THE BEATLES YESTERDAY+TODAY INSANELY RARE ORIG SECOND STATE STEREO BUTCHER COVER

$

919

WE CURRENTLY HAVE  NEARLY 200  LISTED ITEMS

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·       BEATLES - YESTERDAY AND TODAY - ORIGINAL 1966 CAPITOL RECORDS STEREO LP ST-2553

·       ORIGINAL U.S. PRESSING

MONSTRUOUSLY RARE ORIGINAL “BUTCHER COVER”– ONE OF THE RAREST AND MOST COVETED RECORD ALBUMS

·       SORRY, WE DO NOT HAVE A RECORD; ONLY THE COVER IS BEING OFFERED.

·       THIS IS A “SECOND STATE” (UNPEELED PASTEOVER) COVER, WITH THE “TRUNK” PHOTO PASTED OVER THE OFFENSIVE IMAGE OF THE BEATLES SHOWN WITH THE BUTCHERED BABY DOLLS AND BLOODY CHUNKS OF MEAT).

·       RARE STEREO BUTCHER COVER, MUCH RARER THAN MONO!

·       THIS IS THE ORIGINAL, AUTHENTIC, FIRST U.S. PRESSING; THIS IS NOT A REISSUE, AN IMPORT, OR A COUNTERFEIT PRESSING.

·       THICK, HEAVY CARDBOARD COVER, AMERICAN STYLE.

(►PLEASE SEE THE IMAGE OF THE COVER, LABEL OR BOTH, SHOWN BELOW)

(Note: this is a REAL image of the ACTUAL item you are bidding on. This is NOT a "recycled" image from our previous auction. What you see is what you'll get.  GUARANTEED!)

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Of course, what we have here is a legendary Beatles "BUTCHER COVER" album, unavailable anywhere outside of US in this form (other than a cheap replica). Yes, folks, this is the real thing: 100% guaranteed, original, genuine pressing of one of the rarest albums in existence.

The album is such a critical part of the Beatles legend and record-collecting lore, that we feel anything we could say on the subject would be entirely redundant. Arguably, everyone knows everything that there is to know about it.

Nonetheless, let’s give it a shot: in 1966, as the Beatles stopped touring and their American label (Capitol) began fearing that the group would not be able to compete with the nascent psychedelia – what with their family-friendly, warm and fuzzy mass appeal – the label decided to add some gravity and oomph to their market image. Not having any clue how to proceed (that’s Capitol for you, folks – forty years later, they still don’t have a clue, although they are now a little better than their competitors, courtesy of their Blue Note reissue program), the label made – even by record label standards - a remarkably idiotic decision to portrait the Fab 4 as – gasp! – a bunch of  Jack-the-Ripper types holding dismembered and disemboweled babies and chunks of bloody red meat (and, if that was not enough, wearing blood-stained butchers’ aprons) – and, get this: grinning profusely, as if deriving some strange libidinal gratification from this unseemly act. Yikes!!! A lifetime achievement Academy Award for corporate cretinism! Haliburton and Enron have NOTHING on this!

I can only try to imagine the look of shock and disbelief on parents’ faces as they entered the local Sears store the morning the album was released. I’ll be willing to bet 95% of them walked away in total disgust, not wanting to even touch the piece, let alone buy it for their teenage kids. (Oddly enough, the  subplot would return to haunt the Beatles on a number of occasions for the rest of their career: during the making of the White Album, as a possible Charles Manson connection, during the Paul-is-dead controversy, and so on and so forth).

And, therein lies the reason for the rarity of the album: fearful of the “satanic” implications of the cover (mind you, Roman Polansky’s Rosemary’s Baby was released that very same year), the buying public voted with their feet, and the vote was a resounding NO. Realizing (duh!) what they had done, fearing the backlash from the alienated public and dreading the possibility that the “new” Beatles album (which, in fact, was a composite of preceding three UK albums with a few hit singles tossed in for good measure) may become the first Beatles album not to go gold in the States, Capitol promptly pulled any and all already distributed copies from the stores (most of whom were a part of the Sears chain), filled up a giant landfill (literally – we kid you not) and rolled a bulldozer over each and every copy they could retrieve.  They may well have thrown the entire corporate management into that hole and get it over with.

That’s it, folks. The long and short of it. The infamous story of the short life and ignoble death of the Beatles Butcher Cover.  The original cover, with the original butcher photo visible on the front panel is usually referred to as “first state”.

Ah, but wait…that’s not all. Realizing that tracking down and destroying tens of thousands of remaining copies out there – and at their expense – would be tantamount to corporate suicide, Capitol did, in fact, do something moderately intelligent: as a stopgap measure, they altered a small group of covers by pasting over the new photo slick, showing the Fab 4 gathered around an open trunk (suitcase) – a trunk we can only suspect was originally used to store those dismembered baby dolls and chunks of meat (no tofu here!) - until a brand new, completely remade and remodeled cover was ready for the market .  These interim versions of the butcher cover are (almost) as rare as the first pressings, and can be easily identified by a few visual clues, of which the most prominent one is the V-cut on Ringo’s sweater showing through the pasted-over white paper slick.  These second versions are usually referred to as “second state” or “pasteover” butcher covers. As you can see, the copy we have here is a “second state”. We have circled (electronically, of course) the detail on the cover where Ringo’s sweater on the offensive image is visible.

How many hundreds (possibly thousands) of times are butcher covers more rare than the regular, “trunk” covers? I don’t have a clue.  I am sure that some statistics and historical data exist somewhere, but this is largely speculative in view of the fact that many “butcher covers” were effectively, well…butchered when their owners attempted to peel them off. As a result, many butcher covers were essentially destroyed or seriously damaged in the process. In other words, any existing historical data must be mitigated by the fact that many surviving butcher copies were essentially disfigured beyond recognition by their owners.  This may help explain why the butcher copies are many times rarer than any historical evidence might suggest.

To put things in perspective, the year 1966 was a big year for corporate cover censors: mind you, in this same year, the Mamas and the Papas had to endure humiliating censorship of their ►“Toilet Seat” cover, Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons survived no less than three encounters with the artwork police (on their “Four Seasons sing Bacharach-David and Dylan” album), Jefferson Airplane’s first album was altered in both content and form (cover had to be changed, too), Bob Dylan (presumably on his own volition?) changed the layout on his ► “Blonde on Blonde” album, deleting the image of Claudia Cardinale; the Fugs’ first album underwent no less than 4 (four !!!) alterations, the cover of ► the Monkees’ first album had to be changed because of misperceived “transsexual” reference, ►Buffalo Springfield’s first album had to have a song excised from BOTH record AND the cover; Simon and Garfunkel’s second album (The Sounds of Silence) underwent no less than three cover revisions; Velvet Underground’s first album ►(Velvet Underground & Nico, also known as the “Banana Cover) had to have back cover significantly modified because of a legal dispute. In other words, corporate censors and self-censors were out in full force back in 1966.

Needless to say, despite (or perhaps precisely because of) the controversy, Yesterday and Today quickly became a RIAA-certified million-seller, topping the Billboard pop charts. In the sea of official “regular” covers that flooded the market, it is virtually impossible to find surviving copies of the original “butcher” covers. They are a sight unseen. We comfortably and without any reservations state that the censored covers outnumber “toilet bowl” covers at a ratio of AT LEAST 500:1.

TO SEE IF WE HAVE OTHER LISTED ITEMS BY THIS GROUP OR ARTIST ►  CLICK HERE

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CONDITION:

              THE RECORD

·       SORRY, WE DO NOT HAVE A RECORD; ONLY THE COVER IS BEING OFFERED.

·                               THE COVER

THE COVER IS NICE --- ABOUT VERY GOOD++ (VG++).

The following flaws or imperfections are noted on the cover:

-        Minor signs of rubbing and wear noted on the front panel (apparently, from someone's attempt to clean the cover); (nothing significant; must be viewed under certain angle to notice)

-        Cover has JUST A HINT of ring wear (nothing significant); On the scale from 1 to 10 (1 being the least, and  10 being the most severe), we assess the severity of ring wear as 2.

-        Cover shows JUST A HINT of yellowing on both sides, apparently from aging.

-        Cover has a light "wrinkle" (crease)  in one of the corners.   (VISIBLE ON FRONT SIDE ONLY)

-        Cover has a completely split bottom seam  (expertly repaired from the inside

-        Cover has some fraying/wear along the lower seam

-        Cover has one corner slightly worn / dinged (nothing significant)

NO OTHER VISIBLE FLAWS OR IMPERFECTIONS ON THE  COVER

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POSTAGE & SHIPPING:

We offer THREE postage rates for both Domestic and International Mail: Media Mail, Priority Mail and Express Mail for domestic, and First Class, Priority International Mail, and Express International Mail for international orders. INTERNATIONAL CUSTOMERS PLEASE NOTE: WE RECOMMEND (BUT DO NOT INSIST) that you select USPS International Priority Mail OR International Express mail when making a payment.

INTERNATIONAL POSTAGE rates vary from one region of  the world to another. For SPECIFIC international and domestic postage rates ►click here. While you can be rest assured that our packaging is careful, sturdy and impact-proof, please note that damage, loss or theft in transit is always possible, and in the case of some countries even PROBABLE. To discuss this potential problem and ensure flawless delivery, please contact us thru eBay BEFORE placing a bid.

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FINE (BUT IMPORTANT!) PRINT

 (1) The year indicated in the title bar is the year of the original release,  NOT necessarily the year of the actual pressing; for the actual generation of the pressing, please see our item description (top section, text in red letters). (2) Please do NOT bid based on the title bar, subtitle bar or item specifics box alone; instead, please read the entire description and grading before bidding; (3) Absolutely NO order cancellations after the auction closes. ever, under any circumstances. We can ONLY cancel bids before the item closes. (4) We are unable to cancel bids in the final 12 hours of the auction; if you need to do so, please contact eBay for help (5) We are unable to provide matrix-, stamper- or other pressing  information in the final 24 hours of the auction. If you require this information, please contact us well before the final day of the auction. (6) Yes, we DO combine shipments. Please click on "Shipping and Payment" tab on top of the auction page for additional details. (7)  All Paypal payments must be made from confirmed Paypal shipping addresses. NO third party shipping addresses will be honored  (8) Absolutely NO partial refunds: if you are unhappy with the merchandise you received, please return it for a full refund, postage included (9). Civilized people can disagree without accusing each other of being indecent or dishonest; if you need proof of this seller's personal integrity, please check our eBay feedback, which speaks for itself  (10) All disagreements and miscommunications can be - and will only be - solved in a civil and mutually respectful manner;  please avoid puerile, offensive, abrasive or menacing language (attempted humor is fine and usually appreciated, although overused-to-death sarcasms can be really, really tedious. (11) This seller will accommodate all reasonable requests and is generally a flexible and agreeable person (12) Our love & appreciation for your trust, loyalty and business, always and forever;  Thank You & Good Night!

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