60 YEARS AGO TODAY:
3/25/66 – The controversial photograph for The Beatles’ “Yesterday And Today” butcher cover is taken. All four Beatles were dressed in white coats, using slabs of meat with mutilated and butchered dolls for what was supposed to be the cover of their next American album, “Yesterday and Today.” (Stories that this was The Beatles’ way of protesting the way Capitol Records was “butchering” their albums to gain more releases in America has often been bandied about as the inspiration for this shoot … but it seems this was just their way of coming up with the something Avant Garde as a means of garnering attention.)
After advance copies were sent to disc jockeys and record reviewers, the negative reaction to the cover photo was so strong that Capitol recalled 750,000 copies from distributors to replace the cover. (The more familiar “suitcase cover” was pasted over what could be salvaged from the original run … and it has been a much sought after collectors’ item ever since.) The total cost for Capitol Records to replace the cover and all of the promotional materials it had already circulated was reported to be right around $250,000, wiping out all of their initial profits.
Also on 3/25, Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass perform for President Lyndon Johnson at The White House
