Why is this Album so Valuable?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Hey, I've heard that somewhere.  This classic 1966 album by the Fab 4 may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you're a collector of rare vinyl, this is one that is on your have to have list. 
When the first  copies of this album were released, this controversial cover created such a furore that Capitol Records spent over $250,000 replacing 750,000 copies with this new cover, simply gluing it over the old one. 

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In early 1966, photographer Robert Whitaker had the Beatles in the studio for a conceptual artpiece entitled A Somnambulant Adventure. For the shoot, Whitaker took a series of pictures of the group dressed in butcher smocks and draped with pieces of meat and body parts from plastic baby dolls. The group played along as they were tired of the usual photo shoots—Lennon recalled the band having "boredom and resentment at having to do another photo session andanother Beatles thing"[10]—and the concept was compatible with their own black humour.[7]Although not originally intended as an album cover, the Beatles submitted photographs from the session for their promotional materials. According to a 2002 interview published in Mojo magazine, former Capitol president Alan W. Livingston stated that it was Paul McCartney who pushed strongly for the photo's inclusion as the album cover, and that McCartney reportedly described it as "our comment on the war".[11] A photograph of the band smiling amid the mock carnage was used as promotional advertisements for the British release of the Paperback Writer single. Also, a similar photograph from this shoot was used for the cover of the 11 June 1966 edition of the British music magazine.


A pristine copy of this album with the original Butcher Cover can be had for a bout $25,000, though they are available in poorer condition for as low as $1000