Butcher Cover – The Beatles' Best-Known Album

butcher cover promo poster
A promotional affiche for the Yesterday and Today anthology.

Record collecting is a vast hobby, and often an obscure one. The prices that collectors pay for certain records would likely baffle a big segment of the public, and many valuable records are those past artists that aren't even well known to the public at large.

There's one huge exception to that, however. The original release of the anthology Yesterday and Today by the Beatles, with the and so-called "Butcher embrace", is 1 of the nearly widely recognized valuable albums in the world, and one that is known to many non collectors. Information technology's also an album that many people who don't specifically collect records by the Beatles would love to have in their drove…

…all considering of the anthology's cover, rather than the musical content.

The Yesterday and Today album, released in June 1966, was originally printed with a cover depicting the Beatles dressed in butcher smocks, surrounded by pieces of raw meat and plastic doll parts. Due to public outrage, the album was apace withdrawn and the cover replaced by one with a more pocket-sized blueprint.

The value of the copies of Yesterday and Today with a Butcher encompass lies with the comprehend itself; the records within them are relatively common. For those interested in owning a Butcher encompass, there is both good news and bad news.

The good news is that Capitol Records produced the better part of a million copies of that album in 1966. The bad news is that many of those covers were either destroyed or altered, and the surviving examples can oft sell for a scenic amount of money on the collector's market.

In this article, nosotros're going to discuss the infamous Butcher embrace in detail, outlining the history of the anthology and comprehend, the various versions of the album that exist, how to identify one, and the value of the Butcher cover in the collector's market.

Browse past Category

Click any of the links below to jump to each category:

Yesterday and Today Anthology History
Song Listings
The Original Cover Blueprint – The Butcher Cover
Butcher Covers Are Shipped And Withdrawn
Replacement Encompass Design
Anthology Release And Reception
Collectors and Butcher Covers
Butcher Cover Terminology
First State Butcher Covers
2nd State Butcher Covers
Third State Butcher Covers
The Yesterday and Today Torso Covers
Identifying A Butcher Cover
Is It a First Country or a Proficient Peel?
Should Y'all Skin a Butcher Encompass?
Butcher Cover Values
The "Livingston" Butcher Covers
Canadian Butcher Covers
Counterfeit Butcher Covers
Conclusion

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Yesterday and Today Album History

yesterday and today
The concluding version of Yesterday and Today with the Trunk comprehend.

From January, 1964, when Capitol Records released Meet the Beatles in America, through the Baronial, 1966, release of Revolver, the Beatles' American albums differed in content, and sometimes in cover art and title, from their British counterparts. This was by and large due to different manufacture practices inside those two countries.

In Britain, albums usually contained fourteen songs, and ordinarily did not contain songs that had been previously released every bit singles. The reasoning for this was that the public might not be interested in buying expensive albums that contained songs that they had previously purchased as singles.

In America, albums usually independent twelve songs, and information technology was quite common for albums to contain songs that had previously been released equally singles.

In Britain, the Beatles and their tape company, Parlophone, carefully planned out their releases, choosing songs that were intended to be released as singles while assigning others to albums. In the The states, Capitol Records, spurred on by the tidal wave of Beatlemania, was interested in releasing as many albums as possible, with twelve tracks, of course, rather than the fourteen used in United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland.

Fewer tracks meant greater profits and fewer royalties to pay, as the cost of the album would exist the same, regardless of how many songs were on it.

These independent decisions led to pregnant differences in the Beatles' catalog in the 2 countries, with far more albums being released in the U.s. than in United kingdom of great britain and northern ireland. Past putting singles and their B-sides on albums and past cutting the number of tracks from 14 to twelve, Capitol occasionally institute themselves with plenty tracks left over from various projects to release a unique album to be released only in the United States and Canada. One of these albums was Yesterday and Today, which Capitol scheduled for release on June 20, 1966.

Yesterday and Today was an anthology planned by the American tape company alone and was compiled with picayune, if any, input from the Beatles themselves. The tracks were taken from a variety of sources:

  • "Act Naturally" and "Yesterday" were originally on the UK version of the 1965 LP Assistance!, simply had been omitted from the U.Due south. Version.
  • "Bulldoze My Car", "If I Needed Someone", "Nowhere Man" and "What Goes On" were taken from the Great britain version of the 1965 LP Condom Soul and had been left off of the American version of the album.
  • "Day Tripper" and "We Can Work It Out" had been released equally a single in both the U.S. and in the UK, where those two songs had not been intended to appear on an anthology.
  • "And Your Bird Tin can Sing", "Md Robert", and "I'm Only Sleeping" were tracks intended for the and then-unreleased Revolver album, which wouldn't be released until Baronial, 1966.

The completed track lineup is listed below. The anthology was given the title "Yesterday and Today" to have reward of the song "Yesterday", which had reached #1 on the American charts in Oct, 1965.

The Beatles were reportedly unhappy with the way that Capitol records reconfigured their intended releases, but were unable to do anything virtually it. This was eventually resolved when the grouping signed a new contract in 1967, and all releases from that time forrad were identical in both the U.S. and the Britain, every bit per the Beatles' wishes.

Every bit for Yesterday and Today, the Beatles likely knew equally little as the American public nigh the content of the album prior to its release.

The back cover for all versions of Yesterday and Today
The dorsum cover for all versions of Yesterday and Today

Song Listings

Side One

"Drive My Machine" – ii:25
"I'm Only Sleeping" – 2:58
"Nowhere Man" – 2:40
"Dr. Robert" – 2:14
"Yesterday" – 2:04
"Act Naturally" – two:27

Side Two

"And Your Bird Can Sing" – 2:02
"If I Needed Someone" – two:nineteen
"We Tin can Piece of work It Out" – 2:x
"What Goes On" – two:44
"Solar day Tripper" – 2:47

With the track listings for Yesterday and Today all set, the merely affair left for Capitol to do was come with a cover design for the album.

The Original Comprehend Design – The Butcher Cover

As Yesterday and Today was intended to be a North American-merely release (it would likewise be released in Canada), Capitol had not received artwork from Parlophone, and requested that the band's direction provided them with suitable artwork for the album cover.

The photos supplied came from a photograph shoot that the band had done in March, 1966 with photographer Robert Whitaker, which were originally intended to be used for a piece of conceptual fine art chosen "A Somnambulant Adventure." For these photos, the Beatles were dressed in butcher smocks and sat on or stood effectually a bench while surrounded with parts from plastic dolls and raw meat.

Though these photos were not taken with the intention of using them for an anthology cover, the band'southward direction submitted them to Capitol, and ane of the photos was chosen to exist used for the cover of the Yesterday and Today album. Whitaker had no idea that he'd inadvertently created the Butcher cover.

Butcher Covers Are Shipped And Withdrawn

butcher cover recall letter
A copy of the alphabetic character Capitol sent to reviewers asking for the albums to be returned.

Equally Beatles albums had connected to sell well since their arrival in America in early on 1964, Capitol had high hopes for sales of Yesterday and Today. In apprehension of this, the company printed some 750,000 covers at their three pressing plants – Los Angeles, California, Scranton, Pennsylvania, and Jacksonville, Illinois.

The forepart embrace slicks for the encompass were printed on a special newspaper with a slightly crude texture, and the photo used was given a slightly grainy advent in order to brand the finished encompass look somewhat as though it had been painted on canvas.

At the fourth dimension of the release of Yesterday and Today, tape companies in America were still pressing records in both stereo and mono, equally stereo records were playable but on stereo equipment and about buyers only had mono record players. Because of this, approximately lxxx%-90% of the finished covers were in mono, with the residual in stereo.

Several hundred copies of the finished Yesterday and Today album were shipped to radio stations and reviewers in order to help the album receive press attention prior to release. Near of the remaining copies were shipped to distributors effectually the country.

Due to the controversial image depicted on the cover, reaction to the anthology from the few people who received advance copies was predictably hostile, and distributors and retailers expressed business organisation about the cover fine art. Every bit the album'southward release date approached, Sir Joseph Lockwood, the chairman of EMI, the visitor that owned Capitol Records, made the conclusion to recall the album.

Distributors and reviewers were asked to return all copies of the album to Capitol Records, as described in an article in a contemporaneous commodity in Billboard magazine near the struggles of distributors to return the albums with the Butcher encompass to the record company.

Information technology's worth noting that while the copies of the Butcher cover that were sent to reviewers ahead of the release date are valuable, so is the alphabetic character from Capitol requesting that the album be returned to them. While photocopies of the "Butcher comprehend recall letter" are mutual, originals are non, and collectors have paid several thousand dollars for original copies of the call back letter.

Replacement Cover Pattern

yesterday and today 8 track tape
An alternating version of the replacement embrace, used on the 8 runway record of Yesterday and Today

Capitol chop-chop came up with a replacement comprehend design; this i was much more innocuous and depicted the band surrounding a steamer trunk. This epitome may have been considered for use equally the original embrace of the album, and several dissimilar prototype cover slicks exist with slight variations on this image.

The conclusion so needed to be fabricated equally to what to exercise well-nigh the returned albums, that had the design that would soon exist known equally the "Butcher encompass." The conclusion regarding what to do about the covers may have been fabricated at the corporate level or by individual plant managers.

At the Jacksonville, Illinois, plant, all of the returned copies had the records removed and the covers were reportedly taken to a landfill, where they were dumped into a hole that was and so filled with water.

At the Los Angeles and Scranton plants, a unlike decision was reached – the cover slicks with the new artwork would exist pasted over the existing "Butcher cover" slicks.

This procedure proved to be less expensive than reprinting the covers completely, simply was also more than time consuming. Not only was the procedure of precisely aligning a new slick over the sometime one a hard task, but the finished covers also had to be trimmed at the rima oris (the right edge) to business relationship for any misalignment at the opening of the comprehend.

Once the covers were either reprinted (Jacksonville) or modified (Los Angeles and Scranton), the albums were again shipped to distributors for their June 20, 1966 release engagement.

It has been estimated that the cost (in 1966 dollars) of Capitol's recall of Yesterday and Today toll the company some $250,000, and effectively wiped out any profits the company was likely to see from the album in the foreseeable futurity.

Information technology'due south worth noting that the Butcher cover was released in the United states only in the vinyl format. Reel to reel tape and viii track tape versions of the album were not issued until about a month after the record. By this time, the decision to utilise the second cover had already been made.

Cassette copies of Yesterday and Today were not released until two years later and all of them were issued with the afterwards torso embrace photo.

Album Release And Reception

Despite the problems with the comprehend, the album was released as scheduled, and promptly went to #ane on the American Billboard album charts, where it remained for 5 weeks. The anthology was before long certified gold for amassing more $1 million in gross sales.

On the twenty-four hours of release, the album that near buyers saw in the stores was the second embrace with the steamer torso photograph. Probably half of those really had Butcher cover slicks underneath them. A small handful of original copies with the exposed Butcher embrace slick were sold at retail, though information technology has been estimated that simply a few hundred copies were sold this manner.

At that place have been a couple of copies offered for sale on the marketplace over the years that still had both the original shrink wrap and price sticker intact, demonstrating that at least a few copies of the withdrawn original comprehend did reach store shelves.

Collectors and Butcher Covers

alternate Yesterday and today cover
Reproduction of a proposed alternate album embrace.

The fact that the original covers for Yesterday and Today were withdrawn and replaced wasn't a secret, and the public presently discovered that many of them had purchased albums that had a cover with a second cover underneath.

Not only that, but it was fairly easy to see the former comprehend under the new one on most copies, every bit the new embrace was generally white and the cover underneath was quite a chip darker.

In add-on, due to the haste with which the new slicks were applied to the old covers, many covers had torso slicks that were slightly misaligned, making it even more than obvious that in that location was some other cover underneath the trunk cover.

A few enterprising individuals discovered that steam from a tea kettle could be carefully practical to the cover, which allowed the trunk slick to be removed and the Butcher cover underneath to be exposed.

With time, the gum used to attach the torso cover slicks became pretty secure, and attempts to peel the covers using steam became less successful, resulting in thousands of badly damaged and largely useless Butcher covers.

Within a few months, all of the "pasteover" copies of Yesterday and Today had been sold, and past the finish of 1966, all of the copies seen in stores were copies that had been manufactured with the trunk cover merely.

Butcher Cover Terminology

By January, 1967, 4 distinctly different versions of Yesterday and Today were in existence. These were the original issues with the "Butcher encompass" photo, the second version of the album, with the trunk encompass slick pasted over the Butcher cover, the buyer-created "peeled" versions with the torso comprehend removed, and the 4th version, which was manufactured with the body comprehend slick.

While all versions of the album are currently sought out by collectors, the first problems are unquestionably the most prized and the most valuable. The 2d issue is too quite valuable, and the third issue may or may not be, depending on condition. The fourth version is of interest just to difficult-cadre Beatles collectors and people who simply like the Yesterday and Today album, which, the stance of the Beatles themselves yet, is a pretty good collection of songs.

Offset Country Butcher Covers

first state butcher cover
A rare stereo First Country Butcher cover.

The original issues of Yesterday and Today, which never had the trunk slick pasted over them, are amid the most valuable and sought out albums in all of record collecting.

While 750,000 of them were printed, nigh were either destroyed or had trunk embrace slicks pasted over them. In the end, merely a few hundred examples of these first issues survive today.

Amidst collectors, this version of Yesterday and Today is known as a "Get-go State" upshot. These Outset State issues exist in both stereo and mono, as do all later on versions of the Yesterday and Today album pressed through early on 1968. Afterwards that, the album was available in stereo merely (with the torso cover, of course.)

Get-go Land stereo issues of the Butcher cover are much rarer than their mono counterparts, and outnumber them by a ratio of roughly ten:one.

Second Country Butcher Covers

second state butcher cover
A mono copy of a Second State Butcher cover

The copies of Yesterday and Today that were shipped to stores with trunk cover slick pasted over the Butcher comprehend slick (and withal have them attached) are known as Second Country Butcher covers.

2d Country issues are much more common than Start State problems, as several hundred thousand copies were probably shipped to distributors and retailers in 1966.

While Second State Butcher covers were common in 1966, they're significantly harder to discover a half a century later on. Over time, many of these albums have ended up in the trash, as albums often do, and quite a few of them were likely owned and eventually discarded by people who had no idea that they owned a version of the Butcher cover.

Even among surviving examples of Butcher covers, 2d Land Butcher covers have become more rare over time, equally many people have peeled them to reveal the original Butcher cover underneath, often with varying degrees of success.

Because of peeling and general attrition, Second Land Butcher covers are somewhat scarce today. Every bit with First State issues, Second State Butcher covers are significantly more common in mono than they are in stereo.

3rd State Butcher Covers

third state butcher cover
A nicely peeled "third country" Butcher cover.

The term "3rd State Butcher cover" refers to a Second State cover that has had the trunk cover removed. Third Country copies of Yesterday and Today tend to come in the near broad range of atmospheric condition of all the variations of the anthology.

Third State versions that have been professionally peeled often appear, at kickoff glance, to be Start State issues. On the other hand, Third State copies that have been desperately peeled by amateurs are oft in horrible condition, and we've seen examples where parts of both slicks were removed, leaving bare cardboard in places that were originally covered by the Butcher cover slick.

On the plus side, poorly-peeled Third Land examples of the Butcher cover are ofttimes the most affordable variation for collectors, as poorly-peeled examples might sell for less than x% of the price of a professionally peeled 3rd State cover.

The Yesterday and Today Trunk Covers

yesterday and today
The concluding version of Yesterday and Today with the Trunk cover.

The terminal version, which is not referred to as a "Fourth Country" version of Yesterday and Today, is but known as the "Trunk Cover." These are the versions of the album that were printed after all of the Second State copies had been shipped. Trunk cover versions of Yesterday and Today have merely ane slick attached to the front encompass and never had the original Butcher cover slick mounted underneath.

The photos used for the torso cover were from a photograph shoot that was taken before long after the shoot that produced the original Butcher cover photos. Capitol printed examination slicks of several variations of the trunk encompass before settling on one that had an all white groundwork. The version with the purple surrounding the trunk was used on the 8 rail version of the album, however.

This comprehend was used on all copies of Yesterday and Today from June, 1966 until the late 1980s, when the album was deleted by Capitol as role of the company's move to unify the American and British Beatles catalog.

Identifying A Butcher Cover

butcher cover
Closeup of a 2nd State Butcher embrace. Ringo'southward collar tin be seen as indicated.

It would seem pretty straightforward to place a Butcher cover; afterwards all, it has that photo on the front, right? That's true of Starting time Country issues, which are easily identifiable as Butcher covers. It'due south also true of Third State versions, equally the torso cover has been peeled to reveal the Butcher comprehend slick underneath.

On the other hand, it tin can be difficult to distinguish a Second State Butcher cover from a later trunk cover issue, and we've seen numerous trunk cover copies offered for sale over the years past unsure sellers who listed it for sale with the phrase "may be a Butcher cover."

One time yous know how to tell the difference, it becomes quite obvious.

Parts of the artwork on the original embrace were blackness, while large portions of the trunk cover are white. On 2nd State issues, at that place is 1 part of the cover in particular where the original Butcher cover can exist seen through the white function of the trunk comprehend slick.

In the original Butcher cover photo, Ringo Starr was wearing a black turtleneck sweater underneath his white butcher smock and the function of the turtleneck that appears in that photo is triangular in shape. On Second Land issues, the function of the trunk embrace slick that is straight in a higher place that blackness triangular surface area is all white.

On Second Country covers, this black triangle is always visible through the trunk cover, and it appears about two one/four" below the letters "oda" in the word "Today" in the album's championship. Assuming that you're in a room with good light or exterior in sunlight, the triangular area will exist obviously visible. You lot won't have to strain or struggle to see it; if you can't see it, then you're property a later on body comprehend version of the album.

Many after torso encompass bug of Yesterday and Today have a red emblem in this same location, indicating that the anthology received a gold tape award from the Recording Industry Association of America for achieving more than than $1 one thousand thousand in sales. If this keepsake appears on the cover, then the album in question is NOT a 2nd Country Butcher cover.

If you practice find that you're holding a Second State Butcher cover, information technology'southward also possible to tell which pressing plant made the album. If you examine the lower correct mitt corner of the back cover, y'all volition come across a small logo for the RIAA. Next to this logo is a number. The number will identify the pressing constitute.

2 – A stereo embrace that came from the pressing plant in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
3 – A mono comprehend that came from the pressing establish in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
4 – (Jacksonville, Illinois)
5 – A stereo cover that came from the pressing plant in Los Angeles, California.
6 – A mono comprehend that came from the pressing establish in Los Angeles, California.

A Butcher embrace from the Jacksonville, Illinois, pressing plant would accept the number iv on the back encompass, but all just a handful of Beginning Land bug from the Jacksonville plant are believed to have been destroyed, meaning that there are no Second Country Butcher cover issues from that particular pressing found. If in that location were, they would have a number 4 on the dorsum cover.

Is It a First State or a Good Peel?

While many Second State Butcher covers have been peeled past amateurs using steam or other methods, these results are frequently unreliable and tin result in badly damaged covers. There are, however, a few people who have establish nondestructive methods for peeling 2d State issues that tin result in a finished product that is virtually duplicate from a First State issue.

The difference in price in the collector's market between a Showtime State outcome in exceptional condition and a Third State issue in similar status can be many thousands of dollars. How can one tell the deviation?

There are several ways to tell if yous're looking at a true First Land Butcher comprehend or are instead looking at a Third State version where someone has done an exceptional job of removing the trunk cover slick.

Most covers that have had the trunk comprehend slick removed will have a some glue residue on them. Nether bright calorie-free or sunlight, this glue residue can be seen in the form of streaks or rings on the embrace. These streaks or rings may be faint, simply they can ordinarily be seen under strong low-cal.

Some other mode to check is to become a slice of tissue paper and lightly moisten information technology (don't get it too wet!.) Place the damp tissue on the cover and let it to dry out. Once it's dry, try to remove it. If the tissue sticks or offers resistance when you lot endeavor to remove it, then the cover in question is a peeled Third Country outcome. If it removes hands or can be removed by but blowing on it, and so you may, indeed, have a First State issue.

All Second Land versions of the Butcher embrace were trimmed prior to being compress wrapped. Because of this trimming, which was done to address alignment problems at the right side, or oral cavity, of the cover, a Second State Butcher cover will non be quite as wide as a First State comprehend. Showtime State covers volition exist about 1/8" wider than 2nd Land covers.

Should you not have a First State cover handy for comparison, and few of united states of america exercise, you lot could also compare the cover in question to other Beatles albums of the same catamenia. At the moment, we happen to take a Second Country cover on hand, and it measures 12 1/iv" wide. A re-create of The Beatles 2nd Album that nosotros have on the shelf measures almost 12 three/8" wide in comparison.

As we've mentioned the difference in price between a Kickoff Land upshot and a squeamish Third Land issue can exist $10,000 or more. Be sure you lot know what you're buying before you buy.

Should You Peel A Butcher Cover?

peeled butcher cover
A poorly peeled Butcher comprehend. Don't try this!

In 1966, information technology was often possible to plow a Second State Butcher cover into a very presentable Tertiary State version by simply using steam from a tea kettle to remove the trunk slick from the comprehend. Nosotros've seen copies where this was washed that looked well-nigh identical to First State issues.

Those days are long gone; some fifty years of crumbling has pretty much rendered the adhesive impervious to steam. If you endeavor that method today, yous're likely to stop upwards with a soggy mess and a ruined Butcher embrace.

Short version: Don't attempt to peel a Butcher cover yourself! Period. Don't exercise information technology.

We've seen numerous horrible examples of covers that were ruined by amateurs who were attempting to skin their cover themselves. Consider this – a actually nice Third Country cover in stereo tin sell for every bit much as several 1000 dollars.

A ruined one might sell for $0.

In that location are individuals who take developed methods of removing the top slick using various chemicals. These processes ordinarily piece of work quite well, and the results are often most duplicate from Showtime State issues. Of class, these people who tin peel a Beatles Butcher cover using these methods are professionals, and they charge a fee for the service.

All the same, if you ain a 2nd State Butcher embrace, it may (or may not; read on) be worthwhile to consider having it professionally peeled. Plain, such a conclusion must prevarication with the individual, but there are several factors to take into consideration when considering whether or not to skin a Second Land result.

All versions of the Butcher encompass are collectible, and collectors are interested in owning all three versions in the best possible condition. All 3 are relatively uncommon, and the Commencement State versions are quite rare.

2nd State versions, however, are becoming increasingly rare, every bit many thousands of them accept been peeled over the years. As these records were sold when new as 2nd State issues, they take value to collectors "every bit-is", that is, in their original unpeeled state.

If your Second State version is in pristine condition, be it nonetheless sealed or perhaps still in the original shrink wrap, or fifty-fifty in mint condition, yous should probably get out it alone. Information technology'due south worth the most it'southward ever going to be worth in its current status.

Go along in mind that Second State Butcher covers are collectible in their own correct, as that's the manner the album was sold when it was commencement released to the public. Every time someone peels one, there'south 1 less 2d State Butcher embrace left in the earth. As fourth dimension goes on, they're becoming increasingly rare.

On the other manus, if at that place are any issues at all with the front cover, it may well be beneficial to have it professionally peeled. Such problems might include either excessive front encompass wear or perchance writing on the encompass. Another case would be excessive foxing, which is an age-related deterioration of the paper that causes brownish spots or blotches to announced on the encompass. Foxing is most ordinarily seen on white newspaper, then information technology shows up often on 2d State Butcher covers that take been improperly stored.

Once again, the decision is upward to you. Collectors are paying surprisingly loftier prices for Second State problems in better than average condition these days. If your Second State Butcher encompass is in exceptional condition, you won't increase its value in any way by having it peeled.

If information technology has problems, still, y'all can turn a then-so Second State issue into a very nice and more valuable Tertiary Country issue by having it professionally peeled.

If in incertitude, you might desire to consult with someone who peels them professionally. They can make a recommendation, and the pros will tell y'all if you have an example that would be best left alone.

Whatever you exercise, don't try to peel a Beatles Butcher embrace yourself!

Butcher Cover Values

sealed butcher cover
A sealed, unopened mono 2nd State Butcher comprehend.

With almost records, establishing value is usually pretty easy. There is usually one version of a tape that's collectible, and at that place's a "going rate" for mint copies, with copies in lesser status selling for less, with the price determined by the condition.

Establishing values for Butcher covers is a scrap more complex, as the price is determined by many factors, instead of simply the condition.

Hither are the factors that help plant the "value" of a Butcher encompass:

Country – Is information technology a First State, 2d State, or Third State upshot? Each version has their own price ranges.

Format – Is the anthology a mono version or a stereo version? Mono copies are substantially more than common than stereo copies, and then stereo copies will sell for higher prices. On the other manus, the values don't represent to their rarity. In that location may be ten times equally many mono copies as stereo copies, but stereo copies usually only sell for almost twice as much coin.

Status – Every bit with any collectible, condition is of the utmost importance in determining the value of a Butcher comprehend. The better the condition, the higher the price.

Copies that are still sealed in their original manufacturing plant shrinkwrap and take never been opened take sold for astonishing amounts of money. A sealed stereo First State Butcher cover sold for $75,000 in 2022. Sealed mono Kickoff State versions have sold for as much equally $30,000 (with exceptions; meet the next section about "Livingston" Butcher covers.)

Values for unsealed, opened copies of First Land issues have sold for anywhere from $5000-$25,000, depending on whether they are mono or stereo.

Collectors are as well interested in still sealed Second Country issues. While Second State versions are more common than Outset State bug, sealed copies are quite rare, equally nigh people who bought the anthology in 1966 opened them and played them.

Sealed mono 2nd State versions have sold for $5000-$7000 and stereo copies have sold of upwards of $10,000.

Pricing for Second State bug tin vary widely, though dainty mono examples often sell for $500-$1500 and stereo copies from $thou-$3000.

The widest price ranges come with Third Land issues, as the condition for copies seen on the marketplace is all over the map. We've seen desperately peeled Third State copies sell for every bit little as $50, and the condition was then poor that we thought fifty-fifty that price was generous.

Then again, truly pristine, professionally peeled stereo Tertiary State bug have sold for as much as $3000, and we recently saw a nicely peeled mono Butcher cover sell for nearly $2500. It all depends on condition.

One dainty affair about Butcher covers is that the demand is always in that location, regardless of condition. This is the one record that everyone seems to know about, even if they're non Beatles collectors or even record collectors. Most record collectors, regardless of their interest in the Beatles, would like to take a re-create of the infamous Beatles Butcher cover in their collection, and for those types of collectors, condition often doesn't affair.

We've found that badly peeled 3rd State versions are frequently the easiest ones to sell, simply considering they're the nearly affordable for buyers. Few people take $25,000 at hand for a First Country Butcher encompass, simply near everyone can discover $100 or so for a desperately peeled Third State version. Once you ain one of those, you lot can rightly claim that you ain mayhap the near famous record in all of record collecting.

It'south worth noting that the prices listed in a higher place are the highest examples of prices paid for pristine copies of Butcher covers in diverse configurations. Most copies offered for sale sell for less, though prices can vary widely according to condition, state, format, and the fluid nature of the collecting marketplace.

The "Livingston" Butcher Covers

livingston butcher cover letter
A copy of the letter of the alphabet that accompanied some of the Livingston Butcher covers.

While a Commencement State Butcher cover is by and large regarded every bit the most desirable variation of the Yesterday and Today album, many collectors believe that the ultimate example to ain would exist to have a copy of a so-called "Livingston" Butcher cover.

Alan Livingston was the president of Capitol Records in the 1960s, and he signed the Beatles to Capitol Records. He was also president of the label at the time of the release of Yesterday and Today, and he is the man who ordered Capitol employees to discontinue distribution of the original version of the comprehend.

Withdrawn they were, with almost copies replaced with 2nd Land issues with new cover slicks pasted over the original. Earlier the covers were contradistinct, Livingston put twenty four sealed copies of the First Land Butcher cover in a box and took them home. Nineteen of those copies were mono, and v were stereo.

Twenty years later, in 1986, Alan Livingston'south son Peter appeared at a Beatles convention in Los Angeles with four sealed Get-go State copies from his father'south box – 2 in mono and two in stereo. He sold 3 of the four records that twenty-four hours, and eventually sold all of them.

Peter Livingston besides arranged to accept his begetter sign a notarized letter stating that he was the president of Capitol Records in the 1960s and that the accompanying tape came from his personal collection.

A then-called "Livingston" Butcher cover is now among the most highly sought out records in all of Beatles collecting. With then few of them available and the impeccable provenance that comes with the letter, the prices paid for Livingston Butcher covers accept steadily increased since Peter Livingston sold them for $1000 (for the mono) and $2500 (for a stereo copy) in 1986.

It has been nearly a decade since either a mono or a stereo Livingston Butcher cover has appeared for auction, just the last mono copy sold for $44,000 and the last stereo copy sold for $85,000. Nosotros personally know a collector who has offered $125,000 to one of the 5 owners of a stereo copy, and his offer was politely declined.

In time, it'southward possible that a stereo Livingston Butcher embrace may sell for $250,000, though at least i of those owners has vowed never to sell. You tin can read more about the Livingston Butcher cover here.

Canadian Butcher Embrace

Since the original release of Yesterday and Today in 1966, the album has been released in only two other countries – Canada and Japan. The Canadian release was contemporaneous with the American version and was intended to be issued with the same cover depicting the infamous Butcher photo.

Different the American copies, which were already in transit to distributors and retailers at the time of the retrieve, the Canadian pressings were nevertheless in the production stage. Because of this, no Canadian versions of the Butcher cover were ever shipped to distributors or stores.

Paul White, former vice president of Capitol Records of Canada, had received two completed mono covers and a Butcher cover slick (not a completed cover) for the stereo version from the printer that was producing the cover. He gave one of the mono copies to an associate and he kept the other one, forth with the stereo slick.

To date, no other examples of a Canadian mono Butcher encompass has surfaced, and no completed stereo covers are known to exist. All copies shipped to stores from the day of release used the trunk cover photo, there are are no Canadian 2d Land copies in being.

The Japanese version of Yesterday and Today was non released until 1970. All copies always printed in that country used the artwork with the torso cover.

Apocryphal Butcher Covers

counterfeit butcher cover
No, this copy is not authentic…

Sooner or later, information technology e'er happens. When a manufactured commodity becomes rare and demand increases, someone tries to fill up that need. In the case of rare records, that always comes in the form of duplication, or counterfeiting.

Like many rare Beatles records, such as Introducing the Beatles, the Offset Country Butcher cover has been counterfeited on several occasions. Most of these copies can exist easily detected by anyone with even passing familiarity with original 1960s Capitol Records Beatles albums.

The cover construction is ordinarily dissimilar, and the printed covers commonly have a slick, rather than a slightly rough, texture to them. The vinyl used on the records is unremarkably thinner than those used on the originals, and many of the counterfeits are accompanied past colored vinyl records. All original examples of the Butcher embrace were shipped with black vinyl records.

While about counterfeit Butcher covers are copies of the First State issue, in that location are also counterfeit trunk covers that appear to be pasteover (2d Land) issues, complete with a faint outline of Ringo's collar in the white area next to the torso, as y'all would see on a true pasteover.

The copies we've encounter like this accept flimsy cover structure, poor print quality, and incorrect height measurements, every bit they're about 3/16″ shorter than an accurate copy.

The most recent counterfeit pasteover that nosotros've seen appeared to be a stereo issue, and said so on the front and back embrace, but had a number "six" in the lower correct paw corner, which is commonly found on mono issues from the Los Angeles pressing plant.  A genuine stereo pressing from Los Angeles should have had a "5" on the back comprehend, rather than a "six."

The number "6" on the cover was printed in a smaller font than that used on genuine copies of the album.

The going price for current counterfeit pressings is about $40, and many collectors find that to be an adequate price. Be aware, however, that these pressings are unlikely to increase in value in the future, as they're only imitations and not the existent matter.

Butcher Cover Decision

Without a doubt, the Beatles Butcher encompass is the most famous and infamous tape in all of record collecting. They are rare, they are interesting, and they but happened to be a product of the most famous rock and roll group in the history of the medium.

All of those things combine to make the Butcher embrace one of the most fascinating albums in the record collecting hobby, and information technology's likely that mint condition copies of all three "states" of the album will keep to rise in value in the futurity.

It's also amazing to look at the original cover photo some fifty years afterwards the original release. To this day, the response from many remains unchanged from that of the public in 1966:

What were they thinking?

Click here to view our selection of Beatles albums.

Click here to see if we have a Beatles Butcher cover in stock. (Nosotros often do.)