McCartney's Idea for the White Album Cover That Didn't Happen

It's cool to hear the behind the scenes stuff with bands like the Beatles--in this case, it was the back and forth between band members--Paul McCartney in particular--and their record company, EMI, as to what the artwork for the cover of what is known as "The White Album" should look like...after coming off the enormously busy, popular and speculated about cover art for Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band," they all decided on the minimalist blank white cover for the album simply called "The Beatles" but McCartney was pushing for an idea he thought would create excitement with the fans: that everybody who purchased the album could look on their album cover and see they had a numbered copy. Paul adds the Beatles have the first 4 numbers, with John getting number one, because he "shouted the loudest." Seems that EMI initially went through with the plan to number all the albums, but according to McCartney, they stopped after just a few thousand copies....here's more from Paul about the White Album, Sgt Pepper, and a lot more.