Ultra rare promotional The Beatles Yesterday and Today mono ‘first state' butcher cover (Capitol, T2553, 1966). This ‘first state' version features the notorious 'butcher' cover in which the Beatles are seen in butcher smocks draped with meat and plastic doll parts; 'first state' signifies that this is an original example that never had the 'trunk cover' pasteover applied. Unlike other ‘first state’ examples, this sample version is stamped “Promotional-Not For Use” once on the front cover and twice on the back cover (an ink smudge is present above). Condition is VG+. The record is included.
Within days of releasing this miscellany of previous hits, Capitol recalled all copies in response to retailers' negative reactions to the original macabre cover image. The recalled copies were 'retrofitted' with a new pictorial flat, pasted over the first, featuring an innocuous image of the boys posed around a steamer trunk; these have frequently been peeled away by collectors to reveal the infamous butcher image below. First-state versions, especially promotional variants, are among the most desirable and elusive of all Beatles collectibles.
The consignor notes that this ‘first state’ promo was originally owned by noted Norfolk, Virginia, disc jockey ‘Sheriff Tex’ Davis, who presented the album to his daughter, who in turn gave it to her friend in the mid-1960s.
Accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Bruce Spizer, author of The Beatles' Story on Capitol Records, who writes: “I have examined the cover to the Capitol Beatles album Yesterday And Today detailed below. The front cover has a mono-trimmed butcher slick printed by Queens Litho. The cover was manufactured by Modern Album in Long Island, New York. It is a first state butcher, meaning that the front cover slick was not pasted over with the alternate trunk cover and later peeled. The front cover has ‘Promotional-Not For Sale’ running at an angle in the upper left portion. This marking was made by a black ink stamp. The back cover has the same marking running vertically along the left and right sides. There are smeared ink markings on both the front and back covers that appear to have been caused by the cover being stamped and placed in a stack of freshly stamped covers, thus picking up ink from the covers immediately above and below.
During 1966, Capitol Records normally drilled the word ‘Promo’ into the upper right corners of its covers that were distributed to radio stations, record stores and reviewers for promotional purposes. Although drilled promo covers for the Yesterday And Today album with trunk covers have been confirmed, there are no known copies of the butcher cover with a drilled promo marking. The reason for the lack of such covers is that Capitol’s factories were rushing to get promotional copies of the album to its sales force and did not want to delay the process by drill stamping the covers. Because these albums were intended for promotional purposes but had no factory drilled designation, some of Capitol’s distribution centers may have applied their own promo markings. In all likelihood, the ‘Promotional-Not For Sale’ markings appearing on the examined cover were applied at one of Capitol’s 25 distribution centers. The smeared ink markings on the cover caused by rubbing against other covers indicate that a batch of covers were marked with the ‘Promotional-Not For Sale’ stamp; however, as of this date, no other similarly stamped covers have been confirmed. The accompanying mono record was pressed by Capitol’s Scranton factory.”
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