We will be present at this great event today in Montreal. A lot of music vendors, a lot of records for sale, and Serge will be there to chat, and promote our Beatles books. For those who dare to come, an exclusive preview of his new book "Variations 1: The Definitive Beatles Canadian LP Collector's Guide" will available for you to see and browse at our table. Be there or be square!
Salon Du Disque De Montréal
Saturday, May 25, 2013 - from 10am to 4pm
Église Saint-Enfant-Jésus du Mile-End
5039 Sainte-Dominique, near the Saint-Joseph and Saint-Laurent intersection.
Today, we have the pleasure to announce the addition of a brand new section that will surely interest many of our readers. As you can see, the main menu has changed quite a bit, regrouping and moving sections around for a better browsing experience, but mostly, a section called PAUL WHITE COLLECTION has been added. This tab will feature many vintage promotional items from Paul White's collection, unique Canadian treasures that very few have ever seen. Today we start with a promo poster of The Esquires (see entry below), and tomorrow we will add a Manfred Mann poster for their hit single "Do Wah Diddy Diddy". Stay tuned as we will periodically add new items from the Canadian Capitol roster.
As for the other changed sections, no pages have been removed; all the great content you were used to read is still fully available under the ARCHIVES tab of the menu. By clicking this button, you will be directed to an Archive browsing page where you can easily access all the previous articles and miscellaneous sections from a menu on the left, wile still remaining on the main website. Access to the core of the website remains available at all times from the top menu. So wait no longer and browse away through the articles and images of rare Canadian items we have stored in our vault!
The Esquires were the very first Canadian pop group to be signed by Paul White at Capitol Records Of Canada in the summer of 1963. Their very first single "Atlantis" (Capitol 72126) was issued in Canada on Monday, September 23rd, 1963, just one week after The Beatles' "She Loves You" (Capitol 72125).
The Esquires were heavily influenced by Cliff Richard And The Shadows, and lead guitarist Gary Comeau could cover Hank Marvin's guitar licks note for note, and Atlantis was a truly great cover. The group would develop their own unique sound through 1966. They issued one great album on Capitol and a string of great singles.
Capitol prepared a special in-store poster to promote their new LP in August 1964. The poster measures 10 inches high and 13 inches wide.
The photo of the band was taken in the summer of 1964 at the Gray Rocks Inn at Saint-Jovite in the Laurentians. Pictured from left to right are Paul Huot (guitar), Ricky Patterson (drums), Don Norman (vocals), Gary Comeau (lead guitar), and Client Hierlihy (bass).
The image of the colour poster appears here by courtesy of Paul White.
The colour video for Man From Adano by The Esquires. This was probably the very first rock video ever made in Canada and was filmed in late 1963. (Gary Comeau collection).
It must be noted that the very first incarnation of the Juno Award in Canada was called the Gold Leaf Award, and these awards were first handed out by RPM Music Weekly magazine in late 1964.
The Esquires won the first Gold Leaf Award in late 1964 as the "Top Vocal Instrumental Group" of the year. The award was for the Capitol 45 "So Many Other Boys". The award and the photo seen below appear by courtesy of Gary Comeau. The Esquires beat out the an early incarnation of The Guess Who from Winnipeg (Chad Allen & The Expressions) that year.
According to The Esquires' Gary Comeau, "we were the first band to win a major award (Gold Leaf Award, the first "Juno"), and we were the first to create a music video in Canada". (see video above)
Paul White also received a Gold Leaf award in that same year for "Top National Record Promoter".
72126
The Esquires / Bob Harrington
Atlantis / I’ve Lost My Little Girl
72137
The Esquires / Bob Harrington
Man From Adano / Gee Whiz, It’s You
72193
The Esquires
So Many Other Boys / Oldest Story
72219
The Esquires
Cry Is All I Do / We’ve Got A Future
72277
The Esquires
Love’s Made A Fool Of You / Summertime
T-6075
The Esquires
Introducing The Esquires
Today we have revamped our "Other Labels" discography pages. The labels now appear in Alpha sequence on the Other labels tab. While we do specialize in Beatles discographies for Canada, we also try hard to cover other notable areas of Canadian musical interest.
Recently, we added the Canadian Stax / Volt discographies and we have received some very positive feedback on those additions. We have also been busy continually updating the Stone, Sparton, Page One, Deram, Vee Jay and Polydor dicsogs that were already there.
Today, we are pleased to announce the addition of the uniquely Canadian Yorktown and Yorkville labels. These labels promoted and featured Canadian artists in the 1966-1968 period, a time when a whole new scene was developing in Toronto, and new artists like Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, and David Clayton-Thomas were playing the small clubs and bars of Yorkville. Yorktown did not last long (1966-1967) even though the label was distributed by Capitol. Yorkville took over where Yorktown left off and was distributed by Arc Records. Arc and Yorkville would be the starting labels for a young Anne Murray who would later be signed by Capitol of Canada.
Both labels issued records by The Ugly Ducklings and some other great garage bands like The Stitch In Tyme. In the next few months we will be adding some more cool Canadian labels. These will include the "Sir John A." label from Ottawa. This label also featured a number of garage bands like Heart, Eastern Passage, and The Paper Dream.
View the Yorktown / Yorkville discography HERE.
We would also like to feature some of the Québec labels from the 1960s. Québec was the home to many unique labels during that time.
If you have a particular label that you would like to see added to our growing list of Canadian labels, please let us know.
Many people have asked me, "just what are the best sounding pressings of the three Canadian Capitol 6000 series LP's?"
For monophonic sound, the answer is simple and predictable. Get the finest original pressing you can find. This is especially true for "Beatlemania" T-6051. The original 1963 pressings will have XEX-447 (side 1) and XEX-448 (side 2) in the runouts. These original pressings of T-6051 have noticeably deeper grooves. You can actually feel them if you lightly rub your finger across the vinyl. These deeper groove pressings of T-6051 have a louder, and more dynamic sound.
For stereophonic sound, the answer is not so simple, and requires careful listening to all available versions. Well, I have the records, the headphones and the time, so I decided to try and seek out the answers.
Let us start with "Beatlemania" ST-6051 (ST prefix denoting stereo). The first copy to sport the ST prefix was the 3rd generation orange label Capitol of Canada pressing. The matrix numbers are XEX-447-1 and XEX-448- RE6. Though this record claims to be stereo, it certainly does not sound like it. It almost sounds monophonic to these ears.
The next copy I listened to was a 1st generation purple label copy, that appears to be an RCA dynaflex pressing. The matrix numbers on this version are ST 6051 A on side 1 and XEX-448 RE6 on side two. Side 1 of this record is a true stereo mix with good sound and very noticeable separation. This is what many collectors refer to as the "wide mix". Side 2, however reverts back to that mono sounding mix found on the orange label copy.
Next up was a 3rd generation purple label Capitol of Canada pressing. The matrix numbers are ST 6051 A on side one and ST.6051.2. on side two. Both sides of this vinyl have true stereo sound with noticeable separation.
Lastly, I checked out the final vinyl incarnation of this classic LP; the retro rainbow label. This LP appears to be a Cinram pressing because of the double impression rings left by the stamper. the matrix numbers are ST-6051-1- on side 1 and ST-6051-2- on side 2. Here's the kicker, folks. This final pressing has excellent sound and great separation throughout. This version is the clear winner, with a close second going to the 3rd generation purple Capitol pressing.
Now on to "Twist and Shout" ST-6054. I don't own a 3rd generation orange label copy, so I began with the 1st generation purple label that also appears to be an RCA Dynaflex pressing. The matrix numbers are ST-6054-A on side 1 and XEX 456 on side 2. All of side 1 is in true stereo, except for "Love Me Do" (track 6), which is a mono Andy White version. Side 2 is all in true stereo, except for "P.S. I Love You" (track 1) and "She Loves You" (track 7) which are mono. I'm not even sure if true stereo mixes for these three songs even exist.
The second version I listened to was the first retro rainbow label version, which is a Capitol of Canada pressing that features a larger title font. The matrix numbers are ST.6054.A. (side 1) and ST-6054-B (side 2). Well I'm not sure who prepared the master for side 1, but this version plays through entirely in mono! Side 2 is in true stereo, except for (again), tracks 1 and 7.
This leads us to the final vinyl version of this classic Canadian LP, a retro rainbow label that appears to be a Columbia pressing. The matrix numbers are ST-6054-A (Side 1) and ST-6054-B (side 2). This version has side 1 in true stereo, except for track 6. Side 2 is also in true stereo except for tracks 1 and 7. This pressing has excellent stereo sound throughout, except for the mentioned tracks, and surpasses the Capitol pressing in sound quality by quite a wide margin. The final pressing again is the clear winner.
Lastly, we move to "Long Tall Sally" ST-6063. The first pressing to boast the ST prefix is the 3rd generation orange label Capitol of Canada pressing. The matrix numbers are ST-6063-A (side 1) and ST-6063-B (side 2). On the label of side one, an asterisk appears beside "I Want To Hold Your Hand" which denotes that track as being on mono. Funny thing is, the entire side is in mono! On the label of side two, asterisks appear beside tracks 1,2,4 and 5 denoting those tracks as being monophonic. Again, the entire side is in mono! I'm not sure who they thought they were fooling here.
Moving on to my third generation purple label Capitol of Canada pressing, I found it to be identical in every way to the orange label version that I just described, so I won't go any further on this pressing.
Finally, I played my retro rainbow Capitol of Canada pressing with the larger title font on the label. The matrix numbers are ST.6063.A. (side 1) and ST.6063.B. (side 2). The labels also indicate track 1, side 1 and tracks 1,2,4 and 5, side 2 as being in mono, which they are. The good news; the rest of the tracks are in glorious stereophonic sound! Capitol finally got it right on this one. This is the version to seek out.
So, in conclusion; if it's mono sound you're after, seek out pristine original pressings. If you want the best stereo versions, seek out the last ones produced.
- May 2nd, 2013
Piers's Note May 6 2013 - "Well I don't have the last retro label ST-6051 (arrgh!), but I do have in my collection an orange label, second generation ST-6051 pressing with a hand-written YEA matrix on both sides which sounds like true stereo to my ears. But we'll let Fred listen to this album stereo mix so he can compare to his other stereo-tagged albums (May 2013).
Fred's NOTE: I have since come upon a copy of the 2nd generation orange label copy of ST-6051 mentioned in Piers' note of May 6. I stand corrected about the 3rd generation orange version as being the first incarnation to bare the ST prefix, as this 2nd generation copy would now fit that description.
The record is one of those RCA Dynaflex pressings, and the matrix numbers are as follows:
Side 1: 2YEA XEX (scribbled out) -447-2
Side 2: 2YEA XEX (scribbled out) -448-2 EXE (crossed out)
Obviously a novice inscriber!
Upon listening, it turns out to be the same fake stereo mix as the later 3rd generation orange version on both sides. Even the groove patterns are identical.
So, my conclusion remains unchanged on this one. Seek out the 3rd generation purple, or better yet, the retro rainbow Cinram pressing, for true stereo mixes.
Fred Young
May 26, 2013