Sgt. Pepper's
The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sgt. Pepper: Part 1
a poster of a painting made from a picture from the Sgt. Pepper launch
It's a vague "concept", The Beatles becoming an old fashioned "band" that play in the bandstand of some unspecified English park, at some unspecified time...and that's about it...but there were several new elements that sold the concept: 1 The production. With all the lessons of Revolver well learned, The Beatles seemed to be moving away from "weird & eclectic" to "being able to do anything". Five stars to McCartney for steering the ship in that direction. Despite subsequent disownings of Sgt Pepper, Lennon's all over it the album, even lifting sub-standard songs like McCartney's Lovely Rita 2 the lyrics frequently take on a cinema-verite feel (then the breakthrough in Arty film techniques), almost shocking in their detachment 3 the seamless connection of the songs seemed to indicate a "unity", which, together with various combos of perhaps the best-ever white-pop backing vocals and the addition of Indian instrument "texturing" in unexpected places, seemed to have unofficially launched Beatlemania 2.0. The moptops might be dead (indeed, wax dummies of The Beatles circa 1965 were on the cover) but this time the boys were back, unified, as psychedelic soldiers proudly wearing their MBEs (real-life decorations from the British government) in garish satin military uniforms see: the yellow background 4-shot on the inner sleeve (p 8-9 in my CD booklet) 4 It's hard to understand in a CD-world, but the album cover seemed to advertise a new era of positivism. It was, I believe:
Serious young men all over the world must have been very proud to be seen carrying the Sgt. Pepper sleeve under their arms. It defined "hip" for quite a while. ...And the music? Well, that's problematic. Many consider it The Beatles' the best ever, others consider it seriously over-rated...and I change opinion every so often. What I'm completely sure of is that Sgt Pepper could have been a much better album, perhaps, even, the greatest pop music album ever, if The Beatles hadn't released the teaser single of: Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields Forever ...in March 1967, which, at the time, meant that the tracks wouldn't be considered for the album. If those 2 tracks had been included, instead of Lovely Rita & "...so many of my things...they're tongue in cheek but they get taken for real! And similarly with 'Lovely Rita' - the idea of a parking-meter attendant's being sexy was tongue in cheek at the time..." Paul McCartney circa 1994 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below) When I'm 64 (a track that McCartney had written as a youth), "...When I'm Sixty Four was something Paul wrote in the Cavern days. We just stuck in a few more words, like 'grandchildren on your knee,' and 'Vera Chuck and Dave.' It was just one of those ones that he'd had, that we've all got, really - half a song...We used to do it when the amps broke down, just sing it on the piano..." John Lennon 1980 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below)
Sergeant Pepper, already a ground-breaking album, would have contained 2 two pieces of psychedelic pop genius, tracks which should have been the center-pieces for the album...and there would be no debate needed. With that cut and paste, Sgt Pepper is, in my eyes, the greatest pop album of all time.
Sgt. Pepper Part 2
One of the side effects of that "overtoxing" is that the user starts to have less "psychedelic" experiences and becomes more passive, empathic and emotional, much like the more modern drug, Ecstasy. Lennon, generally had little interest in anyone outside The Beatles camp and now, with plenty of time on his hands from the cessation of touring, began to look back at the past. Strawberry Fields Forever is that LSD/Ecstasy vision. Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army orphanage that the young John Lennon (dumped by his fun-loving mother to live with strict Aunt Mimi) could see from his bedroom window. His prison saw into theirs and now, returning in a drugged vision, Lennon puns that it's "...nothing to get home about..." "....Let me take you down
Of course, the normally angry John Lennon, sedated by the massive amounts od drugs he was taking, accepts both his inability to make sense of Life outside the metaphorical orphanage...and the fact that he doesn't really care, anyway.
"...Living is easy with eyes closed
"...No-one I think is in my tree Then a failure to fit in with others, with Life... "...That is, you can't y'know, tune in..." ...and then a McCartney-esque reversal "...But it's alright
"...Always know sometimes think it's me Strawberry Fields Forever ...And as we return to the orphanage for the last time, having learned nothing, we get a glimpse of what John Lennon's confused spirit may well have been thinking on December 9 1980, as his life forced ebbed away.
Penny Lane
As if given the same assignment, McCartney, too, described fragmentary images from his youth for Penny Lane. However, the images that he assembled, while also dislocated and surreal, were playful, joyous memories, captured in feelgood polaroids... "...In Penny Lane there is a barber showing photographs Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes Penny Lane
McCartney continues his montage, interweaving snapshots of:
...a suburban Britain, where Life in Penny Lane continues through its minutae, as it always has...and always will, through millions of other Penny Lanes.
Yup, a Sgt. Pepper bear!
Sgt. Pepper Part 3 And so to the album so many of us know and love. Unlike Revolver, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band mostly functions better as a suite than as individual tracks opening with the sound of an orchestra tuning up and a murmuring audience: then, while an "oompah" marching band plays a few bars, the audience laughs as if clowns are entertaining them...and we return to The Beatles, led by Lennon: "...We're Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
With A Little Help From My Friends "...I remember giggling with John as we wrote the lines:
...and if that didn't make the point clearly enough, there was always Lennon's Acid 101 writing class, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds: "...Picture yourself on a boat on a river Lucy in the Skies with Diamonds..." Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Coincidence (as Lennon claimed and McCartney verified) or not, the LSD being the first letter of each main word of the title are just about all you need to know about this trippy gem, other than that Lennon was egging on producer George Martin to treat his voice, to do anything so he didn't just sound like Beatle John. Next up, 3 very interesting McCartney tracks, none of them classics but all integral to the Sgt Pepper groove:
Getting Better, seemingly innocuous B-grade pop with Macca's standard lazy lyrics and fab faux-female backing vocals from John & George...but then comes the unexpected bridge: "...I used to be cruel to my woman I admit it's getting better Getting Better "...I was a hitter. I couldn't express myself and I hit. I fought men and I hit women. That is why I am always on about Peace, you see. It is the most violent people who go for Love and Peace..." John Lennon 1980 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below) R-i-g-h-t! Getting Better is the only song that I've ever heard which has mentioned wife-beating so casually and remember, only three years before, The Beatles were wooing 8-year olds. Moving right along (please!) we segue into the still intriguing Fixing A Hole, as reflective as Strawberry Fields Forever but instead of the protagonist finding morbidity and an inner paralysis, Fixing A Hole finds another answer: "...I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in Fixing A Hole
The final segment of the mini-suite is the delightful suburban melodrama of She's Leaving Home delivered over an exquisite George Martin all-strings arrangement and Lennon's totally believable 2nd lead-vocal dialogue-like contributions: "...Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown She's leaving home Bye-bye She's Leaving Home
Back in the vinyl days album sides only lasted 20 minutes and Side 1 of Sgt. Pepper ends with Lennon's druggy and vaguely threatening Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite, a virtual transcription of a Victorian circus poster that he purchased: "...For the benefit of Mr.Kite Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite With the loony fairground feel, Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite is bizarre, genuinely disturbing and a friggin' mystifying way to end a stunning side of trippy pop music. Incredible!
Flip the album and you're suddenly on the banks of the Ganges with George intoning basic Hindu philosophy while some cool Calcutta cats lay down a chapati beat that's thousands of years old. "...We were talking about the space between us all ...When you've seen beyond yourself Within You & Without You '...Within You Without You' was written after dinner one night at Klaus Voorman's house. He had a harmonium, which I hadn't played before. I was doodling on it when the tune started to come. The first sentence came out of what we'd been doing that evening... 'We were talking.' That's as far as I got that night. I finished the rest of the words later at home..." George Harrison 1967 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below)
There are only a handful of tracks that immediately conjure the famous 1967 Summer Of Love and Within You & Without You is one of them, period! While the cynics may snigger, I'm with George, great, mindblowing stuff and for me, one of the two standout tracks on the album. Damn! I knew I'd get here. I'm refusing to talk about McCartney's When I'm 64 & Lovely Rita and replacing them with Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields Forever, in that order. Done! If you don't like it, bad luck! This is my version of Sgt. Peppers Coming out of Strawberry Fields Forever, as if the trip has momentarily worn off, there's a delightful piece of Lennon fluff, Good Morning (also the-then contemporary jingle for Kellogg's corn flakes) about being a sly rock god out on the town, preening, flirting and then popping home for a while to make sure the wife isn't too suspicious. Ringo drives the track with heavy-handed authority, glad to finally earn his keep on the album with some stacatto rock'n'roll. There's an ace sax section blowing away, I presume it's George who adds a few stinging lead guitar breaks and then uh - a very funny menagerie of animal noises montage on the fade-out...(Why, I don't know but they sound great!) "...Good Morning...That was our first major use of sound effects...We had horses and chickens and dogs and all sorts running through it..." Paul McCartney 1984 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below) The ony lyric of note is the very understated but definitely pointed, when no female has been mentioned directly: "...Go to a show, you hope she goes..." ...almost certainly referring to Lennon's (then) secret mind-buddy, Japanese conceptual artist, Yoko Ono, who he was secretly meeting occasionally at various London happenings. Hmmm. There's a quick, rocking reprise of the title track which reinforces the concept that Sgt. Peppers really is a band playing a concert and finally, the album's masterpiece, Lennon's A Day In The Life, still sounding fresh after all these years. It's as if John, slipping out of the momentary testosterone-normality on Good Morning is now stoned Strawberry Fields Forever John again, withdrawn and introspective, opening his eyes, looking at the world and coldly commenting on the real-world death of an acquaintance: "...I read the news today, oh boy He blew his mind out in a car A Day In The Life
There's another disinterested verse, this time about How I Won The War a movie that Lennon played a supporting role in.
How I Won The War DVD "...If you're seeking this movie out as a Beatles fan...you ought to know (that)...despite John Lennon's handsome mug being prominately featured on the cover of this videotape, he only features in about 15 minutes of this film..." Amazon reviewer Jeffrey Whitcher "Beatles freak" "...In my opinion, one of the most off-beat comedies ever produced...Constant laughter from start to finish...if you're hip to the dry humor the British are famous for. Trust me: get it!..." Amazon reviewer Michael Doherty "...(director) Lester's satirical look at the horrors of war - and the ill-conceived glorification of it in war films - is perhaps his most brilliant effort ever. I'll go further, "How I Won The War" may be one of the most unjustly ignored and underrated films of the past 30+ years. Granted, Lester's dense symbolism, Brechtian framing devices, layered sound and use of flashbacks/forwards will confuse some...but if you...let "War" wash over you, you will be rewarded with a rich and mature comedy with bite..." Amazon reviewer Jim Yoakum
...and then, as if remembering what he'd really wanted to say, Lennon mentions casually: "...I'd love to turn you on..." ...which lingers and lingers, stressing its import until it's rudely interrupted by an alarm clock, as if Lennon's dream has been interrupted by McCartney, who provides a Penny Lane-like vignette of getting up and going to work, this time, in the first person. However, the 9 to 5 drudge changes changes when the character boards a bus... "...Found my way upstairs ...And the McCartney mini-movie becomes a dream within Lennon's dream. Once more, Lennon comments upon incomprehensible images (allegedly from a real-life newspaper headline): "...I read the news today, oh boy ...and yet, by the end he once more reiterates his only true comment for the world: "...I'd love to turn you on..." A Day In The Life ...a comment that lingers and lingers as the Sgt.Pepper orchestra builds and builds for an almighty, dramatic, epoch-shattering crescendo. "...A Day in the Life'...was a good piece of work between Paul and me...Now and then we really turn each other on with a bit of song, and he just said 'yeah' - bang bang, like that. It just sort of happened beautifully, and we arranged it and rehearsed it, which we don't often do, the afternoon before (recording it). So we all knew what we were playing, we all got into it. It was a real groove..." John Lennon 1968 (see Beatles quotes about Sgt. Pepper, below)
Cut and paste in Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane and you'll see, Sgt. Pepper is a masterpiece, an astonishing collage, just like on the cover. It's white boys Art Rock at its finest and you know, the only thing I have left to say on the subject is: "...I'd love to turn you on..."
The Beatles: Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band "...When you listen to Sgt. Pepper for the first time your listening to not just the Beatles but a generation growing up. The music industry changed the day this album was released. When I first listened to this album I didn't know whether to love it or hate it. It was not the Beatles I was use to listening to. About the third playing I "got it." I wore my first copy out in about a week..." Amazon reviewer James L. Porter "...A must in all serious record-collections..." Amazon reviewer Inge Naess "...This Sacred Cow Is Actually Good: I'm not much for worshipping sacred cows. I wouldn't call Pet Sounds or Dark Side Of The Moon masterpieces, even if "the experts" say that they are. And I don't really care if Sgt. Pepper is the birth of modern pop music or important regarding the evolution of art rock. I just think that the songs on Sgt. Pepper are really good. Good enough to get 5 stars..." Amazon reviewer Unsmart "...Hey, it's The Beatles! What's not to like? Got it for my son, who's 21, and he requested it, so I rest my case!..." Amazon reviewer L. Guthrie "...5 stars can't begin to express the rating of this work of art. I react very strangely to listening to it however. It causes me pain. The pain that comes with realizing that time travel is impossible. I was a young kid in 67 and every person on the planet (or so it seems) owned this album. Everywhere you went, the sound of "Pepper's" could be heard from windows if you were walking the street...It was as if the world was actually united in it's awe of what these guys had produced. The music is timeless, a work of genius.... ...I don't listen to Sgt Peppers anymore, but I love it like a lost friend or lover. If I listen to Pepper's it makes me yearn to return to those days of the summer when it all was so fresh and new...I heard a guy say on MTV the other day that Nirvana was that generation's Beatles. God, did they get short changed or what?..." Amazon reviewer Todd D. "Alt 6-stringer"
Sgt. Peppers poster
Sgt Pepper inside sleeve poster
George Martin: With A Little Help From My Friends "...An excellent account of the making of the greatest rock'n'roll album ever produced: Sgt Pepper, written by the man who put it together..." Amazon reviewer Studebacher Hoch reviewer
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As Albert Goldman points out in his controversial (and often maligned) 
...punning again, Strawberry Fields Forever, seems to say that he'll be an orphan forever and he comments sarcastically on how wondeful that prospect is.
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