"Hey, who let that scruffy weird Asian chick in?"
Posted on 06/01/2017 9:59:18 AM PDT by Snickering Hound
For many, Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is The Beatles at their best.
When it came out on 1 June 1967 it was unlike anything that had come before it. Experimental and immersive, it pushed musical boundaries.
Half a century on, it remains one of the most influential albums of all time, as Beatles author Steve Turner explains: "It was artistically aspirational at a time when most of their contemporaries were still playing beat music of some kind or another.
"They had these great ambitions. Paul was starting to go to the theatre, George was listening to Indian music, and all these new interests came in and affected the album."
Fans around the world clambered to get hold of a copy; Peter Blake's iconic artwork on the cover meant it immediately stood out. But the real revolution was how it sounded.
It was one of the very first rock and roll concept albums - 13 tracks about an imaginary world in which a fictional concert is taking place, led by a character called Sgt Pepper.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.sky.com ...
"Hey, who let that scruffy weird Asian chick in?"
“Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
It was FIFTY years ago today
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the show
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sit back and let the evening go
Sgt. Pepper’s lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s lonely
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
It’s wonderful to be here
It’s certainly a thrill
You’re such a lovely audience
We’d like to take you home with us
We’d love to take you home
I don’t really want to stop the show
But I thought that you might like to know
That the singer’s going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing along
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We’ll be in Liverpool this summer.
To me, Sgt. Pepper is the gold standard of the “theme” album. Oddly, I don’t have it in my top 10 of “best” all time albums based on how much I listen to the songs on my iPod only because I listened to it so much as a younger guy it pretty much wore me out.
But the whole use of relatively new recording tricks, backward taping, multiple/multiple overdubs, the variations of Lennon, McCartney, Starr, and Harrison-sung or written songs . . . well, no one comes close. I always thought one of the reasons the Beatles were so great was that aside from Ringo, you had three strong but very different songwriters, and as long as each allowed the others to contribute riffs and lyrics, you had vast variations of sounds.
Only when they split did you see that McCartney’s music got old easily (too sugary) or Lennon’s was too plain, and Harrison’s too morose. Together they were far, far better than they were individually.
And, as a drummer, I still maintain that Ringo is one of the greatest rock drummers ever.
This work was the most impactful album of my lifetime. I was about 7 years old in the mid-70s when I first heard it, and I couldn’t stop playing it (every day) for at least a year.
Piper at the Gates of Dawn is ten time the album Sgt. Peppers was. Recorded same time and at Abbey Road as well...
I’ve always slightly preferred Rubber Soul over Revolver but both albums are great.
That whole period from about March 1965 through June 1966 was awesome. They recorded Rubber Soul, Yesterday And Today (American release) and Revolver during that time.
If I remember right Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields were both recorded before they began the Sgt Pepper album.
I always thought Strawberry Fields would’ve fit nicely on Sgt Pepper...leave off Good Morning maybe, but both those songs ended up on Magical Mystery Tour.
I’m jealous!.........................
George has always been my favorite. I can listen to “All Things Must Pass” repeatedly.
I don’t feel that Ringo was the best rock drummer, but he certainly got a great ride when he joined the fab four.
If you look at the simplicity of their first offerings, like “Hold Your Hand”, “Michelle”, and the progression to their final works as a group, I don’t think we’ll ever see a more dramatic growth from any group.
They covered the spectrum of available production choices.
I do think there are best ever singles that rival or surpass them. I do not think there are other groups that even come close to the expansion of their productions over the length of their performing life. Most are lucky to get 15 to 25% of that sort of growth over time.
Entities will still be playing Beatles music a thousand years from now if civilization should last that long.
Some of those early songs touched the heart and soul of what innocent love is. That sort of thing will never die.
Can't disagree with you. I give Rubber Soul the nod for "If I Needed Someone", but that's my personal opinion. Both albums are on my I-pod. I had just turned 13 when Sgt. Pepper was released.
I'm very happy Sirius just launched the Beatles Channel. There's now a clash whenever my 6 YO grandson rides with me. He's a devotee of Channel 56, The Highway". lol
Very fitting. Thanks.
Makes you feel old, huh.
It’s getting better all the time.
It seems McCartney may get the last laugh in the “Paul is Dead” rumor...
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds came from a drawing Lennon's 4 year old son made of a friend.
“And, as a drummer, I still maintain that Ringo is one of the greatest rock drummers ever.”
Two different amateur drummers, both pretty good, have told me that learning the drum part to “Ticket to Ride” was one of their most difficult challenges.
I agree when you stated Ringo wasn’t the best rock drummer, but he was the perfect drummer for The Beatles.
He would not have fit with Led Zeppelin, The Who,Cream,
The Rolling Stones,or Pink Floyd. But Bonham, Moon, Baker, Watts or Mason wouldn’t have fit with The Beatles.
Ringo and The Beatles were a perfect match. (And the other groups I mentioned have a perfect match with their drummers also !!)
I often wonder what Pete Best was thinking all those years ago. Just months away from being an international superstar.
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