THE ORIGINAL COVER TO "YESTERDAY AND TODAY" CAUSED QUITE A STIR WHEN IT MADE ITS LIMITED APPEARANCE IN JUNE 1966. IT MARKED THE FIRST TIME THAT THE BEATLES JUDGMENT WAS SEVERELY AND UNIVERSALLY CRITICIZED. THE CONTROVERSIAL COVER DEPICTED THE BEATLES IN WHITE BUTCHER SMOCKS SURROUNDED BY SLABS OF MEAT AND DECAPITATED BABY DOLLS.

CAPITOL RECORDS PROCEEDED WITH THE PRESSING, PACKAGING AND SHIPPING OF 750,000 COPIES TO ITS DISTRIBUTORS. THE RESPONSE WAS IMMEDIATE AND UNIFORMLY NEGATIVE, AND FORCED CAPITOL'S PRESIDENT ALAN LIVINGSTON, TO PULL THE PLUG ON THE BUTCHER. A MASSIVE RECALL WAS QUICKLY FORMULATED AND SET INTO MOTION SO THAT ALL COPIES OF THE ALBUM WERE TO BE RETURNED AND A REPLACEMENT FRONT SLICK WAS TO BE PASTED OVER THE "OFFENSIVE" BUTCHER COVER, ALTHOUGH THOUSANDS OF THE BUTCHER COVERS WERE ALREADY DESTROYED BY CAPITOL'S JACKSONVILLE, INDIANA PLANT.

ONCE THE RECALL DECISION WAS MADE, CAPITOL BEGAN PREPARING THE REPLACEMENT COVER FOR THE 750,000 RECORDS THAT HAD BEEN REMOVED FROM THE BUTCHER COVER JACKETS. THE NEW "PASTE OVER" SLICK SHOWED THE BEATLES STANDING AROUND A STEAMER TRUNK (WITH PAUL INSIDE) AND THIS CAME TO BE KNOWN AS THE "TRUNK COVER"..

BUTCHER COVERS DO NOT FOLLOW THE GENERAL RULE THAT A BEATLES MONO ALBUM ON CAPITOL IS MORE VALUABLE THAN ITS STEREO EQUIVALENT. THIS IS BECAUSE THE INITIAL 750,000 RUN OF THIS ALBUM WAS PRODUCED AT A RATIO OF APPROXIMATELY 5:1 IN FAVOR OF MONO OVER STEREO. IN THE SUMMER OF 1966, MONO STILL DOMINATED STEREO IN THE TEEN MARKET. BASED UPON PRODUCTION FIGURES, A STEREO SECOND OR THIRD STATE BUTCHER SHOULD BE AT LEAST FIVE TIMES SCARCER THAN A MONO BUTCHER.

THIS RARER STEREO PRESSING OF A WEST COAST PASTE-OVER COVER IS A NEAR MINT "AS NEW" GEM. THE FRONT AND BACK COVER IS IN INCREDIBLE CONDITION WITH NO WEAR. THE TONE OF THE COVER IS A VIVID, BRIGHT WHITE AND EXTREMELY CLEAN THROUGHOUT. THE PASTE-OVER TRUNK SLICK IS SO VERY CLEAR AND CLEAN. RINGO'S HEAD AND THE "V" IMPRESSION OF HIS BLACK SWEATER  IS CLEARLY VISIBLE ON THE "BUTCHER" SLICK BENEATH THE APPLIED "TRUNK" COVER. CORNER TO CORNER, THE SEAMS ARE FULLY INTACT. THE COLORS ARE SO BOLD ON THIS LOS ANGELES PRODUCED EXAMPLE, SIGNIFIED BY THE SMALL NUMBER "5" AT THE LOWER BACK RIGHT CORNER. NO writing, NO creases. THERE'S JUST A VERY LIGHT SMALL "AGE" MARK ON THE FRONT COVER NEAR THE LOWER RIGHT AREA.. EACH OF THE FOUR CORNERS ARE SHARP. THE SPINE IS SOLID AND FIRM AND THE PRINT IS CRISP, CLEAN AND LEGIBLE THROUGHOUT THE LENGTH.

THE "TRUNK" SLICK IS PASTED OVER PERFECTLY SQUARE ON THIS ONE, YET ANOTHER  HIGHLIGHT OF THIS EXAMPLE IS AT THE VERY TOP RIGHT EDGE OF THE FRONT COVER SLICK, WHICH REVEALS A SMALL PORTION OF THE "BUTCHER" SLICK BELOW.

THE ORIGINAL, MATCHING WEST COAST LOS ANGLES PRESSING OF THE RECORD ACCOMPANIES THE COVER, AND  IS A GLEAMING MINT MINUS "AS NEW" UNPLAYED JEWEL, WITH STUNNING "AS NEW" LABELS. THE CORRECT VARIATION LOS ANGELES "CAPITOL '66" ORANGE INNER DUST SLEEVE (PE-12-3BL)  IS INCLUDED IN NEAR MINT CONDITION.

AS AN ADDED ATTRACTION, A "COPY" OF THE CAPITOL RECORDS ORIGINAL "RECALL LETTER" THAT WENT OUT TO ALL DISTRIBUTORS & PROMOTERS ON JUNE 14, 1966 - IS ALSO INCLUDED.

THIS SECOND STATE STEREO BUTCHER IS TRULY ONE OF THE VERY BEST EXAMPLES WE  HAVE EVER OFFERED, AND IS DEFINITELY A FINAL UPGRADE - UNLESS A STILL SEALED COPY COMES ALONG.