McCartney Times

On March 25, 1966, photographer Bob Whitaker produced one of the most controversial images in rock history, the infamous “butcher” cover for the Beatles‘ Yesterday and Today album. The LP, initially released only in the U.S. and Canada, was a compilation of singles and tracks from U.K. albums. Negative reaction to the image of the Fab Four in white coats surrounded by dismembered doll parts and raw meat led Capitol Records to immediately pull the LP from the shelves and replace the cover.“It was inspired by our boredom and resentment at having to do another photo session and another Beatles thing,” John Lennon told Playboy. “We were sick to death of it.”“We’d done a few sessions with Bob before this, and he knew our personalities: he knew we liked black humor and sick jokes,” Paul McCartney recalled in Anthology. “And he said, ‘I’ve had an idea – stick these white lab coats on.’ It didn’t seem too offensive to us. It was just dolls and a lot of meat.”

Source: 50 Years Ago: The Beatles Shoot the Infamous ‘Butcher’ Cover