Which Beatles LPs were pressed in these countries?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by socorro, Dec 21, 2012.

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  1. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    There are comprehensive Beatles discographies for several countries (including, at a minimum, the US, UK, Germany/Switzerland/Austria, Netherlands, Belgium, France, Italy, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and Argentina). That leaves dozens of countries where Beatles records were pressed, but the information available ranges from pretty good to very little.

    In fact, for quite a few countries, I have never seen an authoritative list of which LPs were actually made there. Instead, I've tried to piece together working lists based on information from online sources, conversations with fellow collectors, and the like. I've listed them below, and included the LPs I have been able to confirm for each.

    I welcome any confirmed additions to these lists (i.e., you've seen the actual LP or clear pictures of it). Above all, pictures of the covers and labels would be most welcome.

    Nigeria
    With The Beatles
    A Hard Days Night
    Rubber Soul
    Sgt. Pepper
    Hey Jude

    Bolivia
    Yeah Yeah Yeah (A Hard Days Night)
    Help
    Please Please Me
    Abbey Road
    Let It Be

    Panama
    Sgt. Pepper
    Let It Be
    Hey Jude

    Costa Rica
    Meet The Beatles
    Second Album
    Beatles '65
    Help
    Beatles For Sale

    Dominican Republic
    The Early Beatles
    Sgt. Pepper
    Yellow Submarine
    Hey Jude

    Jamaica
    A Hard Days Night
    Help
    Rubber Soul
    Revolver
    Something New

    Thailand (legal Parlophone releases)
    Revolver
     
  2. forthlin

    forthlin Member Chris & Vickie Cyber Support Team

    I have 1962-1966 (the red album) from Bolivia: Apple BOLP 326. Single album, no gatefold sleeve.

    Split Apple A side

    Love Me Do
    She Loves You
    I Want To Hold Your Hand
    A Hard Day's Night
    And I Love Her
    Eight Days A Week
    Please Please Me


    Whole Apple B side

    Ticket To Ride
    Yesterday
    Help!
    Michelle
    Girl
    Yellow Submarine

    Also you didn't mention it, but I have BFS, Pepper, and Hey Jude from Guatemala.
     
  3. mono-o-mono

    mono-o-mono Forum Resident

    Location:
    Vancouver
    How about India. They pressed the Beatles on 78. I believe I have a Stereo Sgt Pepper Indian pressing somewhere too.
     
  4. JamieC

    JamieC Senior Member

    Location:
    Detroit Mi USA
    Any number of smaller countries their copies were pressed elsewhere(ie South American pressings would often come from Chile, Brazil, or Argentina). Many on the African continent were pressed in S Africa
     
  5. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    You're right that Argentina and Brazil (and to a lesser extent Chile and Peru) exported Beatles LPs to other countries. However, nearly every South American country also produced at least some of the LPs domestically, sometimes in tiny numbers. Original LPs from Bolivia and Ecuador are extremely rare.

    The only South American countries that did not press Beatles records were Paraguay, Guyana, Surinam (which was a Dutch territory until the 1970s) and the territory of French Guina. There have been a number of counterfeit "Paraguay" picture sleeves housing Brazilian singles. Beyond the fact that there is no such thing as a Paraguay-made Beatles record, the other "tell" is that the discs are generally in VG- or worse condition, but the sleeves are in NM condition.

    In Africa, Beatles LPs were pressed in four countries during the 1960s -- South Africa (by far the largest market in Africa for the Beatles), Southern Rhodesia (the unilateral declaration of independence in 1965, by the white establishment, in defiance of the UK requirement of majority/black rule as a condition of independence. After the UDI, EMI honored the UK's trade embargo), Nigeria, and Egypt.

    Only one LP (Abbey Road) and one single (Let It Be) were pressed in Egypt, both in tiny numbers. These two records are extremely difficult to find, and quite expensive.

    In addition the the 5 LPs listed (and perhaps other yet to be confirmed), Nigeria also produced several singles, and several EPS. Although not as rare as the Egyptian pressings, the Nigerian records, especially the LPs, are nonetheless very rare.

    The Southern Rhodesia LPs are certainly rare compared to most countries, but significantly more common and cheaper than the ones from Egypt and Nigeria.

    The South African LPs can usually be found on ebay in the $40-80 range, with a bit of patience.

    In the 1970s, the red album and blue album were made in Mozambique, and a greatest hits album was made in Kenya in the 1980s.

    In addition, singles were made in Congo and Angola. The Congo singles are highly prized by collectors of 7" records.
     
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  6. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    India was by far the most prolific producer of Beatles 78s, eventually making more than 30 of them. Quite a few were made in the Philippines, I would guess about 12-15 of them. A lone 78 was made as a very early promo item in Argentina, and another was made in Colombia.

    All of them are hideously expensive, especially the Argentina and Colombia 78s. If you could find either of those two, I would be quite surprised if you could buy it for less than $5,000.
     
  7. brother1002

    brother1002 I'm hungry....

    Location:
    New Jersey, USA
    I once had a copy of Yeah Yeah Yeah (A Hard Days Night) from Uruguay. Sounded terrible.
     

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  8. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    You're right. I wasn't thinking of the post-breakup LPs, but of the post-breakup LPs this is clearly the one to have (it's the ealiest and it's on the Apple label instead of the brown & yellow EMI label). The 1967-1970 blue album and Hollywood Bowl LP were also made in Bolivia, as well as a Polydor pressing of the Tony Sheridan-era recordings.

    I like the Guatemala LPs too. Like most countries in Central America and the Caribbean, the LPs are a mixture of US and UK versions.
     
  9. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    Uruguay is also famous for the many temporary covers used for the first Beatles 5 LPs (Por Favor, Yo; Con Los Beatles; Ye, Ye, Ye; Para Ti; and Beatles For Sale). There were more than 30 different temporary covers, possibly many more. Compiling all of them would be a huge task, if possible at all.
     
  10. MrRom92

    MrRom92 Forum Supermodel

    Location:
    Long Island, NY
    Excellent posts. There really isn't a whole wealth of info out there about African Beatles LPs, so it's good to know it's all posted here for future reference. I myself have a number of South African LPs. Interesting but not much to write home about soundwise. Excellent pressings, but I'm not so convinced that all of them are from UK metal - some of my monos don't match up to UK pressings. I believe the catalogue numbers for SA pressings were PMCJ and PCSJ if I recall correctly.

    Anyone know the codes for the other African countries?

    The South American pressings are a whole 'nother ball game... but for best SQ go for the Argentinian ones, in my experience.
     
  11. den0iZer

    den0iZer Forum Resident

    Czechoslovakia:

    LP:
    A Collection Of Beatles Oldies But Goldies (mono and stereo 1969)
    Abbey Road (mono and stereo 1972)
    '62-'65 (own compilation stereo 1981)
    The Beatles (Hamburg recordings with Tony Sheridan, stereo 1982)
    Expedice R'n'R (own compilation stereo 1983)
    A Hard Day's Night (stereo 1986)
    With The Beatles (stereo 1987)

    Singles:
    She Loves You/Yesterday (mono 1972)
    Yesterday/I Should Have Known Better (stereo 1976)
     
  12. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    You're right about the South African catalog numbers. The pressings from Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) used the South Africa PMCJ/PCSJ catalog numbers, although stereo LPs from Southern Rhodesia are extremely rare. The Southern Rhodesia pressings also came in sleeves imported from South Africa, with a small "made in S. Rhodesia" sticker on the back. The discs were machine-stamped "made in S. Rhodesia" in the dead wax.

    The lone Egyptian LP, Abbey Road, used the UK catalog number PCS 7088. It came in a Sono Cairo company sleeve (Sono Cairo was the Egyptian EMI affiliate).

    The Nigerian LPs also used the UK PCS catalog numbers, and came in sleeves imported from the UK. Some of the sleeves had an "N" stamped next to the catalog number on the back of the sleeve. Somewhat surprisingly, it appears that only stereo versions were pressed in Nigeria. This suggests that the Nigerian LPs (especially With The Beatles and A Hard Days Night) likely were pressed after their their initial UK release.

    The Mozambique LPs include the blue and red albums as well as 20 Greatest Hits. All of them had PCSJ catalog numbers. The blue and red albums were on Apple labels, but 20 Greatest Hits was released on a local label Ring.

    20 Golden Hits was pressed in Kenya on an orange and black EMI label, catalog number PCSJ(L) 205.

    Singles were released in Congo and Angola, but no LPs.
     
  13. Jae

    Jae Senior Member

    I haven't seen too many Nigerian pressings up close, so, can you tell me if the labels reference where they were pressed? If so, they'd either state Jos (original manufacturer location between late 1962-mid 1967) or Lagos (mid 1967+). Also, if the labels happen to state "Record Manufacturers of Nigeria" anywhere, then they are post the EMI/Decca joint venture of October 1969.

    They're not - most were cut by EMISA from EMI UK supplied tapes. It can be confusing, because EMISA generally used the source country matrix codes* (so YEX, XEX, YEEX for UK supplied tapes) and, when present, numerical trailing lacquer numbers (-1, -2 etc). For example, the EMISA "Hey Jude!" LP carries YEEX 150-1/151-1 matrices, just like the UK export. However, the giveaway is the machine stamping - much smaller on EMISA machines. And, of course, as you would have observed, a missing lacquer number altogether is a giveaway.

    *there were exceptions, or course - BFS, for example, carries both PCSJ/PMCJ and YEX/XEX numbers.
     
  14. Calico

    Calico Senior Member

    Location:
    Belgium
  15. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    The rim print on the labels for With The Beatles and A Hard Days Night state "E.M.I. (NIGERIA) LTD." Just inside the rim print, at the bottom, they state "Made In Nigeria." No other geographical designation.

    Rubber Soul has the same Rim Print as WTB and AHDN, but the text inside the rim print at the bottom states "Made In Nigeria by R.M.N. Ltd." That pretty definitively dates this one after October 1969.

    I would also infer, based on the lack of reference to R.M.N. Ltd., that WTB and AHDN were pressed before October 1969.

    Aside from the text just inside the rim print at the bottom, the labels are identical in style. They are black and silver, with the same layout as the UK black & yellow Parlophone labels.

    Sgt. Pepper has black & silver labels, but in a plainer style, similar to the ones used in Denmark from 1965-1968. Haven't seen one up close enough to tell if it references R.M.N., but I will guess it post-dates Rubber Soul since it has a later label style.

    Hey Jude is on the Apple label. Since it wasn't a regular UK release, it has the catalog number used for copies of Hey Jude pressed in the UK for export, CPCS 106.
     
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  16. Jae

    Jae Senior Member

    I've dug through my archives. According to the EMI UK documents I found, Nigeria only pressed EPs and singles before (at least) mid-1967, importing LPs from Europe or other parts of Africa. This appears to tie in with the move from Jos to Lagos, which was necessary due to the political and civil unrest in Nigeria at the time.

    However, by 1970, import restrictions meant that all records, including LPs, were pressed locally with none imported. By this stage, RMN had 14 presses and produced 250,000 records per month - the largest in indigenous Africa.

    This could explain why you've only seen stereo titles as it's likely they were pressed between 1967 and the introduction of RMN in Oct 1969 (except, of course, those that state RMN on the label which are clearly post this date).

    For context, here's a photo of EMI's Nigerian plant (presumably Lagos), taken during a tour by EMI Chariman Sir Joseph Lockwood.

    I have about five other photos of the Nigerian plant here somewhere.

    Image1.jpg
     
  17. Jae

    Jae Senior Member

    If I may be a pedant, I've slightly tweaked your above statement (in bold). :)

    As an aside, from 1967 Kenya pressed a number of Beatles singles for distribution in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. But yeah, no evidence of Beatles LPs until much later.
     
  18. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    Thanks for the clarification re UDI/EMI. The only Kenya single I've seen is Hey Jude/Revolution. What others do you know of?
     
  19. AudiophilePhil

    AudiophilePhil Senior Member

    Location:
    San Diego, CA
    In the Philippines, both US and British albums were pressed on vinyl.
     
  20. Jae

    Jae Senior Member

    Confirmed:
    Lady Madonna / Inner Light
    Get Back / Don't Let Me Down
    Something / Come Together
     
  21. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    In the Philippines, UK singles were also pressed on shellac. These 78 RPM records are quite hard to find.
     
  22. pinio65

    pinio65 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Poland
  23. pinio65

    pinio65 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Poland

    Please add scans of Nigeria LP's. Thank You.
     
  24. socorro

    socorro Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    pennsylvania
    Here's WTB and AHDN.

    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
     
  25. izgoblin

    izgoblin Forum Resident

    I never would have guessed some of these countries mentioned even would have had pressing plants. Crazy.
     
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