Beatles cover has cigarettes erased

Beatles cover has cigarettes erased

Wednesday, March 29 2006, 11:52 BST - by Fiona Edwards

Record company bosses have decided to erase cigarettes from the cover of compilation Capitol Albums Volume 2.

The compilation album is due for re-release on April 3, but the cover will not be in its original form. The new cover will still feature the Beatles, though the cigarettes that they were holding in their hands will have been removed.

The move is designed to reflect societies growing awareness of the health problems inherent in smoking, and so the cover will not endorse cigarette smoking.

This is not the first time a Beatles cover has been censored over the issue of smoking - in the mid-eighties when I Wanna Hold Your Hand was released by EMI in America, a cigarette that Paul was holding was removed from the cover in a similar move.

Source: Digital Spy