Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released on 1st June, 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the band’s eighth album became the soundtrack to the “summer of love” but its appeal is timeless.
Work had begun on the recording in late 1966 and at one stage it was thought that both Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever would also be included but when these were released as a single in February, that idea was abandoned.
Revolver had only just been completed in time prior to the band flying off on yet another tour. Now that touring was behind them more time could be spent writing and recording. Between November 1966 and April, 1967, they spent over 400 hours in the studio - a far cry from the Please Please Me days.
Of course the music was more complex and now that touring was over, there was no need to consider what could be reproduced in front of a live audience.
In the studio The Beatles encouraged George Martin to achieve “the impossible” and in turn, George and the engineers would find innovative ways of realising this despite still using only four-track equipment.
For the fourth time in the UK, no single was lifted from the album and this also held true in the US. The album was also not banded, encouraging the listener to play it all the way through, pausing only to turn the disc over.
Not only was the music different, exciting and colourful so too was the way it was delivered. The glossy double wallet featured the guys in their Pepper uniforms surrounded by images of people they either admired or were interested in whilst on the back of the sleeve there were the lyrics to all the songs. Inside each side of the wallet were other surprises, a card featuring various cut-outs and in the initial pressings at least, the paper inner sleeve bore a psychedelic design.
In the Britain the album hit number #1 and between June, 1967 and February, 1968 spent a total of 27 weeks at the top during an initial chart run of 148 weeks. All of this, in spite of a BBC ban on “A Day In The Life”.
In the US, the album was released in exactly same way as in Britain... well almost. The high-pitched tone and the garbled speech embedded in the UK run-out groove did not appear on the American release. The album enjoyed a fifteen week stay at the top of the US Top 200 albums during its initial chart run of 88 weeks.
NME April 1st, 1967
The Beatles’ next LP, which has already taken over seven months to record is at last nearing completion. Titled ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ it will be finished during the second week of April. Among tracks now completed are ‘A Day In The Life’, a John Lennon solo on which he is backed by a 41-piece orchestra. ‘When I’m 64’ a novelty number in early phonographic style featuring Paul McCartney. ‘Good Morning, Good Morning, Good Morning’ a John and Paul duet augmented by Sounds Inc, ‘She’s Leaving Home’ arranged by Mike Leander and employing added strings and ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Blues’.
NME May 20, 1967
Trust the Beatles to come up with something different! Their latest LP, ‘Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ is a sort of concert. It starts with that number and ends with it, except for a finale piece called ‘A Day In The Life’.
Facts
Other variations between the two mixes include louder laughter at the end of the mono mix of "Within You Without You", as well as a gush of laughter between the coda of the title track and the beginning of "With a Little Help From My Friends", and a colder, echoless ending on the mono version of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!".
- Producer
- George Martin
- Principal Engineer
- Geoff Emerick
Wikipedia
- Name
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
- Type
- studio
- Artist
- The Beatles
- Released
- 1 June 1967
- Recorded
- 6 December 1966 – 21 April 1967 at Abbey Road Studios, London, England
- Genre
- Psychedelic rock
- Length
- 39:42
- Language
- English
- Label
- Parlophone/Capitol
- Producer
- George Martin
- Reviews
- Allmusic Rated 5/5 link Blender Rated 5/5 link Robert Christgau (A) link Crawdaddy (Favorable) Issue 1.11 1967 Q (Favorable) link Rolling Stone (Favorable) 1987 Rolling Stone Rated 5/5 2004 George Starostin Rated 10/10 link
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the British rock band The Beatles. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning on 6 December 1966, the album was released on 1 June 1967 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. Sgt. Pepper is often described as The Beatles' magnum opus and recognized as one of the most influential albums of all time by prominent critics and publications. It was ranked the greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003.
Tracks
Comments
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Hair peace 1969 on 6th Feb 12:
“" Everything about the album, will be imagined from the perspective of these people, so it doesn't have to be us, it doesn't have to be the kind of song you want to write, it could be the song they might want to write." - Paul McCartney
" Changing the lifestyle and appearance of youth throughout the world didn't just happen, we set out to do it." - John Lennon
The music world would never be the same after Sgt. Pepper.” -
Hair peace 1969 on 1st Feb 12:
“It's not a grave scene! In fact it's a garden or a concert in a park. It's has nothing to do with Paul being dead! Those people are suppose to be fans of Sgt. Pepper's Paul decided to have the wax Beatles on the cover. Because he thought the Beatles would of been fans of the fictional band too.
Also it was to help recreate themselves.” -
Lennon NL on 22nd Jan 12:
“i love the video”
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Think for Yourself on 20th Jan 12:
“At the time that the Beatles were recording Sgt Pepper, people thought the Beatles were "dead" because they decided to end with their concerts. But it is logical that they were wrong! And when Sgt Pepper was finally released was a true revolution. The Beatles had stopped being just a pop band to be the spokesmen for a generation and this album clearly shows how they have changed. It was the album that changed the conception of who the Beatles were forever. They had become serious artists!
Sgt. Pepper was the true growth of the Beatles. That's why this album is so important!” -
Hair peace 1969 on 17th Jan 12:
“I believe Sgt. Pepper's transformed the Beatles from a "boy band" to MEN, they decided to get serious and work on a masterpiece like a artist spending months on one painting. As I mentioned in my pervious comment the main inspiration for Sgt. Pepper's was the Beach Boys's Pet Sounds, also "sigh" mind-altering chemicals such as LSD. It had an effect on their song writing especially John's ok I won't go into which songs on sgt. Pepper's are drug-related. After their last concert people ***umed the Beatles were done, but when this album came out it took everyone by surprise. All that hard work paid off, and I personally think this is another great album that shows the beatles at their best!”
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Hair peace 1969 on 26th Dec 11:
“This is one of the best albums I have ever heard, we should also respect the Beach Boys because, if they didn't create Pet Sounds the Beatles would of never create this great album.”
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caSper Pepperlane on 23rd Dec 11:
“oh if "baby your a rich man" and "strawberry fields.." and "penny lane" were on this album, it would be more perfect than it is, if thats conceivable!”
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caSper Pepperlane on 23rd Dec 11:
“and there is sonny liston, the heavyweight champion of the world who lost the title to none other than cassius clay, soon to become the famously infamous muhammad ali!!”
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prestwoodstudios on 20th Dec 11:
“PEPPER ANIMATED MOVIE FUNDING CAMPAIGN
http://igg.me/p/43198?a=82967” -
britishponies(: on 12th Dec 11:
“The best looking Beatles' album ever. <3”
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Related Images
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John at a recording session for the album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -
With George Martin during a recording session for the album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -
John at a recording session for the album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -
Paul & John with George Martin during a recording session for the album "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" -
Photo session for the "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" album cover
