This document provides details about the album covers and digipak designs for several early Beatles albums: Please Please Me, With The Beatles, Beatles For Sale, Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and The White Album. It discusses the original album covers, photos used, and how the designs were adapted for the digipak releases. Multiple panels of the digipaks feature additional photos to fill the space and provide context about the band and album eras. The minimal white cover of The White Album is also highlighted as a contrast to the concept art of previous albums.

1. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
Please Please Me (1963)
This was the first studio album by The Beatles, released March 22 1963 under EMI’s Parlaphone label, recorded
at the now legendary Abbey Road studios. The album featured the pre-recorded singles Love Me Do and Please
Please Me (plus their B-sides), as well as ten other tracks which were recorded in just one day (production
began at 10am and ended 10:45pm). It topped the UK album charts for thirty weeks – until it was replaced by
The Beatles second studio album With The Beatles – but remained in the top twenty for a further nine months.
The photograph on the cover was taken by Angus McBean, which featured the boys looking over the balcony at
the EMI offices in Manchester Square, London, in February of 1963. The cover has been much parodied,
including by the Beatles themselves, who returned to the stairwell to shoot the cover of their Blue greatest hits
album in 1969 (the original cover was also used for the Red album), although, according to George Harrison,
they “had planned it to be the Let It Be cover at one point.”
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
For the digipak release, the original cover and
reverse were used as the front and back panels
(panels 2 and 3, going from the top left). However,
as there are multiple others panels still to fill, panels
1, 5 and 6 are filled with pictures from a photo-
shoot taken on the 19 September 1962 (one of the
first shoots with Ringo Starr as an official band
member) taken in and around Liverpool, such as at
the Salvor, by Angus McBean. This reinforces the
boys being “home-grown” in Liverpool, appealing
to loyal following of the band in their home town.
As the Beatles were relatively unknown at the time
(apart from in their hometown of Liverpool), their
name was projected in large, bold letters to promote
the band, as well as the images of the boys.

2. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
With the Beatles (1963)
This was the second studio album by The Beatles, released November 22 1963 by Parlaphone. Like the previous
album, it was recorded at Abbey Road and produced by George Martin, but rather than recording all in one day,
the fourteen tracks were recorded over the course of 6 days, though still just 28 hours. The album topped the
UK album charts 21 of the 51 weeks it stayed in the top twenty, becoming the first LP by a British artist to sell
over a million copies (the advanced orders sold 300,000 copies alone!), marking the beginning of Beatlemania.
The album cast aside the usual LP formula, as none of the fourteen tracks on With the Beatles were released as
a single. It also broke ground for a pop album through its distinctive front cover, which featured a stylish, black
and white photograph of the Beatle’s un-smiling faces in moody half shadow, taken by Robert Freeman. The
cover caused quite a stir, as it was a very different image to the happy-go-lucky mop-tops of the boy’s regular
publicity shots: it was clear that the band wanted to be taken seriously.
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
George Harrison revealed: “we showed [Freeman]
the pictures Astrid had taken in Hamburg and said
‘Can you do it like this?’ [Note: while performing in
Hamburg, 1960-61, the band befriended Astrid
Kirchherr, a photographer, who took many portraits
of them during their stay, see below.] The cover was
the beginning of us being actively involved in the
artwork. The Please Please Me cover was crap, but
at that time it hadn’t mattered… we were so happy
to be on a record! With The Beatles was the first
one where we thought, ‘hey, let’s go artistic.’”

3. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
Beatles for Sale (1964)
This was the fourth studio album by The Beatles, released December 4, 1964. The fourteen tracks were
recorded over seven days, scattered between August and October, only 21 weeks since the release of their third
album A Hard Days Night; however, due to the band’s crammed tour schedule and media appearances, the LP
reverted to the 1963 formula of 8 original and 6 cover tracks (their previous album consisted solely of Lennon/
McCartney originals). The album topped the UK album chart for 11 of its 46 weeks spent in the top twenty.
For the first time, the record itself was contained in a deluxe gatefold sleeve; when opened, revealed the group
standing in front of a photo montage of movie stars. This was incorporated into the digipak release of the
album (see panel one, going fro the top left). The sleeve notes where written by Derek Taylor, who had worked
with the Beatles for a short time in 1964. As for the album cover, it was taken by Robert Freeman – who also
photographed the boys for the cover of With the Beatles – in Hyde Park, London, in the Autumn of 1964.
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
Paul McCartney recalled the shoot: “the album
cover was rather nice… . We did a session lasting a
couple of hours and had some reasonable pictures
to use. We showed up at Hyde Park by the Albert
Memorial. I was quite impressed by George’s hair
there. He managed to create his little turnip top!
The photographer was always able to say to us ‘just
show up’, because we all wore the same kind of
gear. Black stuff; white shirts and big black scarfs.”
By now the Beatles were known worldwide. Thus,
the name of the band didn’t even feature on the
album cover: the image alone of the boys would
generate album sales. Even the name of the album is
only written in tiny font in the top left-hand corner.

4. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
Revolver (1966)
This was the seventh studio album by The Beatles, released August 5, 1966. It was the longest gap between LPs
so far, arriving in shops eight months after Rubber Soul, as (after their final tour of the UK, ending December
1965) the band took an extended break from recording and performing. The album entered the UK charts at
number one, and remained their for seven of it’s 34 weeks in the top twenty. Revolver saw the band reach a
peak of creativity and experimentation on all levels, never seen before in pop music.
The experimentation heard on the record was mirrored by the album sleeve, far different from the band’s past
artwork . An art student friend from their Hamburg days, Klaus Voormann, intertwined his own line drawings
of the band – their hair longer than before – with a collage of photographs of the boys dating from 1962 to
1965. It was bizarre at the time, not only for its monochrome hues in an age of ever-increasing technicolour, but
for its surreal composition. For many, the album cover was a statement: the Beatles had changed.
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
However, the Fab Four were still so instantly
recognizable, even in this surreal depiction, so again
it was decided it was not necessary to print their
name on the front cover. John, Paul, George and
Ringo had become a brand in themselves.
George Harrison explained on why they chose
Klaus: “we moved away from Robert Freeman, who
prepared the original artwork to Klaus… he did a
good job and it became quite a classic cover.”
Voormann also helped set-up the promotional
videos for Rain and Paperback Writer, which Ringo
Starr remembered to be “a lot of fun”. Panel 5 on
the digipak is a still from this production, in colour,
a contrast to the otherwise monochrome design.

5. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)
This was released June 1, 1967, the Beatles eighth studio album in just over four years. The frequency of their
releases seems startling now, but their was a great deal of speculation regarding the long delay; in fact, the
band had abandoned concerts, and now put all their efforts in song writing and prolonged work in the studio.
The result was this LP: a psychedelic and innovative production which provided the soundtrack to the ‘summer
of love’, and spent an astonishing 148 weeks in the UK album chart, 27 weeks of which were at number one.
The classic album artwork came about when a gallery dealer named Robert Fraser convinced Paul McCartney to
use a professional artist to do the cover, instead of a Dutch group named The Fool, which had already created
artwork for the band to use. In the end, artist Peter Blake was recommended to do it. Here, he explains the
concept of the album, and how it influenced the design: “The Beatles were another band, performing a concert.
I thought we could have a crowd standing behind them, and this developed into the classic collage idea.”
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
“They made lists of people they’d most like to have
in the audience of this imaginary concert… We then
got all the photographs together and had life-size
cut-outs made onto hardboard. I worked for a
fortnight constructing the collage… then we put in
the palm tree and other little objects. The Beatles
arrived during the evening of March 30, 1967. [The
session] took about three hours in all, including the
shots for the centre fold and the back cover.”
The album sleeve was the first to feature printed
lyrics and a gatefold sleeve. It was also the first to
not have a plain inner bag; instead, the first pressing
came in a slightly psychedelic. Also, some releases
even featured cut-out cards. This shows how much
of an event a Beatles album had become.

6. Case Study on The Beatles Digipaks
The Beatles / The White Album (1968)
This was the ninth studio album by The Beatles, released November 22, 1968 (issued on the fifth anniversary of
their second album With the Beatles). Although the double LP was simply titled The Beatles, it quickly became
better known as The White Album; it consisted of 34 new tracks, which they began recording at Abbey Road on
the 30 May until their final session on the 16 October. It was the first Beatles record to the released under the
Apple label, rather than Parlaphone. Despite being an expensive double album, it was a huge seller, entering the
UK chart at number one and remaining there for a total of eight of the 22 weeks it was listed.
Any expectations of a cover to rival Sgt Pepper were immediately overturned. The outside of the sleeve was
completely white, with the only lettering consisting of ‘The Beatles’ embossed on the front and the spine; early
copies also had an individual number stamped on the front. There was no track listing on the back. Some
people believed that this minimalist approach was to juxtapose the tracks on the album, which had broken free
of any rules or structures, musical or sociological, resulting at time in a messy, unapologetic atmosphere.
However, the stark, white cover was not the only aspect of the design.
Front and Inner Sleeves of the Digipak
In contrast to the minimalist design, the album
came with a fold-out poster-collage (by famous UK
artist Richard Hamilton) with lyrics on the reverse,
as well as four coloured portraits of the band. In
fact, it was Hamilton who came up with the idea of
naming the album The Beatles in the fist place.
The album highlighted the unprecedented heights of
success the band had reached: no artwork was
needed to promote the band, as word of mouth
would have been enough. Also, an eponymous title
was used instead of a catchy title, reinforcing the
idea that The Beatle’s name had become a brand.