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This is from Across The Universe:
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"The Beatles SWBO-101
Ah, two whole albums of Beatles music! The story (according to Beatles Book #66) is that Capitol had treated the whole album to compression and limiting, but that George Harrison discovered this and attempted to undo their treatment. On "Cry Baby Cry," you can detect a "bad spot" (at "by the children") where something went wrong in the process. The album featured a stark white cover with raised letters: "The Beatles." There was print only on the spine (title and catalog number) and on the back cover (one word: "stereo"). The UK issue opened from the top; the US issue took a more standard approach by opening from the side. Inside were goodies: a poster with lyrics on one side and four color photos (slightly smaller than the UK issue). There was also a tissue paper to keep the photos from being damaged. The UK issue featured black sleeves which were not included here. This record was the first Beatles album release on their new label, Apple, and the record labels indicated that the album was manufactured by Capitol but issued by Apple. Finally, the albums were numbered, with each factory numbering differently. There were reportedly 12 copies of #1 (I know of two), and they numbered over 3,200,000 of them, although not all three million numbers may have been used. It appears that albums were numbered until some time in early-to-mid 1971. Collecting variations in numbering style can be an interesting sideline. I know of seven variations in numbering style, as follows: * no lead characters and no lead zeros
This variant is found only on very early records. I have seen several numbered 100 and earlier which fit this description. In each case, the records were manufactured in Los Angeles.
* no lead characters but with lead zeros
This variant begins before number 1000 and is found on covers numbered less than about 210,000 and with records manufactured in Los Angeles.
* lead character of "A" followed by a blank space
Next, West Coast copies from about 210,000 up to just over 500,000 can be found in this style. The "A" looks like it was added with a different stamper. Apparently, the addition of an "A" made US releases more closely follow most foreign releases of the LP.
* lead character is a large dot
These can be found on covers numbered from about 500,000 to about 1,390,000 and with records pressed in either Jacksonville or Los Angeles.
* lead character of "A" without any blank space
The "A" is printed in the same font as the number. Typically found on covers numbered from about 1,390,000 to about 2,250,000 and with records pressed in Scranton. These copies were available for purchase no later than January, 1969.
* number prefixed by No
Notice that the "o" is elevated (superscripted). This is the same fashion as records from England were numbered. This variation is commonly found on covers numbering from about 2,250,000 to about 2,600,000 and with records pressed in Jacksonville.
* number prefixed by No.
The characters are also in a thinner font on this variant, which is commonly found on higher numbered covers and with records pressed in Scranton. Label variations also exist. The true first label copies, pressed at all three Capitol factories, have incorrect titles for several songs on sides 1 and 4 as follows: Track Title on Original Label Title on Corrected Label
Side 1, Track 4 Obladi Oblada Ob-la-di, Ob-la-da
Side 1, Track 6 Bungalow Bill The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill
Side 4, Track 1 Revolution No. 1 Revolution 1
Side 4, Track 5 Revolution No. 9 Revolution 9
Side 4, Track 6 Goodnight Good Night All of the covers have the correct titles.
Since the mistakes were discovered almost immediately, copies of the album are easily found with Side 4 showing the corrected songs, but with Side 1 not corrected, or vice-versa. Here is a label shot of the incorrect "Obladi Oblada" and "Bungalow Bill" titles. Here is the corrected label. There may be roughly 100,000 copies that show both labels with the incorrect titles. These incorrect titles were also used on first issues of the reel to reel tape, four track, eight track, and cassette. Second issues of the reel tape have the "side 1" song titles corrected.
Later on, some labels have small notations indicating "Disc 1" and "Disc 2." Another variation, usually not noticed, deals with the "banding" of the album. When Sgt. Pepper was released in England, the tracks were not separated (banded), but they ran all together. The US album WAS banded. When this album was released, apparently there was considerable sweat over whether the album should be banded: you'll find some copies banded and others unbanded. Even copies pressed at the same factory differ in this way. At first, the record was issued with "banded" album tracks, and matrices with master numbers less than or equal to 39 are banded. It appears that an effort was made to conform more to the British LP by switching to "unbanded" records. Matrix numbers 40 through 43 are the only ones to my knowledge that correspond to "unbanded" LP's. Click here to view a "J40" matrix whose record is unbanded. Another #1 on the charts without any singles. NOTE about later pressings: Numbering was stopped c. 1970. After 1975, the raised lettering "The Beatles" was replaced by ordinary gray print. The pictures show a decrease in quality on later issues." ----------- This appears to be a more complete quote from the one I had posted earlier and below. -Steve
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