Beatles fans: I saw a real rarity today.

[CanuckAmok]

I'm scouting locations for a movie. I've been looking at high-end homes all week.

This morning, I was being shown around a place by the woman who shares it with her husband, and what does he have framed over his home-office desk?

The butcher cover. Absolutely mint. No edge wear, no ring, no creases. Still sealed. Mono. T-2553 Canadian pressing.

I said to her "is that a real butcher cover?", and she was completely freaked-out that I even knew what it was. She was pretty happy, actually, because none of their friends understand why they have such a "gross" piece of art hanging on the wall.

I looked up the value of this album on a collector's site, and it's $18,000-$20,000 US.

:shocked:

Please don't PM me asking for location/contact info; I'm sworn to secrecy!

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. The "Butcher" Cover?

I have to admit to not knowing much of Beatles lore. What's a "Butcher" cover?

Still, it sounds pretty damned exciting!

[CanuckAmok]

8. Ask, and ye shall be enlightened.

"...So, from mid-1964 Capitol Canada conformed to the American format for releasing all Beatles records. In June, 1966 the Beatles album Yesterday & Today was scheduled for release in the U.S.A. and Canada. We received artwork and master tapes from Hollywood, California. The initial artwork depicted the Beatles in butcher smocks covered with decapitated baby dolls and raw pieces of meat. We began to manufacture LP covers for "mass distribution" when we received a call from Alan Livingston in Hollywood to tell us that Sir Joseph Lockwood, Chairman of EMI Records Worldwide had objected to the "Butcher" cover and had instructed that the cover be scrapped and replaced with a new cover in every country the album was scheduled for release. We therefore were told to cease production and destroy all jackets and covers of the "Butcher" album. As the person in charge of scheduling Beatle releases I always received first copies of jackets and covers to check for colour match and errors. I had two mono Butcher jackets and a stereo Butcher slick in my office, sent from the printers. I gave one mono jacket to someone in the office and kept the stereo slick and other mono jacket...."

That's from Paul White, the former chief of A&R for Capitol Canada.

The two covers he's referring to are both owned by collectors in Washington State. The copy I saw today is a third copy, and previously believed to not exist.


http://www.eskimo.com/~bpentium/butcher.html

"The Canadian Butcher, thought to be a myth and the stuff that dreams are made of, has finally surfaced and been authenticated by Perry Cox (author of the Beatles Record Guides). After thirty years only two copies have surfaced. Both between Vg+ to Vg++ condition.Very recently one of them from Paul White came into the possession of an American collector. Paul White, in the early sixties, became the head of the A&R Department of Capitol of Canada and introduced the famous 6000 series which would later feature the three Canadian Beatles albums. Geoffrey F. Racine was president from the end of 1962 to sometime in 1966. G. Edward Leetham took over as President in 1966. Although he wasn't president Paul White was a very significant player at Capitol of Canada."

The Butcher in Canada was far less distributed than the U.S. copies. In fact only the President, and possibly a small handful of executives ever got one. There were NO pasteovers.

Both known copies are MONOs. There is however an original Stereo slick. "Beckett" is the watermark in the slick.

The butcher slick itself on both copies is factory laminated much the same as the American "Ain't She Sweet". In the lower right front of the Butcher slick is the small black print "Litho In Canada"."

[Whoa_Nelly]

2. Wow! Most awesome!

I had one of those covers...steamed off the American replacement cover on that Yesterday & Today album. Unfortunately, one of my a-hole boyfriends sold it while I was out of town...this was way back in '74. Am still :mad:

[GalleryGod]

7. WhatttttttttttttttttttA Dick!

[Whoa_Nelly]

3. Don't know why my post duped...self-delete

[Maine-ah]

4. how much would that be worth in a "less than" perfect condition

I have that album.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Look here

http://www.rarebeatles.com/album2/discog/discog.htm

Scroll down just a bit for the value chart

[Maine-ah]

6. very cool, thankyou.

[CanuckAmok]

9. depends if it's mono or stereo, and what country it came from,

The US ones are pretty valuable, but not four-figure valuable, because they weren't destroyed. Capitol USA just glued a new cover onto the butcher sleeve. Many people have successfully removed the stick-on cover, so the US copies aren't that rare, as far as rarities go.

[begin_within]

10. And to think I once had the opportunity to buy TWO of those for $100!!!

Unpeeled mint ones, 25 years ago, when I had no extra money. Wow, I should have forgone food for a month if I only knew. Stupid Stupid decision

[begin_within]

11. Did you ever see my version of it?