Offered for sale is an original U.S. mono “Second State” “Butcher Cover” pressing of the 1966 LP Yesterday and Today by the Beatles.
These Second State issues are sometimes called “pasteover” versions, as the second “Trunk Cover” slick is still intact, covering the original “Butcher” slick underneath it.
This copy includes a Certificate of Authenticity from Blue Jay Way Galleries, a well-known U.S. dealer in Beatles Butcher covers.
About this copy: The copy of Yesterday and Today offered for sale is an original 1966 mono Second State Butcher cover. issued by Capitol Records.
This particular cover was printed at Capitol Records’ Los Angeles, California pressing plant, as noted by the small number 6 in the lower right hand corner of the back cover.
The cover is VG, mostly due to slight water damage in the lower right hand corner of the back cover and a stain near the mouth on the front cover. The cover has moderate general wear. As the damage is almost entirely on the back cover, the cover will present well.
The seams on the cover are all intact, though there’s a bit of “cracking” along the spine. The spine text is legible except for the “2” in the T 2553 catalog number.
This cover has:
- No seam splits
- Legible writing on the spine
- No writing on the cover
- No cutout holes
While the cover was pressed at Capitol’s Los Angeles pressing plant, the included mono disc was pressed at Capitol’s Scranton, Pennsylvania pressing plant, as there is a small triangle with the letters “IAM” inside it in the dead wax.
The disc is in Good condition, with numerous marks on both sides. A name has been written on the side two label. The disc is playable, but it will be noisy.
The original orange-colored inner sleeve is included. There are no splits.
Along with the Certificate of Authenticity, we will include a photocopy of the original “recall” letter from Capitol Records announcing the recall of the album from the market.
A nice, if imperfect, example of the world’s most sought-after Beatles album.
Background: There are millions of records that people could possibly collect, but few are as infamous as the original release of Yesterday and Today by the Beatles, which was first released with the cover now known as the “Butcher cover.”
This cover photo depicted the band dressed in butcher smocks, surrounded by plastic doll parts and pieces of raw meat. When the original cover met with hostile responses from reviewers and distributors, Capitol Records made the decision to withdraw the cover and replace it with another one.
While a few copies with the original cover were kept by reviewers, the remaining copies were returned to Capitol Records prior to the album’s scheduled release date. Capitol then pasted a new cover over the existing one, put new shrinkwrap on the cover, and shipped the records with the “pasteover” cover to record distributors.
Most copies sold around the time of the album’s release date actually had two covers, with a cover showing the band standing around a steamer trunk pasted over the original “Butcher cover” photo. Over time, many of these copies have had the top cover removed, rendering original copies increasingly scarce as fewer intact examples remain.
Copies of Yesterday and Today with the original cover that have never had the second cover pasted over them are known as “first state” issues. Copies that have the second cover still pasted on top of the first one are known as “second state” copies.
Second state copies are identifiable by looking at the white area on the cover just below the word “today” in the album title. If that particular copy is a second state Butcher cover, a black triangular area can be faintly seen; this area is where Ringo’s black shirt collar appears on the cover underneath.
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| Country of origin: |
U.S. |
| Size: |
12″ |
| Record Label: |
Capitol |
Catalog Number:
|
T-2553 |
| Year of Release: |
1966 |
| Format: |
Mono |
| Share: |
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