The Beatles - Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane, Parlophone R 5570

1. First pressing, February 17, 1967. The initial 250,000 copies of the single were packaged with a wavy cut at top full-color picture sleeve. Additional copies of the sleeve were manufactured for EMI for export to foreign countries, including Ireland, Sweden and Denmark.

  

The Beatles - I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy, Parlophone R 5084

1. First pressing, November 29, 1963. The records were housed in the Type 3 company sleeves. Black label with silver print. The publishing year was printed on the label, as “RECORDING FIRST PUBLISHED 1963″. The beginning of the perimeter print was written with a fully capitalized “PARLOPHONE CO. LTD.”. Tax code KT. Push-out center. Matrix numbers: Side A: 7XCE 17559-1N, Side B: 7XCE 17560-1N.

Type 1 labels do not have “NCB” at the end of the publishing credit:

  

Parlophone R 5084 - I Want To Hold Your Hand/This Boy (First pressing, with "The Parlophone Co. Ltd" in upper-case only, Matrixes: 7XCE 17559-1N/7XCE 17560-1N, in Type 1 sleeve)... 15 GBP

The Beatles Parlophone company sleeves

The changes in company sleeve designs were similar to those of the other EMI labels and the changes between the different designs occurred at approximately the same times.

Type 1 sleeve. Blue, red, yellow and green multicolored sleeve designed in the late 50's to be used with the red label. Used from 1958 until 1963 with Parlophone series 45-R 4441 – 45-R 4988 including The Beatles singles 45-R 4949 “Love Me Do” and 45-R 4983 “Please Please Me”.

Parlophone french contract pressings

Single:

Hello Goodbye / I Am The Walrus, Parlophone R 5655. Release November, 1967. Some copies of this single were pressed by Pathé Marconi in France. On these singles, the “MADE IN GT. BRITAIN” print the bottom of the label was replaced by a“MADE IN FRANCE” print. These singles were presumably pressed during a shortage of vinyl in the UK or because of an overwhelming demand. This is the only UK Beatles single pressed in France. The records were housed in the Type 7, 8, 9, 10 or 11 company sleeves (see 03. Beatles on Parlophone Records. Part – Singles). Black label with silver print. The publishing year was printed on the label, as “(p) 1967″. The beginning of the perimeter print was written “GRAMOPHONE CO. LTD.” and “SOLD IN U.K. SUBJECT TO RESALE PRICE CONDITIONS, SEE PRICE LISTS” text. Push-out or solid center. Tax code KT on the trail off area. Also, the pressing is distinguished by the two matrices: Side A: 7XCE 18433-1  M3 256671, Side B: 7XCE 18434-1  M3 256672.

THE BEATLES 1973 UK HELLO GOODBYE MADE IN FRANCE EX...£20.00

    

Magical Mystery Tour, Parlophone PCTC 255

Magical Mystery Tour album was issued in U.S. on 27 November 1967 as Capitol MAL 2835 (mono) and SMAL 2835 (stereo). The package was a huge hit with the public, generating the highest level of initial sales of any album to date, and netting the label more than $8 million in just three weeks. Realising the Capitol had created a product too popular to ignore, EMI imported a number of copies to the United Kingdom. This U.S. version of  Magical Mystery Tour officially was released in the United Kingdom on 19 November 1976. When the album was issued in Britain, EMI did a straight pressing from the American album, The left much to be desired as three of the tracks, “Penny Lane”, “Baby You’re A Rich Man” and “All You Need Is Love”, are in fake stereo.

Interesting facts: In 1973 EMI decided to issue a cassette version of the Magical Mystery Tour album. This cassette contained stereo versions of all the tracks included on the album, including a stereo version of “Baby You’re A Rich Man” that had previously been unavalaiblein Britain, although it was included on European pressingsof the album. The cassette also includes the re-recorded version of “All You Need Is Love”, although the album contains the original single version of the song. The album has the catalogue number PCTC 255 but the cassette, in addition to the usual cassette prefix TC, has the confusing number PCS 3077, that places it between theRubber Soul (PCS 3075) and Revolver (PCS 7009) albums.

British version of the Magical Mystery Tour album has a gatefold sleeve and with 28-page full color booklet stapled in gatefold inside. Include white paper EMI custom inner sleeve.

The Beatles 1967-1970, Apple PCSP 718

The double album, The Beatles 1967-1970, compiles the remaining A sides of singles,  plus a further selection of album tracks issued during that period. The sleeve of this double album show two photographs, of The Beatles in the same pose taken eight years apart. The first is that used in 1963 for the Please Please Me album (back side), the second, taken in 1969, had been planned for the unreleased Get Back album (front side).  The Beatles 1967-1970 was issued in U.K. on 20 April 1973.

The album has a front and back laminated gatefold sleeve manufactured by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. The blue color of the album is associated with the color of FC Everton. The first edition had no producer George Martin’s or Phil Spector credits on the inside.

The Beatles 1962-1966, Apple PCSP 717

The double album, The Beatles 1962-1966, contains all the A sides of The Beatles’ singles issued on Parlophone up to the end of 1966, plus a selection of album tracks from the same period, namely, “All My Loving” from With The Beatles, “Eight Days A Week” from Beatles For Sale, “Yesterday” from Help! and “Norwegian Wood” and“Michelle” from Rubber Soul. The sleeve of this double album show two photographs, of The Beatles in the same pose taken eight years apart. The first is that used in 1963 for the Please Please Me album, the second, taken in 1969, had been planned for the unreleased Get Back album.  The Beatles 1962-1966 was issued in U.K. on 20 April 1973.

The album has a front and back laminated gatefold sleeve manufactured by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. The red color of the album is associated with the color of FC Liverpool. The first edition had no producer George Martin’s credit on the inside.

Rock And Roll Music, Parlophone PCSP 719 and Music For Pleasure MFP 50506/7

Rock And Roll Music, Parlophone PCSP 719.

Release June 11, 1976. Idea for this album, Rock And Roll, came from Bhaskar Menon, the head of Capitol Records in the USA. After trying unsuccessfully to contract one or all of  The Beatles for approval of the track listing for this new double album, Menon eventually gave up and contracted George Martin, their producer. When Martin was told of the plan to release this compilation of old Beatles tracks as a new album he flew to the Hollywood office of Capitol. After hearing some of the older tracks with bad background noise and poor stereo Martin was appalled at the prospect of their reissue and set about filtering and remixing every track included on this album. On some of the older tracks, such as “Twist And Shout” and “I Saw Her Standing There”, he reversed the stereo and brought the vocal track away from the edge into the center, adding a slight echo for a more modern sound. He also filtered out the bass from the rhythm track and also placed that in the center of the stereo sound stage and with the aid of filters and equalisers, gave the recording a crisper sound. When he had finished his work, Martin took a copy of the revised tapes back to EMI Records in Britain. The company was horrified because The Beatles had issued official instructions that the tapes must not be “touched, added to, edited or mutilated in any way”. EMI Records took this edict rather too literally, assuming that if they were to be reissued, the tapes should be exactly as originally recorded. Thus George Martin’s remixed and filtered versions of the original tracks were not included on the Rock And Roll Music album when it was released in Britain.

Full laminated “Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd” gatefold sleeve. White paper EMI custom inner sleeve.

The Beatles, Rarities - Parlophone PSLP 261 and PCM 1001

The Beatles “Rarities”, Parlophone PSLP 261.

Release December 15, 1978. Originally included as a free addition to the 1978 boxed set, The Beatles Collection (blue box). Only rare tracks are “Across The Univers”, previously available only on the now-deleted charity album No One’s Gonna Change Our World, and the German-language version of “She Loves You” and “I Want To Hold Your Hand”, previously unavailable in Britain. In fact eight of the 17 tracks were previously available: “Long Tall Sally”, “I Call Your Name”, “Slow Down”, “Matchbox”and “I’m Down” are on the Rock And Roll Music album; “Yes It Is” and “This Boy” on Love Songs; and “Rain” on the Hey Jude album. Only four of the 17 tracks “Across The Universe”, “Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand”, “Sie Liebt Dich”, and “Bad Boy”, are in stereo. Although the album contains very little in the way of rare tracks, it is an intelligent compilation of some of the material previously available only B sides, EPs and foreign releases.

All free additions have a dark blue sleeves with gold text on both sides. Besides the sleeve has the banner “Sampler Album Not For Sale” in the upper left corner on the back and catalog number PSLP 261. All additions have white paper EMI custom inner sleeves.

     

Hey Jude, Parlophone PCS 7184

Release May 21, 1979. Previously producible only on export to USA and British Commonwealth of Nations, this album eventually was official released in Britain nearly nine years after appearance in the USA. The album includes most of The Beatles’ later singles released in 1968 and 1969 together with both sides of the 1966 single“Paperback Writer”. Two rather odd and out of sequence inclusions are “Can’t Buy Me Love” and “I Should Have Know Better” both from the “A Hard Day’s Night” album that were included in place of “The Inner Light” and “Get Back” even though their respective A and B sides, “Lady Madonna” and “Don’t Let Me Down”, are included.

Full laminated “Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd” sleeve. White paper EMI custom inner sleeve.

     

The Beatles Label History 1963-1980

When looking for The Beatles' LPs (and especially when trying to work out which pressing you've got), I found this table from http://yokono.co.uk/ . It helps greatly to establish the time period from which your vinyl record hails. For further references, or if you're very keen on much more detailed information about chronologically organizing and, ultimately, valuing your records, have a look here . Or just wait until I add that information to this page.