Apple Records · 1968–1975 in the US
Apple Records vinyl labels.
How to identify one.
Apple LPs show a whole green apple on side one and a sliced apple on side two. In the US, Capitol manufactured and distributed Apple until the arrangement ended in 1976, so the fine print on the sliced side, the plant mark in the dead wax, and small jacket changes separate a 1968–69 copy from one pressed in 1974 or 1975.
01
What to look for on the label
An Apple label only places a US copy somewhere between 1968 and 1975. Capitol moved its earlier Beatles albums onto Apple labels in May 1971, and Abbey Road stayed in print on Apple through 1975 before switching to Capitol's orange label in 1976. Read the rim text, the track list, and the jacket together.
- Whole apple, sliced apple. Side one has the full green apple; side two has the cream-white cut apple with the stem. On the two-record White Album, sides 1 and 3 are whole apples and sides 2 and 4 are sliced.
- Capitol text on early labels. First-pressing White Album labels (SWBO-101, 1968) print 'Mfd. by Capitol Records, Inc., a subsidiary of Capitol Industries, Inc., U.S.A.' with the Capitol logo around the sliced-apple sides. The same wording appears on some 1969 Abbey Road copies.
- 'Mfd. by Apple' and 'All rights reserved'. Many copies read 'Mfd. by Apple Records, Inc.' instead. It appears on some 1969 Abbey Road pressings and on reissues into the mid-1970s. An 'All rights reserved' warning on the rim marks a 1975 pressing.
- Her Majesty and the cover crop. The earliest Abbey Road (SO-383) labels and back covers do not list Her Majesty, and early front covers show a square street-access lid at the bottom of the crosswalk. Later covers enlarge the photo and crop it out; many 1970s copies list Her Majesty on the label but not the back cover.
- White Album title errors. Early White Album labels use short or misspelled titles such as 'Obladi Oblada', 'Bungalow Bill' and 'Revolution No. 1'. Later labels correct them.
- Capitol plant marks. In the dead wax, IAM in a triangle means Scranton, a stamped O means Jacksonville, a rifle symbol means Winchester, and a star means Los Angeles. Abbey Road was also contract-pressed outside Capitol.
02
What the label does not prove
A period-correct label narrows the search. It does not replace the album-specific matrix, jacket, and format checks.
- Assuming any Apple label means 1968 or 1969. US Apple labels were printed until 1975, and Capitol's pre-1968 Beatles albums moved onto Apple in 1971.
- Using the White Album's stamped cover number as proof of a first pressing. Numbered covers continued into later runs; the label titles and rim text say more.
- Missing a later reissue with the same catalog number. Orange (1976) and purple (1978) Capitol labels and the 1983 black rainbow label all still read SO-383.
- Taking a white-background Apple label for an original. That design is the 1995 reissue (C1 46446), with a barcode number on the label.
03
Albums found on the Apple Records label
These album-specific guides show how the shared label clue combines with a catalog number, matrix, jacket, and value range.
1969 · SO-383
The Beatles — Abbey Road
VG+ originals: $15–$35
Check this album1968 · SWBO 101
The Beatles — The Beatles (White Album)
VG+ originals: $25–$60
Check this albumDeeper pressing guides
04
A four-step check for your copy
- Read the rim of the sliced-apple side: Capitol subsidiary text, 'Mfd. by Apple Records, Inc.', or 'All rights reserved'.
- For Abbey Road, check whether Her Majesty appears on the label and back cover, and whether the front photo shows the street-access lid.
- Find the plant mark in the dead wax and copy both matrix strings, such as SO-1-383 and SO-2-383 with their suffixes.
- Check the back cover for a barcode or a C1- catalog number, which mean a 1988 or later reissue.
Keep checking the shelf
Compare another label family.
The same visual method works across the rest of the shelf.
roughly 1955–1962
Columbia six-eye
Identify a Columbia six-eye pressing by its six walking-eye marks, catalog prefix, label text, and dead-wax matrix—then check album-specific details.
Check this pressing
roughly 1962–1970
Columbia two-eye
Identify a Columbia two-eye pressing from its two walking-eye logos, 360 Sound text, catalog prefix, and dead-wax matrix variations.
Check this pressing
mid-1960s–early 1970s
Atlantic red and plum
Identify Atlantic red-and-plum LP pressings by label layout, catalog number, address and rim text, pressing-plant marks, and matrix details.
Check this pressingA few questions
The ones that come up.
1969 copies tend to have the uncropped front photo with the street-access lid, and the earliest omit Her Majesty from the label and back cover. Cropped covers, Her Majesty on the label only, and 'All rights reserved' on the rim point to the 1970s. Confirm with the plant mark and matrix.
For Abbey Road: orange Capitol label SO-383 (1976), purple label with a large silver Capitol logo (1978), black rainbow labels (1983, then SJ-383 around 1986), a purple C1-46446 with a barcode (1988), a white-background Apple label (1995), 180-gram remasters (2012), and the 2019 anniversary remix.
Most are $10 to $30 records because so many were pressed. In October 2026, Discogs medians were about $12 to $26 for common 1969 Abbey Road entries and about $20 for the most common numbered White Album. Complete inserts and clean vinyl push the price up.
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