< Meet the Beatles (Again) - Meet the Beatles!/With the Beatles | Main | Meet the Beatles (Again) - The Beatles [aka The White Album] >

Meet the Beatles (Again) - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Posted at 2:07 AM on September 9, 2009 by The Current
Filed under: Meet the Beatles (Again)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Originally released in 1967
By Jill Riley

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band transformed The Beatles from touring band to studio band. They had grown tired and frustrated with playing to screaming crowds, where no one could even hear their music anyway. The Beatles' last show was August 29, 1966 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. From there they were free to experiment in the studio, even more so than they did when they made their previous record, Revolver. In a lot of ways, Revolver opened up their eyes to what they were capable of doing in a studio and how far they could take creativity, especially when they didn't have to worry about arranging the music to be played live. The Beatles knew they needed a new direction, a fresh start. But how would they shed their old identities? How could they possibly leave the past behind and start new? By creating alter egos of course! Not only was Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band a concept band, but one of the first concept albums.

Recording began in November of 1966 and would wrap in April of 1967. The creativity that flowed in those 129 days, not only in the material but also in the recording techniques, has left a permanent stamp on rock music. The engineers were extremely innovative. They had developed automatic double tracking and also experimented with tape speed. A four-track recorder was still being used, so they had to bounce down mixes onto tracks so more overdubs could be made. Studio effects were heavily used (reverb, flang, echo, reverse). The Beatles, along with producer George Martin and the team of engineers, were able to maximize on technology to aid in their vision.

During the sessions for Sgt. Pepper, 16 songs were recorded. "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane" and "It's Only a Northern Song" were left off the album. The first two were released as a double A side single (and on the US release of Magical Mystery Tour), and "It's Only a Northern Song" showed up later on the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. It blows my mind to think about how different this record might have sounded if those songs had made it on to the final track listing, in place of something else. Where would they be placed in the order? What songs could have possibly been cut in their place? What if track four was "Strawberry Fields Forever", following "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds", instead of "Getting Better"? Decisions are made for a reason I suppose, but either way, for the first time in Beatles history the track listing was identical for the U.K. and U.S. versions. The only difference was the crazy audio loop in the run out groove of the U.K. version.

What's a great album without an amazing album cover? The Beatles are dressed as their alter egos, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (led by Ringo as Billy Shears). They're surrounded by random objects and cardboard cutouts of people they admired.

I own this album on four different formats: vinyl, 8-track, cassette and CD (I haven't been able to track down a reel-to-reel copy). The version I am most intrigued with is my stereo vinyl copy. From what I can tell, it's part of the fourth pressing batch, with the UK Parlaphone "'70s label." Early pressings had a psychedelic flame design on the inner sleeve. A page of cardboard cut-outs was tucked in the gatefold sleeve, which included a mustache, picture card, badge, stripes and a stand up.

The 2009 digital remastering of The Beatles catalog has inspired me to spend some time with both the stereo and mono mixes of Sgt. Pepper. George Martin and The Beatles would probably prefer that we all just stick with the mono version, since that was the original intention for the album. Some things to notice about the mono mix include the flang effect on John's voice during "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," the chicken clucks of "Good Morning, Good Morning" are just a little different, and Paul's voice can be heard at the end of the "Sgt. Pepper Reprise." After listening to both remastered versions back to back, it's my opinion that I still prefer the listening experience of the stereo version. It's more challenging for my senses. I appreciate how the mono and stereo mixes are just two different listening experiences.

I've been a Beatles freak since I was a kid. It's sort of a testament to how The Beatles catalog is timeless. I was born in 1982. That means 12 years had all ready passed since The Beatles broke up. That means John Lennon had all ready been dead two years. After studying audio production in college, I started to really understand how innovative Sgt. Pepper was, and how it's been influencing the recording process ever since. It's safe to say The Beatles changed rock 'n' roll forever. It's even safer to say The Beatles changed my life forever.

Jill Riley is the morning co-host on The Current 6-10 a.m. weekdays. Good morning, good morning ...

September 2009
S	M	T	W	T	F	S
		1	2	3	4	5
6	7	8	9	10	11	12
13	14	15	16	17	18	19
20	21	22	23	24	25	26
27	28	29	30

Master Archive