Yesterday And Today
LP album slick (not the record sleeve, just the cover art) This image features the famous "Butcher Cover" from The Beatles' 1966 North American album, Yesterday and Today. Taken by photographer Robert Whitaker, the surreal artwork featured the band dressed in white dentist smocks surrounded by decapitated plastic baby dolls and raw pieces of meat.
The History & Recall
Originally released in June 1966, the image immediately provoked immense backlash from record distributors and retailers. In response, Capitol Records initiated a massive recall—codenamed "Operation Retrieve"—to pull approximately 750,000 pressed copies from store shelves and warehouses. To salvage the existing stock and cut losses, Capitol pasted a new, harmless photograph of the band standing around an open steamer trunk directly over the controversial cover before redistributing them.
Value and "States" of the Record
Because of this history, the album is one of the most legendary and highly sought-after vinyl collectibles in the world. Collectors categorize the surviving jackets into three distinct "states":
• First State: Original, un-pasted covers that escaped the factory before the recall. Pristine stereo copies of these can command anywhere from $15,000 to over $100,000 at auction depending on condition.
• Second State: The "paste-overs" where the trunk cover remains completely glued down over the butcher image. These usually sell between $500 and $2,000.
• Third State: Paste-over copies where a collector later peeled away the top trunk layer to reveal the hidden butcher artwork beneath. Depending on the cleanliness of the peel job, these typically range in value from $500 to $3,500+.
The History & Recall
Originally released in June 1966, the image immediately provoked immense backlash from record distributors and retailers. In response, Capitol Records initiated a massive recall—codenamed "Operation Retrieve"—to pull approximately 750,000 pressed copies from store shelves and warehouses. To salvage the existing stock and cut losses, Capitol pasted a new, harmless photograph of the band standing around an open steamer trunk directly over the controversial cover before redistributing them.
Value and "States" of the Record
Because of this history, the album is one of the most legendary and highly sought-after vinyl collectibles in the world. Collectors categorize the surviving jackets into three distinct "states":
• First State: Original, un-pasted covers that escaped the factory before the recall. Pristine stereo copies of these can command anywhere from $15,000 to over $100,000 at auction depending on condition.
• Second State: The "paste-overs" where the trunk cover remains completely glued down over the butcher image. These usually sell between $500 and $2,000.
• Third State: Paste-over copies where a collector later peeled away the top trunk layer to reveal the hidden butcher artwork beneath. Depending on the cleanliness of the peel job, these typically range in value from $500 to $3,500+.
Before
Disclaimer
The object and/or subject of this report is private property. This page is for informational purposes only. Unless clearly stated otherwise, all conservation and restoration has been performed by Poster Mountain (PM) or Los Angeles Paper Group (LAPG)I) PM-LAPG has not knowingly withheld any significant information from its evaluation report and to the best of its knowledge all statements and evaluations in this report are true and correct.
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