Electrola plant in Cologne-Braunsfeld
As far as records pressed at the Electrola plant in Cologne-Braunsfeld are concerned, both the nomenclature and the appearance of the runout matrix numbers underwent several changes in the course of time. This historical guide is supposed to give an overview about the analogue era of Beatles releases as well as about the evolution of their matrix number styles.
Note: sometimes there are deviations from the system, in form of added letters, hand-etched additions or even hand-etched matrices. Also, contract pressings often had their own specific matrices. These are special cases which are not relevant here.
In Germany, Beatles LPs by EMI were released not on one, two or three, but on four labels:
- HörZu
- Odeon
- Apple
- Parlophone
Records for all three labels were usually pressed at the same EMI Electrola factory in Cologne. However, there was an impact on the contents of the runout matrices depending on what label was used.
Beatles German Matrix Database & Cuts List