Offered for sale is an exceptionally nice example of an original U.S. mono “Second State” “Butcher Cover” pressing of the 1966 LP Yesterday and Today by the Beatles with the cover still in the original shrink wrap.
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.
While we’re not inclined to peel Second State Butcher covers that are this nice, this copy would produce a virtually perfect example of a Third State Butcher cover if it were to be professionally peeled.
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’ Scranton, Pennsylvania pressing plant, as noted by the small number 3 in the lower right hand corner of the back cover.
The cover is VG++ and close to M- with very slight foxing along the mouth of the cover.
The wrap is fully intact with no tears, and an original price sticker is attached.
While the sticker covers the area of the cover where Ringo’s “V” collar would appear, it is partially visible below the price sticker. In addition, the “trunk” slick was slightly misaligned when applied at the factory, so a tiny bit of the “butcher” slick below is visible just below the “T2553” catalog number in the top right hand corner.
This cover has:
- No seam splits
- Fully legible writing on the spine
- No writing on the cover
- No cutout holes
- No ring wear
The disc is a correct Scranton-pressed mono disc with a triangle etched in the dead wax. The mono disc is VG, and close to VG+-, with a few light marks but plenty of shine. This is the nicest disc we’ve seen in a while to accompany a Butcher cover.
The original olive-colored inner sleeve is included. There are no splits.
We will include a photocopy of the original “recall” letter from Capitol Records announcing the recall of the album from the market.
A gorgeous copy of a very rare and desirable Beatles LP. This is the nicest Second State example of a Butcher cover that we’ve ever had for sale.
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: |       |
