. . . when Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released on June 2, 1967, in the
United States!
"A day in the life . . ."
Each and every song on the album is a gem but my favorite is,
A Day In the Life.
I'll
never forget the night I heard this song. I had dropped a cube earlier
in the evening when it came on . . . the song and the cube.
OH, MY GOD!
To me this is one of the great songs of all-time. The lyrics (
link below), emotional intensity, surreal effects, musical constructions and variations are sublime . . . no, they are spectacular!
To say nothing of the innuendos! Concerns that some of the lyrics in
Sgt. Pepper refer to
recreational drug use led to the
BBC
banning several songs from British radio, such as
A Day in the Life
because of the phrase "I'd love to turn you on", with the BBC claiming
that it could "encourage a permissive attitude towards drug-taking."
Although Lennon and McCartney denied any drug-related interpretation of
the song at the time, McCartney later suggested that the line was
deliberately written to ambiguously refer to either illicit drugs or
sexual activity.
The meaning of
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds became the subject of
speculation, as many believed that the song's title was code for the
hallucinogenic drug
LSD. The BBC banned the track on those grounds.
They also banned
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! because of the
lyric, which mentions "Henry the Horse", a phrase that contains two
common slang terms for
heroin.
Fans speculated that Henry the Horse was a drug dealer and "Fixing a
Hole" was a reference to heroin use. Others noted lyrics such as "I get
high" from
With a Little Help from My Friends, "take some tea" – slang for
cannabis use – from
Lovely Rita and "digging the weeds" from
When I'm Sixty-Four.
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP gatefold album
photos by
Michael Cooper
photo of album by Styrous®
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP front cover above left, back cover below right
photos by Michael Cooper
photos of album by Styrous®
The March 30, 1967, photo session with Cooper produced the back cover
and the inside
gatefold, which the musicologist
Ian Inglis describes as
conveying "an obvious and immediate warmth ... which distances it from
the sterility and artifice typical of such images".
McCartney explained: "One of the things we were very much into in those
days was eye messages ... So with Michael Cooper's inside photo, we all
said, 'Now look into this camera and really say I love you! Really try
and feel love; really give love through this! It'll come out; it'll
show; it's an attitude.' And that's what that is, if you look at it
you'll see the big effort from the eyes. In 1973, Cooper committed suicide, caught in a spiral of depression and
heroin addiction.
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP gatefold album interior
photo by
Michael Cooper
photo of album interior by Styrous®
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP back cover detail above left, back cover detail below right
photo by
Michael Cooper
detail photos of album by Styrous®
In November 1966, during a return flight to London from Kenya, where he had been on holiday with Beatles
tour manager,
Mal Evans, McCartney had an idea for a song that eventually formed the impetus of the
Sgt. Pepper concept. His idea involved an
Edwardian-era military band, for which Evans invented a name in the style of contemporary
San Francisco based groups such as
Big Brother and the Holding Company and
Quicksilver Messenger Service.
In February of 1967, McCartney suggested that the Beatles should record an
entire album that would represent a performance by the fictional band.
This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment
musically. He explained: "I thought, let's not be ourselves. Let's
develop alter egos."
"Sergeant Pepper" itself didn't appear until halfway through making the
album. It was Paul's song, just an ordinary rock number ... but when we
had finished it, Paul said, "Why don't we make the album as though the
Pepper band really existed, as though Sergeant Pepper was making the
record? We'll dub in effects and things." I loved the idea, and from
that moment on it was as though
Pepper had a life of its own. -
Mal Evans
The front of the LP included a colourful collage featuring the Beatles
in costume as the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, standing with a
group of life-sized cardboard cut-outs of famous people. Right next to the Beatles are
wax sculptures of the bandmembers in their suits and moptop haircuts from the
Beatlemania era, borrowed from
Madame Tussauds.
~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP front cover detail
photo by
Michael Cooper
detail photo of album by Styrous®
The
cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the Beatles' 1967 album,
has become one of the most recognisable record sleeves in history.
Created by Peter Blake, reportedly for a paltry £200 (he made more money
by selling his
Marlene Dietrich cut-out several years later); she is included in a list of all the people pictured on the cover (
link Below).
In 1968, rumours began to circulate that the group had decided to break up.
Harrison informed their manager,
Brian Epstein,
that he was leaving the band, but was
persuaded to stay on the assurance that there would be no more tours.
The group took a three-month break, during which they focused on
individual interests. Harrison travelled to India for six weeks to study
the
sitar under the instruction of
Ravi Shankar and develop his interest in
Hindu
philosophy. Having been the last of the Beatles to concede that their
live performances had become futile, McCartney collaborated with Beatles
producer
George Martin on
the soundtrack for the film
The Family Way. Lennon acted in the film
How I Won the War and attended art showings, such as one at the
Indica Gallery where he met his future wife
Yoko Ono.
Ringo Starr used the break to spend time with his wife
Maureen and son
Zak.
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
vinyl LP page cutouts detail
According to
Barry Miles,
Lennon resented McCartney's direction of the band as well as how, aside
from
Strawberry Fields Forever, he himself was now supplying "songs
to order" rather than "writing from the heart" as he had on
Revolver.
Everett describes Starr as having been "largely bored" during the
sessions, with the drummer later lamenting: "The biggest memory I have
of
Sgt. Pepper ... is I learned to play chess".
Speaking in 2000, Harrison said he had little interest in McCartney's
concept of a fictitious group and that, after his experiences in India,
"my heart was still out there … I was losing interest in being 'fab' at
that point." Harrison added that, having enjoyed recording
Rubber Soul and
Revolver, he disliked how the group's approach on
Sgt. Pepper
became "an assembly process" whereby, "A lot of the time it ended up
with just Paul playing the piano and Ringo keeping the tempo, and we
weren't allowed to play as a band as much."
the Beatles ~
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
The author Sheila Whiteley attributes
Sgt. Pepper's underlying philosophy not only to the
drug culture, but also to
metaphysics and the non-violent approach of the
flower power movement.
The musicologist Oliver Julien views the album as an embodiment of "the
social, the musical, and more generally, the cultural changes of the
1960s". The American psychologist and counterculture figure
Timothy Leary
contends that the LP "gave a voice to the feeling that the old ways
were over ... it came along at the right time" and stressed the need for
cultural change based on a peaceful agenda.
The album's primary value, according to Moore, is its ability to
"capture, more vividly than almost anything contemporaneous, its own
time and place".
Whiteley agrees, crediting the album with "provid[ing] a historical
snapshot of England during the run-up to the Summer of Love". Several scholars have applied a
hermeneutic strategy to their analysis of
Sgt. Pepper's
lyrics, identifying loss of innocence and the dangers of overindulgence
in fantasies or illusions as the most prominent themes.
Influences
In 1966,
Brian Wilson's admiration for the
Wall of Sound by record producer
Phil Spector and the album
Rubber Soul resulted in the
Pet Sounds LP by
the Beach Boys.
The author Thomas MacFarlane credits the release with influencing many
musicians of the time, with McCartney in particular singing its praises
and drawing inspiration to "expand the focus of the Beatles' work with
sounds and textures not usually associated with popular music".
McCartney thought that his constant playing of the album made it
difficult for Lennon to "escape the influence", adding: "It's very
cleverly done ... so we were inspired by it and nicked a few ideas." Martin stated: "Without
Pet Sounds,
Sgt. Pepper never would have happened ...
Pepper was an attempt to equal
Pet Sounds."
Freak Out! by
the Mothers of Invention has also been cited as having influenced
Sgt. Pepper. According to the author
Philip Norman, during the
Sgt. Pepper recording sessions McCartney repeatedly stated: "This is our
Freak Out!" The music journalist Chet Flippo states that McCartney was inspired to record a
concept album after hearing
Freak Out!, considered the first rock concept album.
The album included a
page with images of Sgt. Pepper, his mustache, badge and insignias and the Beatles that could be cut out. The page also could be stood up.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
A1 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 1:59
A2 With A Little Help From My Friends 2:46
A3 Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 3:25
A4 Getting Better 2:47
A5 Fixing A Hole 2:33
A6 She's Leaving Home 3:24
A7 Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite 2:36
Side 2:
B1 Within You Without You 6:03
B2 When I'm Sixty-Four 2:38
B3 Lovely Rita 2:43
B4 Good Morning Good Morning 2:35
B5 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) 1:20
B6 A Day In The Life 5:03
Companies, etc.
Copyright (c) – Northern Songs Ltd.
Manufactured By – Capitol Records, Inc.
Pressed By – Capitol Records Pressing Plant, Jacksonville
Credits:
Cover – M C Productions, The Apple
Cover [Staged By] – Jann Haworth, Peter Blake (4)
Design, Artwork, Graphics – Peter Blake (4)
Design, Assemblage – Jann Haworth
Other [Wax Figurines] – Madame Tussauds
Photography By – Michael Cooper (8)
Producer – George Martin
Written-By – George Harrison (tracks: B1), Lennon-McCartney (tracks: A1 to A7, B2 to B6)
Notes:
This version has title printed on one line on the A-SIde and two lines on the B-Side
'thick' fonts on labels.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Rights Society: BMI
Matrix / Runout (A-Side Label): SMAS-X-1-2653
Matrix / Runout (B-Side Label): SMAS-X-2-2653
Matrix / Runout (A-Side Runout Etching): 0 SMAS1-2653-B16
Matrix / Runout (B-Side Runout Etching): 0 SMAS2 2653 A15#2
The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Label: Capitol Records – SMAS 2653, Capitol Records – SMAS-2653, Capitol Records – 2653
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Stereo
Country: US
Released: 1967
Genre: Rock, Pop
Style: Pop Rock, Psychedelic Rock
Personnel:
According to Mark Lewisohn and Ian MacDonald:
The Beatles
- John Lennon – lead, harmony and background vocals; rhythm, acoustic and lead guitars; Hammond organ and final piano E chord; harmonica, tape loops, sound effects, and comb and tissue paper; handclaps, tambourine and maracas
- Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and background vocals; bass and lead guitars; electric and acoustic pianos, Lowrey and Hammond organs; handclaps; vocalisations, tape loops, sound effects, and comb and tissue paper
- George Harrison – harmony and background vocals; lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars; sitar; tamboura; harmonica and kazoo; handclaps and maracas; lead vocals on "Within You Without You"
- Ringo Starr – drums, congas, tambourine, maracas, handclaps and tubular bells; lead vocals on "With a Little Help from My Friends"; harmonica; final piano E chord
Additional musicians and production:
- Sounds Incorporated – the saxophone sextet on "Good Morning, Good Morning"
- Neil Aspinall – tamboura and harmonica
- Geoff Emerick – audio engineering; tape loops and sound effects
- Mal Evans – counting, harmonica, alarm clock and final piano E chord
- George Martin – producer and mixer; tape loops and sound effects; harpsichord on "Fixing a Hole", harmonium, Lowrey organ and glockenspiel
on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", Hammond organ on "With a
Little Help from My Friends", and piano on "Getting Better" and the
piano solo in "Lovely Rita"; final harmonium chord.
- Session musicians – four French horns on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band": Neill Sanders, James W. Buck, John Burden, Tony Randall, arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; string section and harp on "She's Leaving Home", arranged by Mike Leander and conducted by Martin; tabla, dilrubas, tamboura and swarmandal on "Within You Without You", played by members of the Asian Music Circle,
with eight violins and four cellos arranged and conducted by Harrison
and Martin; clarinet trio on "When I'm Sixty-Four": Robert Burns, Henry
MacKenzie, Frank Reidy, arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney;
saxophones on "Good Morning, Good Morning", arranged and conducted by
Martin and Lennon; and forty-piece orchestra, including strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion on "A Day in the Life", arranged by Martin, Lennon and McCartney and conducted by Martin and McCartney.
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
A Day in the Life lyrics
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club technical details
People & images pictured on the cover
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - Official Site
New York Times ~ ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ at 50: Still Full of Joy and Whimsy
Time Magazine ~ How The Beatles Made Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Work
LA Times ~ 50th anniversary trip through 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'
USA Today ~ 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' turns 50
A Day In the Life on YouTube
I went into a dream!
~
~
Band-Aid ~ Do They Know It's Christmas?
