The Butcher Cover

[Mike]

I recently saw one up on ebay for $14,500.00

No bids.

The idea was, according to John, "The cover was relevant to Vietnam. If the public can accept something as cruel as the war, they can accept that cover."

Brian was against the photos, but John insisted. The photos began as ad for Paperback Writer.

[Mike]

All nine known butcher cover shots

[MarcM]

I seem to recall seeing a copy of that cover somewhere for sale in a shop i the 80's. I do not remember how much it was, but I do remember the cost being shocking.

[Mike]

That just creeps me out!!!

Indeed, but now that I realize, that it was a protest (basically) of the Vietam War. That while women and babies were being murdered in a sadistic war, the horrible events that were taking place behind the innocent "appearance" of the times.

Let's face it, the war is what changed the sixies from be-bop and shoo-bob, to drugs, anger, anxiety, frustration. People hiding behind "the American way of life - apple pie and Chevrolet, while atrocities took place in the world.

I don't know, I have to agree with John Lennon, people need to have a mirror held up in front of them to see what they really are up to.

Think about it, we buy goods made in sweat shops because the price is right, but we should have to look at what the results of that are.

When kids grimace at the food that is placed before them, or waste food, they should watch what children in India are going through right now.

If we hide under a mask, wear rose colored glasses, then we are callous, cold and lost, when we dare to stare in the face of who we really are, what we really are capable of, accepting that, and can be honest within ourselves, then we begin to change that additudes of people who cause so much pain in the world.

This cover is maccabe, but it is a reminder to me of what lies beneath in us all, something we would rather cover up than reckon with and resolve.

-Mike

[RyanTurtle]

Indeed, but now that I realize, that it was a protest (basically) of the Vietam War. That while women and babies were being murdered in a sadistic war, the horrible events that were taking place behind the innocent "appearance" of the times.

Let's face it, the war is what changed the sixies from be-bop and shoo-bob, to drugs, anger, anxiety, frustration. People hiding behind "the American way of life - apple pie and Chevrolet, while atrocities took place in the world.

I don't know, I have to agree with John Lennon, people need to have a mirror held up in front of them to see what they really are up to.

Think about it, we buy goods made in sweat shops because the price is right, but we should have to look at what the results of that are.

When kids grimace at the food that is placed before them, or waste food, they should watch what children in India are going through right now.

If we hide under a mask, wear rose colored glasses, then we are callous, cold and lost, when we dare to stare in the face of who we really are, what we really are capable of, accepting that, and can be honest within ourselves, then we begin to change that additudes of people who cause so much pain in the world.

This cover is maccabe, but it is a reminder to me of what lies beneath in us all, something we would rather cover up than reckon with and resolve.

-Mike

very well said...go you

[_Laurie_]

I Totally agree with you HD.....this is a little too extreme to get a message across....I never even knew about this album till now....the picture is very disturbing, which I know that was their message....it is very creepy.

[Batman]

I actually find the cover quite humorous. I think the contrast between the dead babies and the "clean-cut" Beatles with their smiling faces is just hilarious. I understand the underlying message, too, but I just think the Beatles knew that to give a big message, you needed shock value, and a little humor.

[edna]

In any case, what an ugly cover... More info about it...

Edited October 1, 2005 by Guest

[bazooka]

Other banned cover art here and here (part II).

[bazooka]

I was really looking for information about this cover.

Loosen Up Naturally - The Sons Of Champlin

from Charlie Kelly's website

Many of the people around the Sons were artists of various types. Many more thought they were. The cover art was the result of giving anyone who wanted to work on it the opportunity of helping with the album cover. At Fred's house there were large square sheets of paper and art supplies at hand, and on any afternoon there might be two or three people sitting on opposite sides of a sheet, covering it with imagination. As sheets were filled, they joined a stack of similar sheets waiting to be sorted through for the cover picture.

At the house in Forest Knolls which Geoff Palmer and Bob Cain shared with two girls, a similar work was taking place on the windowshade. One day, I am told, Bob and Geoff met the Baker sisters Wendy and Patty. Smitten with the beautiful ladies, they brought them home, which incurred some displeasure on the part of one of the resident ladies. She left, and on her way out the door she added one word to the work in progress. She wrote it so small that it went unnoticed for some time.

This of course was the main album cover, and if the censors caught the offending word, at least they missed the abstract gynecologist's eye view in the upper right quadrant. There are a number of small messages buried in the drawing. On the left knee of the gynecologist's patient is a Band-Aid and the message, "We try with a little help from HAL." The arrow points to a computer generated drawing, and HAL is the name of the computer in Stanley Kubrick's "2001 -- A Space Odyssey." On our first trip to Hollywood, we had all seen the film at the Cinerama Theater a few blocks from the Kaleidoscope Ballroom.

There is a recognizable Fred Roth next to the phrase "Desi in the sky with polio." This seems to be a vague reference to Tim, and even now people refer to him as "Desi" as though it was some secret band nickname. It wasn't.

A few phrases are almost trite: "Brothers and Sisters," "Music is Fun," "Follow the Yellow Brick Road," "Love = Music = Love," "S.O.C. Marin," "Once Upon A Time." There is a unicorn and an amoeba and a number of eyes looking at various things. The words "Sons of Champlin" are cropped nearly off the right edge. There is a play on the peace symbol, rendered as an ad for Mercedes Benz. Then of course, there is the Sagittarius and the pointers: "Big Gunner," Big Sign," "Big (f**king) Deal," "Levels," "Ha Ha."

The addition to Big Deal is in another hand from the original, added later.

I remember seeing copies of this album on which the offending word supposedly had been scratched out, supposedly individually by hand by hired help somewhere in the distribution chain. When I bought a vinyl copy a few years after the album's original release, neither the word nor any evidence was there at all.

[Brad_M]

Bazooka,

I checked out your links above for banned cover art.

I have album #21: Scorpions: Lovedrive with the original banned cover on vinyl.

Any idea how much it is worth?

[bazooka]

I have album #21: Scorpions: Lovedrive with the original banned cover on vinyl.

Any idea how much it is worth?

Well, you can buy one in mint minus condition ( a near perfect, probably unplayed record ) right here for 12 dollars, plus a healthy shipping charge.

It is a very cool site to just browse around in.

[katie_sane]

That was really interesting Bazooka! Thanks for the links!