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When the LP was first introduced in 1948, most companies that bought into the new format appear to have believed that the cardboard or posterboard cover was protection enough for the record it contained. By the middle of the 1950's, record companies had realized that this was not the case and had introduced protective inner liners. In many cases, this consisted only of a plastic "baggie," which some companies considered adequate -- even into the middle of the next decade. Other companies quickly noted that the "inner sleeve" could be used to promote other products by the same record company. Although Capitol continued to use plastic bags, they were one of the industry giants who made the move toward colorful paper inner sleeves.
This very plain inner sleeve accompanied all Capitol LP's at first and appears to have been used to house mono records at the end of the decade. It is the most common Capitol inner sleeve from the pre-Beatles period. The "front" side of the liner promotes Capitol's "high fidelity" sound, explaining that Capitol records are being housed in such sleeves "so that it will reach you in 'mint' condition." The sleeve also explains how to clean a record and that diamond needles are superior to sapphire ones. The reverse side shows how to insert and remove the LP (and inner sleeve) from the album jacket. Original copies of this first Capitol inner sleeve do not have the designation "12 BW" on them. When the same sleeve was used later in the 50's, it was numbered "12 BW," with the "12" pointing out that the sleeve was to be used on twelve inch records, and the "BW" an indicator that the sleeve was in black and white.
In early 1957, Capitol offered up their first inner sleeve promoting the record company's releases. None of the records are pictured, but numerous records are listed by title and catalog number. There is no number designation for this sleeve. The front side features a large Capitol logo and an assortment of "popular" albums. Albums such as Lord Flea's Swingin' Calypsos (T-842) and Tennessee Ernie Ford's Favorites (T-841) are among the latest LP's mentioned. On the reverse side, the T-Rim trademark is prominent, along with a brief description of what T-Rim is. Additionally, an advertisement for Music Views magazine appears, along with a large variety of album listings, including six "hi fidelity demonstration albums" and a collection of various artists "top hits" albums.
This early inner sleeve (c. 1957) predates the advent of stereo records. The paper sleeves were numbered for identification, with this sleeve being called "12 CFC-1". The "12" signified the fact that the inner liner was to be used on twelve inch LP's. The trailing "FC" stood for "four color," since the sleeve was printed using a color printing process. This early liner was used on both "popular" and "international" releases. The front side features color photographs of thirty "popular" LP covers, including the special LP promoting Full Dimensional Sound (SAL-9020) and Frank Sinatra's Come Fly With Me (W-920), which cover Sinatra reportedly objected to. The reverse side pictures thirty albums from the "Capitol of the World" series.
Immediately before the advent of stereo records, this sleeve was issued. One side displays 30 popular albums, while the other side shows 30 international releases. The most recent record depicted on the popular side is Louis Prima-Keely Smith (T-1010). No mention of stereo is made anywhere, but the title to SAL-9020 has been altered to A Study in High Fidelity, a minor shift showing that stereo was coming. None of the records have stereo prefixes, however, and the Oklahoma! soundtrack retains its original catalog number (SAO-595) on this sleeve. This liner for the first time mentions that "All Capitol Long Playing Records feature the patented 'T-RIM.'" The sleeve is numbered "12FCT", with the "T" possibly standing for "Tower": the sleeve might be titled, "Best Selling Albums from the Capitol Tower." Possibly, this sleeve was phased out in favor of the next one when the decision was made to promote stereo records. If that is the case, then the first stereo sleeve may have been issued contemporary to both this inner sleeve and the following one.
With the introduction of "Full Dimensional Stereo," Capitol decided to market mono and stereo records separately with their inner sleeves. This sleeve for mono records promoted "Everything in the World of Music," including once again popular records but mostly focusing on LP's representing the sounds of different countries (Mexico, Holland, England, Germany, Spain, etc.). On the sleeve, albums that were also available in stereo are indicated by an "(S)" next to the title. A total of fifty-one LP's are pictured and several others are listed on the liner. This sleeve is also numbered "12CFC-1" -- "2" would have been correct. By this time, the catalog numbers for earlier LP's had changed to indicate the presence of stereo. For example, the soundtrack to Oklahoma!, which was shown on the earlier inner sleeve with its original catalog number of SAO-595 (with "S" standing for "soundtrack") is listed on this sleeve with the number WAO-595 (with "W" being the price code) -- since "S" now stood for "stereo."
Along with the mono sleeve came an inner liner promoting their "Full Dimensional Stereo." This sleeve, numbered "12SFC-3," with "S" standing for "stereo," proclaims "Capitol FULL DIMENSIONAL STEREO begins right here!" The front side depicts two microphones and a color band of sound (representing stereophonic music), just as Capitol had switched to a rainbow label, which also signified the stereo option. The reverse side explains the stereo recording and playback processes.
This next color sleeve is numbered "12SFC-4." The reverse side has not been changed from its previous incarnation, still depicting an explanation of stereophonic records. The obverse, however, now displays a large "Full Dimensional Stereo" rainbow logo. The sleeve proclaims that its contents are a "Capitol stereo record." "The Full Spectrum of Sound" was Capitol's promotional slogan for stereo records and can be found at the top of many stereo LP covers from the period.
The next Capitol sleeve for mono records has a reverse side that closely parallels its stereo counterpart. The obverse is a striking artist's rendering of the Capitol tower on Vine Street in Hollywood, California. Thirty albums, all mono versions, are promoted on the reverse side, including the Kingston Trio's String Along (T-1407) and Frank Sinatra's Nice 'n Easy (W-1417). Since the inner sleeve is in black and white, it is numbered "12BW2."
The stereo sleeve paralleling the above is numbered "12SFC-5" and features reviews of Capitol's "full dimensional stereo" process, including two from HiFi/Stereo Review and another from Saturday Review. The reverse side illustrates only twenty stereo LP's, but all of them are in color. Each of the LP's, including the those mentioned on the above mono sleeve, is shown with its stereo catalog number (e.g., SW-1417).
In this case, the mono sleeve (12-BW-4) and its stereo counterpart were both printed in black and white -- probably to save money. The mono sleeve displays the covers of sixty available Capitol releases, with Judy Garland's popular Judy at Carnegie Hall (WBO-1569) in the upper left hand corner of the obverse.
The stereo version of the above sleeve is noteworthy for several reasons. First of all, it was the first and only Capitol stereo inner liner to be printed in black and white, indicating that Capitol was cutting the costs of printing inner sleeves. Secondly, of the twenty-five true stereo LP's pictured on the obverse, five of them were stereo demonstration albums, showing that a push was on to present stereo sound as the logical successor to high fidelity sound. Thirdly, the reverse was now devoted to Capitol's process for rechanneling mono recordings into stereo. The Duophonic process was promoted as superior in enjoyment to the "overall letdown of monaural recordings played over a Stereo system." Also, certain records are shown as being available in the four track stereo reel to reel tape format. Finally, the sleeve (numbered S BW 6S [Scranton] and S BW 6LA [Los Angeles]) was the only Capitol sleeve to indicate (via an embossed seal) the patent number for a paper inner sleeve: 2,827,223.
For the first time since the introduction of stereo recordings, Capitol decided to print the same inner sleeve for all of their record albums, although the public would see the occasional custom sleeve (such as Stan Kenton's KBW-1 sleeve). With black banners framing the sleeve which proclaimed that the albums were available "in magnificent Capitol high-fidelity or suburb full dimensional stereo," the sleeve for 1962 featured 20 LP's on the obverse and another 20 on the reverse. The albums cover a variety of styles and for the first time the catalog numbers are listed in what would be the familiar format, with both stereo and mono numbers: (S)T-1757. The (S) indicates that the record was available in stereo, whereas a (D) means that while true stereo is not available, the record could be purchased in Duophonic. The sleeve is numbered "12 BW U," with the "U" apparently standing for "unified" (or something like that).
In the end, Capitol decided that black and white inner sleeves were not attractive enough. The full color printing process was still too expensive, but there was a less costly yet attractive compromise: Capitol sleeves from 1963 on would be printed in black and white on colored paper. This last pre-Beatles sleeve proved to be a taste of designs to come. Only 24 covers are pictured on the sleeve, with the latest being Nat King Cole's Dear Lonely Hearts album [(S)T-1838]. The sleeve is numbered "12TC". Apparently, the "TC" stood for "two color," indicating that the printing was done in grayscale on paper that was colored on the outside.
To read about Capitol Records inner sleeves during the Beatle period, click here.
© 2000 Frank Daniels
