Ultra rare The Beatles Yesterday and Today stereo ‘first state' butcher cover (Capitol ST-2553, 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. The record is included. Condition: EX 7.5 (sleeve - light yellow toning on the back-left cover)/ MT 9 (disc).
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 of the rarer stereo variety, are among the most desirable and elusive of all Beatles collectibles.
