Rubber Soul - The Cover Photo Uncropped and Undistorted

An amazing picture of The Beatles has just surfaced which appears to be the photo taken by Robert Freeman that was used for the Rubber Soul album cover.

The picture is uncropped and undistorted, and has never been published.  In the various books showcasing Freeman's photographs of the Beatles, there have never been any pictures showing any shots that were taken at John Lennon's home for the Rubber Soul cover, so most Beatles fans assumed the pictures had been forever lost since Freeman didn't seem to have them, or at least wasn't including them in any books.  This picture, if it is the real thing and not a really good forgery, is a shot that many fans have always wanted to see.  Its interesting to see that it must have been very cold that day as you see Paul's hands inside his shirt sleeves. 
 
As for the cover, and why it was distorted, the story goes that the Beatles were reviewing some of the pictures Freeman had taken as slide projections on a piece of cardboard cut out to be the size of an album cover, when the piece of cardboard slipped slightly, and created a distorted and stretched image that the Beatles really liked.   Presumably, it must have looking something like this:

The distorted image works well as it allows all 4 faces to fit very close together on the album cover:

One interesting thing to note about the Rubber Soul cover is that "Beatles" does not appear on the cover.  This is likely one of the first times a record was released where the name of the group didn't even have to appear on the cover since the band was so immediately recognizable. 

At this point, nobody seems to know the source of the photo, which is why there is a slight bit of question as to whether it is authentic, or whether it might be a really good forgery.   Here's hoping whoever released this photo has a few other shots from that photo session!

The Most Awesome Baseball Card Video Ever!

If you haven't seen the video Kung Fu Mom yet, you need to check it out.  It is hilarious, and the plot happens to revolve around this Rollie Fingers card:

Here is the clip, which is told by Sugarboy, who ate a lot of sugar and wants to tell us his story:

The story is about a bad-ass roller skating mom who likes to collect baseball cards.

One day when she is sorting cards based on "coolest looking guy"

she gets a note from a Bad Guy

 
 who stole her Rollie Fingers "rookie" card

and who is threatening to bend the card in half and rough up the corners so it will not be in mint condition

Kung Fu Mom sets out on a quest Coney Island to retrieve the card and encounters all kinds of trouble along the way

She finally tracks down the Bad Guy, and finds the card being held hostage.

She makes a move for the card

and uses it as a throwing star

to take out the Bad Guy

Rollie Fingers then appears

and they fall in love and have a baby named Sugarboy:

Obviously, the card shown in the video is not Rollie Fingers' rookie card as his rookie card is from 1969

but he doesn't have a mustache on his rookie card, so it really wouldn't work with the theme of the "twirly" mustache.


It looks like they took some creative license as the card isn't even his 1975 card which has a picture of him pitching:

Instead, they used this picture which gives a much better look at his mustache.

 
One other thing card collectors will notice is that while the video says the story takes place in 1977, the cards that she is sorting are from the 1980's.  

 

This video was produced by Above Average Productions, which features comedy shorts from writers from SNL, 30 Rock, and The Lonely Island. I'm definitely looking forward to more stories from Sugarboy!