The Beatles really hit it big in the early ’60s, and their clean-cut, heartthrob persona defined them. By the time 1965’s Rubber Soul came out, the band members had grown past their pop persona.
“We got involved completely in ourselves then. I think it was Rubber Soul when we did all our own numbers,” John Lennon said in a 1968 Rolling Stone interview. “Something just happened. We controlled it a bit. Whatever it was we were putting over, we just tried to control it a bit.”
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In the years that followed, their attempts to push the envelope historically worked in their favor. In 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band spent 27 weeks at the top of the UK charts, took home four Grammy Awards, and became The Beatles’ best-selling studio album.
But somewhere in between, in 1966, the group produced the album Yesterday and Today. It was an amalgamation of songs from recent Beatles LPs that hadn’t yet debuted in America, including “Yesterday,” “Drive My Car,” and “Nowhere Man.” Through Capitol Records, the group released a cover now known as the “Butcher Cover,” featuring the four members in butcher coats surrounded by severed baby-doll heads and pieces of meat.
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Michael Ochs Archives / Getty Images
Why The Beatles Chose That Cover
There are several standing theories as to why they chose this controversial cover.
“1966 was the year the world was made aware of John Lennon’s famous comments about Christianity and the year they were chased out of the Philippines for apparently ‘snubbing’ a garden party hosted by Imelda Marcos, the first lady,” Liverpool writer Dale Roberts once said. “This is the year they began to move away from the famous Mop Tops and the year that John Lennon met Yoko Ono. The Beatles in 1966 were not far away from controversy; the Butcher cover was one part of it.”
“One theory is that it was a statement against Capitol Records ‘butchering’ the British album releases for profit,” he continued. “Typically, Capitol would receive The Beatles’ UK album releases and hold back tracks for future US releases and mix them with A- and B-side singles to spread them out over more albums to make more profit.”
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Another theory emerged around something photographer Robert Whitaker, who shot the album, had once said about the concept. He insisted it was his idea for a conceptual art piece to humanize The Beatles, taking them out of “God-like” status.
Lennon himself seemed to confirm that theory. The writer claims he once said they were “inspired by our boredom and resentment at having to do another photo session and another Beatles thing. We were sick to death of it.”
The album was reissued after a few hundred copies circulated, and a much more familiar, clean-cut image replaced it. Depending on the condition of the album, it is estimated to be worth between $10,000 and $12,000 today.