45 RPM singles pressed by RCA

The loop of "L" in the capitol logo is FULL on the swirl labels
The font used on Apple singles is small and round. (The font used on swirl labels is the same as Compo swirls)
The word STEREO usually appears on the bottom right, under the credits on stereo Apple singles.

45 RPM singles pressed by COMPO

The "L" of the Capitol logo has an OPEN LOOP on swirl labels
The font used is much bigger in size, and is condensed. Compo used the same font for swirl and Apple labels, unlike RCA.
The word STEREO usually appears on the top left, near the title, on stereo Apple singles.

RCA pressing on the left, and COMPO pressing on the right

RCA pressing on the left, and COMPO pressing on the right

33 RPM LPs pressed by RCA

Fonts are usually quite similar on both RCA and Compo pressings, but sometimes the title and artist names are printed on different areas of the label. Otherwise, Clear differences between the two pressings are:

Labels have a large and deep (1-2 mm) circular groove in the label.

Odd RCA pressings

Some odd pressings have an RCA sized ring that it is less of a deep "GROOVE" than it is actualy a thin ring where the whole label inside this ring is deeper. These different pre 1972 pressings have been puzzling collectors for years as they bear resemblances to both RCA and Columbia rings (thinner groove than regular RCA, but deeper than a Columbia pressing). Sometimes even a faint small ring shows up on some of these odd pressings (but smaller than the Compo ring).

So who pressed them? The matter is not totally clear yet, but evidence points towards RCA pressings that would have been oddly pressed, possibly due to different pieces of pressing equipement.

The possibilty that these were actually subcontracted to Columbia seems quite unlikely since at the time, Capitol and Columbia were competitors and there are no records of Columbia pressing for Capitol before later in the 70s. Moreover, pressings with a regular ring on one side and the odd ring on the other also exist. It would be difficult to believe that records could have been pressed with half an RCA part and half a Columbia part. More details on this would be appreciated.

33 RPM LPs pressed by COMPO

Labels have a small indentation ring

33 RPM LPs pressed by Columbia

Some time in the 70s, Capitol also subcontracted Columbia to press their records. Columbia pressed London LPs by The Rolling Stones for their record club from 1967-1970. They pressed for Capitol in the 1970s before they opened their own plant. These pressings are usually identifiable by their different font and large ring similar in size to the RCA ring, but made as a fine line instead of a deep 2mm groove carved in the record as their RCA counterparts.

Compo Vs RCA

RCA pressed all the records for Capitol until 1965 (except for UA release A Hard Day's Night), where Compo was then also used. Compo's Lachine (Québec) plant pressed A Hard Day's Night, but all subsequent Compo pressings were made in the Cornwall (Ontario) plant.

This means the first Beatles records to be pressed by Compo were HELP! (single and album). Finally, for some albums, only one pressing plant was used, and for other big hit sellers, (like Rubber Soul and all the Apple LPs for example) both plants were used.

Reading the Matrix info

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45 RPM

For 45 RPM records in Canada, masters were made from either 2 different processes.
First process: they were sometimes dubbed directly from the foreign single instead of getting master tapes from the UK head office ("Capitol 72076 Love Me Do" is a good example). In these cases, the original matrix number from the imported single was used.



Otherwise, they would create a single from the LP master tape they had previously received from the UK or the USA (eg Roll Over Beethoven from the UK master tape of Beatlemania).

When masters were indeed created from master tapes, the matrix number would then have a "CC" prefix, meaning "Canadian Capitol". Capitol 72146 Twist And Shout is a good example with its matrix number "CC1 CC2 -72146-52". But the use of CC was not always followed.

NOTE: Rarely did Capitol of Canada just get a master tape for a single. In fact, EMI never sent master tapes for singles. Capitol USA did however send a few masters to create Canadian stampers, usually from the Scranton pressing plant. When this is the case, we can see the triangular IAM logo stamped in the trail-off area. IAM stands for "international association of machinists". This logo was pressed on every US Scranton pressing.

33 RPM

The practice for LPs is a little simpler as masters were always made from master tapes. Capitol of Canada received the tapes either directly from England (Beatlemania for example, this is well documented and the EMI tape box from Hayes with the XEX number has been confirmed) or when the tapes were not received from England, they were sent up from Capitol USA instead.

Perimeter print

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On September 15 1965, Capitol Records of Canada was re-incorporated as CAPITOL RECORDS (CANADA) LTD. - DISQUES CAPITOL (CANADA).

Which means that starting soon after, all labels were to be marked as such, or what we call WITH BRACKETS on either LPs or singles.  So, starting with Revolver, all Beatles albums on Capitol labels were to be pressed exclusively with the Brackets label.

It also means that pre-Revolver albums would also be reissued with the Brackets.  So to easily distinguish real early issues of pre-Revolver albums, one should look for NO BRACKETS labels.

Timeline of different labels used by Capitol 1960s-1980s

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Capitol's catalogue numbering system

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Capitol had a specific system to code their releases.
Each letter refered to a particularity of the record (price codes, Mono, number of LPs in the album etc.)
They used between 1 and 4 letters before the number.

Although not absolute, it is believed to work like this:




The first letter


S = stereo

D = duophonic

blank = mono

 

The second letter refers to the price code


T = regular price

K = regular double album price (gatefold)

E = specialty price (coloured vinyl)

M = specialty price (single album gatefold)

O = specialty price (custom)





The third letter


A = single album

B = double album

C = triple album


 
 


The fourth letter

(many unknown letters of this section here need to still be identified)


L = libretto/book

S = ?
B = ?

O = printed inner sleeves

So for example, the Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour album numbered SMAL 2835 means it is a STEREO album, single album gatefold, with ONE record inside and includes a libretto.