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“SGT. PEPPER’S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND” U.S. RELEASE – TIMH

+10 HS
Whoa Nellie's picture
June 2, 2016 at 8:01am
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There is a wide divergence of opinion about the Beatles’ biggest selling album. It’s ranked #1 on the list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time (Rolling Stone). It has also been described as having the power to single handedly destroy rock and roll. Between these poles, Sgt. Pepper’s is dismissed as simply peripheral to the rock mainstream.

The birth of the album is traced to the end of the Beatles' US tour in August, 1966. Road-weary, and more so, world-weary, the Beatles permanently retired from touring, and decided to take 3 months off from recording. The effects of those decisions were several. Speculation that the Beatles were breaking up began circulating. Anticipatory fever over what the group would do next started to build. And, within the group, there was a sense of having been freed from all constraints in the recording studio. Consider that they’d just finished a tour on which they could not perform live a single song off the just-released Revolver album. But now, they needn’t worry about making music that could be reproduced live. The album would be their performance.

The Beatles (1966)

Simultaneously, cutting edge rock musicians were in awe of the first concept albums, which had been released in May and June, 1966. Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys and the Beatles were acutely aware of each other, and their friendly rivalry spurred both groups to greater heights in a battle of one-upmanship. Wilson was gobsmacked by Rubber Soul (1965), “it was the first album I listened to where every song was a gas.” The songs all related to each other, involving complex ideas about relationships, and the album was not built around singles interspersed between “filler”. Consciously trying to better Rubber Soul, Wilson produced Pet Sounds, considered to be his tour de force. Frank Zappa’s concept album Freak Out! was released a month later. Pet Sounds contained all of the elements that would inspire and be heard on Sgt. Pepper’s – orchestral arrangements, meaningful lyrics, thematic structure, and advanced recording techniques. The Beatles, and Paul McCartney especially, were paying close attention. Paul played Pet Sounds and Freak Out! frequently during the Sgt. Pepper's sessions at Abbey Road.

While on holiday in November, 1966, Paul came up with the concept of an album by a fictitious band being portrayed by the Beatles. The use of an alter ego freed them to play anything they liked, since it would be Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band at the mike or on the guitar. Sgt. Pepper’s band was conceived as an Edwardian or Victorian brass band, the songs being centered on themes of life in England. Two of the first songs recorded for the album were “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever,” perfectly suited to this concept and vibe. Unfortunately, bowing to pressure from their record company, the Beatles agreed to release those songs as a two A-side single in February, 1967. When the record failed to reach #1 and the British press began to question the group's continuing relevance, manager Brian Epstein insisted the songs be dropped from the album. Imagine Sgt. Pepper’s with “Penny Lane” and “Strawberry Fields Forever” in the mix. Record producer Sir George Martin called his acquiescence to Epstein's demand “the biggest mistake of my professional life.”

Even so, the songs that made it to the album are uniformly excellent, played in a wide variety of styles and instrumentation. All the recording tricks of the day were in play. In this brave new world, the recording studio was not simply a room where music was played. The studio and its wizard’s toys became part of the music, another instrument. Special effects, reverb, filters, Mellotrons, orchestras, and dogs barking? Sgt. Pepper’s (Pet Sounds, too) is often described as the beginning of progressive rock. Critics of these highly produced and manipulated sounds complained that it wasn’t rock and roll at all. The echoes of this debate still resound today in the rock and roll Hall of Fame selections, where purists have all but declared progressive rock bands ineligible.

Sgt. Pepper’s success is also owed to its creative cover art, featuring the Beatles as members of a brass band in full period uniform, and surrounded by historic figures and celebrities. The back cover also contained full lyrics, a welcome first.

The album was released in the UK on June 1, 1967, and in the US on June 2, just in time for the “Summer of Love.” It debuted at #1 in the US and UK, and went on to sell 32 million copies (the Beatles total album sales worldwide exceed 2.3 billion).

Returning to the original question, is Sgt. Peppers: The best album ever? Not even a rock and roll album? Just a famous cul de sac on the rock and roll highway? Well, if rock and roll music at its best provokes and stirs up passions, then judging by the range and ferocity of opinions about the album, maybe Sgt. Pepper’s is the greatest of all time. 

 

This is a forum post from a site member. It does not represent the views of Eleven Warriors unless otherwise noted.

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