Master Tapes, Mothers or Vinyl
As a subsidiary of EMI UK, EMI (Australia) received advance notice of forthcoming UK releases and could choose to import copies, manufacture them locally, or pass on them altogether — the latter generally only an option if the release had not charted strongly in the UK. EMI (Australia) primarily manufactured Beatles records locally, issuing them through its Parlophone label.
For most singles, EMI (Australia) took the cost-conscious approach and used imported vinyl discs as sources. This made commercial sense: it was far cheaper to dub from an existing record than to pay for tapes or metal parts, particularly at a time when audio quality on 7-inch releases was not considered paramount. These pressings can often be identified by their trimmed fades. Rather than fading naturally to silence, the fade is abruptly cut off—usually almost unnoticeably—in an apparent attempt to avoid the increased surface noise that becomes more apparent at the end of a disc.
The single 'Komm, Gib Mir Deine Hand'/'Sie Liebt Dich' was mastered from a copy of the German single.
Although 'The Ballad Of John And Yoko'/'Old Brown Shoe', 'Something'/'Come Together', and 'The Long And Winding Road'/'For You Blue' were not mixed in mono, they were nevertheless released in mono in Australia. Each was a fold-down from a stereo source: the UK single, Abbey Road LP, and Let It Be LP respectively. By contrast, 'Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da'/'While My Guitar Gently Weeps' was one of the few instances worldwide where the true mono mixes were used, being cut directly from the mono The Beatles LP.
Only two singles—'Hey Jude'/'Revolution' and 'Let It Be'/'You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)'—were pressed from mothers supplied by EMI UK. EMI (Australia) had made the decision to import mothers for these releases as they were concerned they would not be able to achieve a suitable result by mastering locally.
Original EPs were sourced from either vinyl discs or mono LP tapes where they existed in their library (for example, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale and Help! - see below). Side 1 of Requests was sourced from a mono copy of the US The Beatles' Second Album LP, as EMI (Australia) did not receive the required tracks from EMI UK in time for the planned release. Only five EPs—The Beatles' Hits, All My Loving, Nowhere Man, Magical Mystery Tour stereo, and Magical Mystery Tour mono—were initially pressed from mothers supplied by EMI UK.
In several instances, despite similar titles and even similar sleeves, the Australian track selections were subtly altered to accommodate the "extra" EPs EMI (Australia) had added to its catalogue. The EP discography lists the Australian EPs and their track selections.
For LPs, EMI (Australia) initially imported mothers from the UK, as this was considered more economical given the uncertainty around likely sales quantities. In 1964, once The Beatles had become more than just a household name, EMI (Australia) decided to obtain tape copies instead. This reduced the risk of delays if replacement metal parts were later required. It also provided greater flexibility for the increasing number of locally-conceived releases. As a result, A Hard Day's Night, Beatles For Sale, and Help! were cut locally from master tape copies supplied by EMI UK.
From Rubber Soul onward, EMI (Australia) reverted to importing mothers. The reason for this change is unclear. Unless EMI UK had advised that the master tapes were too delicate, or EMI (Australia) felt unable to do justice to them locally, there seems no obvious reason for the reversal. The major exception is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, where the requirement to include the inner groove and high-pitched tone in 1967 would almost certainly have been beyond local cutting capability.
For collectors, this decision has proved fortunate. It means that most of the Australian Beatles LP catalogue was mastered in the UK, cut by Harry Moss at EMI's London studios, and is therefore essentially the same as the equivalent UK pressings. This has led many collectors to regard Australian Beatles pressings as sonically equivalent—and in some cases arguably superior—to their UK counterparts.
The stereo release of The Beatles was an interesting aberration. Whether for reasons of cost, availability, or difficulty obtaining UK parts, the stereo edition was pressed from mothers sourced from Capitol USA. The mono release, however, was pressed from mothers supplied by EMI UK. It is also worth noting that the New Zealand stereo release was likewise pressed from US mothers.
UK mothers shipped to EMI (Australia) were machine-stamped with the matrix and lacquer numbers, such as "YEX 94-1". Unlike UK pressings, however, Australian pressings were generally not stamped with mother numbers. Nor did EMI (Australia) adopt the EMI UK stamper-code system, such as "GRAMOPHLTD". As a result, Australian pressings cannot be accurately dated simply by examining the deadwax.
Records cut locally usually had their matrix numbers etched by hand. Recuts made from the late 1970s to early 1980s tended to have the matrix numbers stamped by machine. These machine-stamped numbers appear taller and narrower than the machine stamping found on original UK pressings. By 1982, with most new recuts now being undertaken at Studios 301, etchings reverted back to by hand. Please see (enhanced) image below highlighting the difference between UK (Please Please Me) and Australian (Rock 'N' Roll Music) machine stamping.
From the early 1970s, EMI (Australia) began placing greater trust in its in-house mastering engineers and increasingly preferred to receive tapes for local cutting. Source material also became less rigidly defined, with tapes arriving from the UK, the US, and in some cases both. The clearest examples of US tape sources are the 1980 US-configured Rarities LP and the 1981 A Hard Day's Night Original Motion Picture Sound Track release. Please visit the "Production Master Tapes" page, under "Other Formats..." menu, for more information on tapes received by EMI (Australia).
