Q.I was knocked out by the high values and endless nuances affecting those prices for the “Introducing the Beatles” album covered in your recent column.

I would very much like to have similar details and values for first state issues of “The Beatles Yesterday and Today,” with the so-called “Butcher Cover.”

- Jesse Watson,

Burlington, Wis.

A. Of course, you’ll be needing this information for both the monaural and stereo issues, right?

On the small chance anyone reading this is unfamiliar with the story, the first edition - also known as first state - of “The Beatles Yesterday and Today” sported what was by 1966 standards a highly controversial photo.

The front cover, described by the Beatles as having “their own brand of pop art satire,” pictures the four boys wearing butcher smocks, while surrounded by chunks of raw meat, bones and pieces from toy dolls.

It was commonly referred to as the Butcher Cover, and reviewers, radio stations and print media receiving advance copies swamped Capitol Records with complaints - to such an extent the company quickly recalled it and replaced the butcher shop image with a very mundane one.

The recall and cover switcheroo took place before record stores received copies, which means the Butcher Cover edition was neither commercially available nor sold in stores.

By modern standards, such an embarrassing imbroglio over a cluttered yet non-toxic photograph is clearly much ado about nothing. On the bright side, the controversy did give birth to a very valuable collectible.

Monaural first state copies (T-2553) are in the $5,000 to $7,500 range. Stereo first states are at least twice as rare as monos and twice as valuable: $10,000 to $15,000.

Q. There is something about a teen record I bought in the 1960s that has nagged me ever since.

Unfortunately, it was a flop that no one knows a thing about. The title is “Submarine Race,” and the credit reads Danny & Gwen (Liberty 55490).

The vocalists sound very familiar (especially Gwen), but I can’t think of anyone named Gwen who recorded then.

I just found a copy on eBay, but the seller included no comments. Might one or both of this duo be known under other, perhaps more famous, names?

- Rusty Crutchfield,

San Mateo, Calif.

A. Danny may not be known to you, though he does have about a dozen hits to his credit.

He is Jerry Naylor, best known in the ’60s for “Stop Your Crying” (1961) and in the ’70s for “But for Love” (1970) and “Is This All There Is to a Honky Tonk” (1975).

Briefly, Naylor sang with the Crickets in 1961, also for Liberty Records, two years after Buddy Holly’s death.

Giving you Gwen’s name at birth, Florencia Bisenta de Casillas Martinez Cardona, isn’t much of a clue, but I think you know this talented singer better as Vikki Carr.

Five years later, Carr landed in the top 3 with her signature song, “It Must Be Him.” It and Dean Martin’s “That’s Amore” are the two featured vocals in the 1987 film “Moonstruck.”

In the years after “Submarine Race,” Naylor and Carr each made many records but never again recorded together.

IZ ZAT SO? Though most folks are never likely to see one, a precious few still-sealed copies of the first state stereo “Beatles Yesterday and Today” do exist. Quantity estimates vary, but most put the number preserved in the original shrink-wrap at no more than 10.

Should one of those pop up in a properly run auction, the hammer would not likely fall until bidding reached the $40,000 to $60,000 range.source