THE BEATLES "YESTERDAY AND TODAY"

GENRE(S): Rock 'n' Roll - Folk - Pop

PREAMBLE - The second of my new continual series reviews: Most Controversial Album Covers Of All Time.

LOOK - Early 1966, a little tired of the usual photo shoot, The Beatles teamed up with conceptual photographer Robert Whitaker. What resulted: this image of the Fab Four dressed in butcher smocks draped in raw meat and plastic baby-doll parts. Being musician, and ultimately artists themselves, The Beatles were intrigued by the avant-garde. The photograph was chosen for the cover of their next Capital Records release in the States; bad idea! Conservative American parents, who already weren't too fond of these Mop Tops having influence over their kids, felt they had gone too far.

Result: every single copy of the album was recalled, pulled from record store shelves all across the U.S. and Canada. But not before the few (thousands, really) fortunate fans who were able to purchase this now rare printing. Capital Records in turn took back the records and printed a new, more appropriate album cover that could be pasted onto the front of the existing jacket. This is becoming even more of a rarity than its predecessor.

Above: below the butcher album cover is a picture of the altered album jacket (notice the looks of disgust on the boys faces, especially John's; not too happy about having to reshoot). Look to the right of the open trunk, you can actually see the shape of Ringo's turtle neck showing through the white paper. CLICK ON THE ALBUM COVER FOR A BETTER VIEW.

LISTEN - In the early to mid 60's there were American Releases and UK Releases for our favorite artists, such as The Bealtes. These two types of releases differed. In the case of Yesterday And Today, left over songs from the U.S. Rubber Soul, the U.K. Help!, and a few extra singles were jumbled together. Why would they do this, you ask. Simple; the more songs Capital trimmed from U.K. releases, the more extra songs they had laying around, enabling them to conjure up more American releases, and thus make more money.

SPEAK - Yesterday And Today isn't an official album released by The Beatles in their native U.K., there for just a "butchered" smash-up version of Rubber Soul and Help!. John, Paul, George and Ringo were known for their cheeky humor. Their infamous beef-laid album cover was more than likely them trying to make "The Suits" sweat. Truly, you'll enjoy listening to this because, lets face it, it's The Beatles, but you'll be happier sticking to the U.K. releases.

www.thebeatles.com

ALBUM GRADE - C

ALBUM ARTWORK (Butchered) - A

ALBUM ARTWORK (Trunk) - C

DO WE HAVE A FIT? YES (B) & NEUTRAL (T)