DALLAS, TX.- Sherry Parks kept it a secret for 54 years.

Only she and one other person knew she owned one of the three existing Canadian copies of The Beatles' controversial "Butcher cover" from the group's album Yesterday and Today. The rare copy heads to auction Nov. 14, offered by Parks, who says it is now time for someone else to own the Canadian treasure.

In 1966, Parks was a 16-year-old Beatles fan when she received a telephone call from a family friend named Tom McCabe. McCabe told Parks to meet him at his car as he drove by their house. McCabe, an area promotions manager for Capitol Records in Canada, pulled up and handed her The Beatles' latest album, with cover art depicting the band in butcher smocks covered with decapitated baby dolls and raw meat. The initial artwork It is now popularly referred to be collectors as the "Butcher Cover."

"[McCabe] was super-secretive, and with a big smile, said he had a special gift," said Garry Shrum, Director of Music Memorabilia at Heritage Auctions. "[McCabe] handed her a package with the instructions to take it inside and not show it to anyone."




McCabe must have had an inkling the album cover was about to be pulled from worldwide distribution. He was right. A short time later, McCabe was told he and every promotions manager had to return every copy of the record, as the cover had been recalled by Capitol's management team in the U.S.

Paul White, the executive for Capitol Records of Canada in charge of producing the covers for the Canadian market, was busy at work when he received a telephone call that, indeed, all copies of the original album cover were to be destroyed and replaced with a new cover.

"I always received first copies of jackets and covers to check the color match and errors," White said. "I had two mono 'Butcher' jackets and a stereo 'Butcher' slick in my office sent from the printers. I gave a mono jacket to someone in the office and kept the stereo slick and other mono jacket."

One of the three copies ended up in Park's hands.

Parks kept the secret for 54 years and didn't tell a soul she owned the rare album. No one ever found out McCabe had kept the copy and that he had given it to her. Parks still played and enjoyed the record over the years. She was true to her word and never told anyone about her prize. "I kept my secret and now it was time for it to be cherished by someone else," Parks said.

Parks is offering her rare copy of The Beatles' album Yesterday and Today in Heritage Auctions' Entertainment & Music Memorabilia Auction Nov. 14 in Dallas.