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The eighteenth official EMI release, and the first on Apple.
The launch of The Beatles own company was announced to the press in New York on May 13th 1968, and this was the first single
by the Beatles to appear on Apple. (Mary Hopkin having the honour of having the first real Apple release)
The Apple design was inspired by a Magritte painting, which I believe is now owned by Paul.
Hence we have a brand new label, and new paper sleeve, as seen above. The label was quite a dark apple, and you will notice
that some of the black lettering is quite hard to read, ALL first pressings of Apple singles have this darker apple, whereas
if you look at later re-pressings of the 70's the apple is distinctly lighter.
As for the sleeve, ALL original Apple sleeves are of a shiny nature. Later editions became more paper like.
Philips Pressing
Some copies at the original time were pressed by Philips Records to assist EMI who could not keep up with the demand for this Beatles release.
EMI sub-contracted Philips to run off a small batch at their Pressing Plant. As you can see from the detailed scan above there is a distinct difference between
the routine EMI pressing of Hey Jude and the slightly rarer Philips contract pressing. The Philips version displays three Prongs with a wider gap in the middle.
E.M.I. also pressed up some now VERY rare export editions. Whereas the standard release is on Apple, this export edition
was on the black and silver Parlophone label, with a catalogue number of DP 570.
The manufacturers rights statement begins with "THE GRAMOPHONE CO. LTD."
A-side matric number is 7XCE 21185-1
B-side matric number is 7XCE 21186-1
It is also housed in a picture sleeve which is shown above (front and rear are the same).
And finally, below you can see the picture disc version released in England as part of the, "It Was Twenty Years Ago"
series, on 30th August 1988, for this release though, due to the extended length of the A-side ... the picture disc also
appeared as a 12" picture disc with catalogue number 12 RP 5722. The pictures are indentical to the 7", but it does come
with a black 12" cardboard insert, which has perfect BIG pictures of the Apple label on each side, and other than the
catalogue number in the corner ... nothing else ! |
