Yesterday and Today was released by Capitol Records on June 20, 1966, and created much controversy after it was issued.
The biggest was, of course, the original photo chosen by the group to grace the front cover. It depicts them wearing butcher smocks, while raw meat and decapitated dolls surround them. The story is too long to detail here, but it created headaches for Capitol.
Also, the hodgepodge assembly of this album was beginning to truly upset the group. The eleven songs are made up of several songs which had yet to be issued on albums or ever in the U.S. Yesterday and Act Naturally came from the U.K. Help! album; four songs from the U.K. Rubber Soul, Drive my Car, Nowhere Man, What Goes On, and If I Needed Someone; and the late 65 single We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper. Capitol was still three songs short, so George Martin gave them three songs that were going to appear on their forthcoming album Revolver, I'm Only Sleeping, And Your Bird Can Sing, and Dr. Robert.
However, that still doesn't take away from the music itself. It's still classic, and still loved today, but the sound of this album has been tampered with somewhat.
This album is unique because of it's many different mixes and variations then the officially released songs sound. The three Revolver tracks were early mono mixes done before the final ones were finalized, and also the stereo mixes of We Can Work It Out and Day Tripper were special to the U.S.
Apple and Capitol did, for the most part, keep this odd mixes intact for this new CD issue, with the exception of the duophonic (fake stereo) mixes of the three Revolver tracks. Honestly, I'm kinda disappointed that these weren't included, as it would have been exactly what was released back in 1966, but, at least, a majority of the special mixes were retained.
Overall, if you're a casual fan, this release is probably not necessary, but if you must have every variation or different mix of EVERY Beatles song, then this is a must purchase.
