (1965)
--------------------
Odeon 1C 062-04 363* (1969)
Odeon 1C 072-04 363 (1969)
---------------------
Apple 1C 072-04 363 (early 70s)
Odeon 1C 072-04 363 (late 70s, early 80s)

 

As far as I understand, a 1c072 or later pressing (062 or 072) is generally preferred because of the introduction of the new solid state Neumann Cutting Head (System). Does it refer to SX68 or SX74?

 

Not all 062 pressings are recuts. Some use the earlier cuttings. The older numbers will be in the matrix area, sometimes X'd out, sometimes not.

Here's some information on German pressings:

http://meltingpot.fortunecity.com/kirkland/266/btls/ger/lpger.htm

There's this mention:

So MMT apparently went to 072 in 1981, but it isn't clear when other albums switched price codes.

Also this:

http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beatles/german.records.html

Glancing through, that pegs the initial switch to 072 to 1976/7.

It also indicates mono was phased out in late 1964. It's pretty clear it was definitely gone by 1969, when the EEC numbering scheme (1C 062/072) came into play. So nothing with those numbers should be mono.

 

Thanks lukpac and all others. That record is superb sounding. I enjoy hearing it. Thanks for providing some background and history. Superb thread.

 

Thank you for the info, lukpac. It solved my question above.
And it seems safe to say that EMI Electrola introduce the new cutting system in 1975~6. So it was likely SX74 head that cut the discs.

 

It's unclear exactly when they did that. My Beatles Beat 062 is a re-cut, but I have several other 062 pressings that aren't. I only have a couple 072 pressings.

 

I wonder I am misunderstanding. On The Beatles Beat, does non-recut 072 have STO 73 692 matrix in the dead wax?

 

I doubt such a beast exists. If at least some 062 pressings are recuts, I wouldn't expect any 072 pressings not be recuts.

 

I'm confused. I checked my 072 pressings and found a lot of variants. Is it right to say that 'recut' means 5 digit matrix like 04 363?

 

Yes. Mine is -A-1 and -B-1.

 

Thank you for the reply.
My Apple Yellow Submarine has 1C 072-04 002 on the dead wax. It is not recut, is it?
And I have 072 copies of Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! and Beatles For Sale. Both of them have Odeon label and 1C 062-04XXX type matrix. Are both not recut?

 

You have to look and see if there are also any YEX numbers. Sometimes crossed out, sometimes not. My Yeah! x3 is a 062 pressing but uses an older cutting.

 

Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! has YEX deleted with ///. For Sale doesn't have YEX.

It looks odd. Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! had ever no recut?