Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by Beatles (The) (CD, Jun-1987, Capitol/EMI Records)

Best Album of all time!

Track listing
1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!
8. Within You Without You
9. When I'm Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. Day In The Life, A


Details
Playing time: 39 min.
Contributing artists: George Martin
Producer: George Martin
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution
Recording type: Studio
Recording mode: Stereo
SPAR Code: AAD


Album notes
Includes a 28-page booklet with rare photos, notes on the recording sessions and lyrics.
The Beatles: George Harrison (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, sitar, tamboura, harmonica, tambourine, comb & paper); John Lennon (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, Hammond organ, maracas, comb & paper); Paul McCartney (vocals, acoustic & electric guitars, piano, harpsichord, Hammond organ, bass, comb & paper); Ringo Starr (vocals, harmonica, piano, drums, bongos).
Additional personnel includes: Neil Aspinall (tamboura, harmonica); Mal
Evans (harmonica, alarm clock); George Martin (piano, harmonium,
Wurlitzer organ, organ); Sounds Incorporated (saxophone, French
horn, trombone).
Engineers include: Geoff Emerick, Malcolm Addey, Ken Townsend.
Recorded at Abbey Road Studios and Regent Sound Studio, London, England between December 6, 1966 and April 21, 1967.
Includes liner notes by George Martin, Mark Lewisohn and Peter Blake.
One of the most famous and influential albums ever recorded, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND had a huge impact on the music world, signaling the beginning of a new era of sophistication and maturity in rock. The musical experimentation was dynamic and fresh, several tracks were edited to create seamless transitions, and even the visual design was more elaborate than anything previously attempted.
Producer George Martin and The Beatles searched for new sounds and studio effects. They added crowd sounds and animal cries from sound-effects recordings, sped up Paul McCartney's vocals in "When I'm Sixty-Four" (to make him sound younger), and sustained a single piano chord for 40 seconds to end "A Day In The Life." The orchestrations, scored by Martin, were hailed by critics as bridging the gap between pop and classical music, and many people who had never bought a rock record bought SGT. PEPPER'S.

Ever since Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was made by the Beatles those many summers ago in 1967, one can only speculate this timeless well crafted album done by the Fab Four and the musical influence it has left upon our culture and the sort of historical impact historians will ponder its musical influence for generation to come.

Many have speculated the total impact Sgt Pepper has had and musical artists Sargent Peppers has influenced or even attempted to amulate in the summers that have passed since Sgt Pepper was recorded. The Conclusion being: was this the ultimate influence of generations of people Sargent Pepper has touched since the summer of 1967 with the racial riots, Vietnam War and the acid rock hang over?! And that led up to Woodstock and Isles Whites Concert Events? It's hard too believe that it has been over forty years since the Beatles made this album. A state of the art album that was well ahead of it's time musically .
Most of the songs and lyrics on Sargent Pepper were written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and has given them the distinction of being the greatest song writing team and composers of the 20th Century and perhaps of all time.

One of the high point songs of Sgt Pepper was George Harrison's excellent well played handling of the Eastern Indian musical instrument called the sitar on his own personally written lyric WITHIN YOU, WITH OUT YOU. This song was just the one example of the evolutionary musical influence this album has had on the late 1960's generation of that time and the influence the Beatles introduced with Sargent Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds with its great rock n roll acid rock sound passed onto young folks, sounds and hidden messages of using LSD and such pondering enhancing drugs onto a whole generation of people who sought nothing but love and peace.
Paul McCartney's Shes Leaving Home talks about youth generations gaps by running away to seek the inner love and beauty that was not felt at home!! The most noted song on the album :A Day in the Life explains the frustrations of war, personal struggles and just by it's self the stress of every day living!

The year was 1967, the Psychedelic Summer of Love and the peek point of the acid rock era and the Beatles were definitely the spokesmen of their generation. Whether it was on clothing styles, musical influence or getting high and stoned on drugs , the Beatles made the mark on a generation with SARGENT PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND along with their music, and shall forever stand the tests of time.

TRACKS:

1. Sargent Pepper's lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With a Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing a Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being For the Benefit of Mister Kite
8. Within You, Without You
9. When I am Sixty-four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning Good Morning
12. Sargent Pepper (reprise)
13. A Day in the Life

PRODUCED by: George Martin: recorded in England 1967 Abbey Road Studios.

What could I say about this great album that has not been said before. This is the Beatles at what could probably be consider their most experimental phase. The most interesting aspect of this is that you can hear trademarks of the early Beatles throughout the album such as the beautiful harmonies combined with all kinds of instuments and effects. Every track sounds and feels so different from the previous one that it sounds as if it could have been the work of 4 different bands.

The title track seams to With A little Help With My Friends with such energy that one is hooked for the rest of the album. This also manages to create one of the best openings for an album that I have ever heard.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is such a great track but unfortunately the version that appears in here sounds terrible. The definite version appears in the Yellow Submarine Songtrack because it sounds more like the mono version and the sound quality is remarkable.
Getting Better is a great track with some great harmonies.
Fixing a Hole is Paul's best psychedelic track. He manages to create a vivid picture in the mind, the arangements are done just right and again with some great harmonies.
She's Leaving Home uses a string section like Eleanor Rigby, but to me atleast it is done better in this track. The mono version is the definite one since it is at the correct speed but the stereo one is still good just a little slower.
For The Benefit of Mr. Kite is one of the finest tracks in the whole album very similar in style with Fixing a Hole but done better. The organ, the lyrics and the guitar create the perfect carnival atmosphere.
Within You Without You is probably the weakest track here. Same style as Love You To which appears in Revolver but unfortunately not as good.
When I'm 64, again is very weak when compared with the Yellow Sumarine Songtrack Version but its still a great song.
Lovely Rita is a very expeimental track with lyrics that have could have double meaning like Please Please Me. The Piano in the end is great.
Good Morning Good Morning is again very experimental but sounds very laid back. This track has one of Ringo's finest drumming, very similar to his drumming in I Am the Walrus.
Sgt. Pepper's reprise is a great track but again the mono version is the definite version. This song also has some of Ringo's best drumming, similar to Tommorrow Never Knows.
A Day In the Life is one of the finest tracks ever made by anyone. So good it is almost impossible to describe.

Buy this album you wont regreat it. The only problem with it is its terrible sound quality but when the tracks are this good it almost doesn't matter. We will hopefully get the album remastered and released in mono this year since June 1, 2007 is its 40th anniversary.

There was nothing like Pepper before the Beatles' released it and nothing like it afterwards. When the Beach Boys released Pet Sounds prior to Pepper, it was considered ground breaking. After they heard Sgt Pepper, deep depression set in for the surfer boys. From a technical perspective, Pepper was recorded on only 4 tracks. However, by using a technique called "bounce tracking" the Beatles were able to create an LP that was the equivalent of a 24 track recording which was unheard of back in 1967 (hats off to George Martin). The remarkable part was the mix down and getting every track (bounced or otherwise) to ring out with clarity and not sound muddled. The songs themselves are brilliant and most have stood the test of time. Although the LP is dominated by McCartney tunes, Lennon's Lucy In The Sky and A Day In The Life (with the middle section of the song written by Paul) are stand outs. In one fell swoop, the Beatles with Pepper captured an entire era of psychedelic rock emitting a tidal wave of color, sounds and imagery that has yet to be surpassed. No band today worth its salt can deny Sgt Pepper as one of their major influences. If you have no other Beatle recording, this is the one to have. ** BnB Beatles Depot **

Pearl Harbor, JFK's assassination, 9/11 and Sgt Pepper.  Recent eras can be defined as "before and after" and in mucic Sgt Pepper is such a touchstone.  Most of the tracks are imbedded in our brains (title track, A Little Help With My Friends/Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds and A Day in the Life), some are snapshots in time (Within You, Without You) and some have not aged well (Lovely Rita, When I'm 64) but this is an essential element for anyone's collection.Great examples of musical collage great and small - watch for the farm animals at the end of Good Morning, Good Morning.  Karaoke singers will have a field day.  Challenge: Getting Better's "I used to be cruel to my woman I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved" in on one breath.For many (myself included) the CD is merely a replacement of a well-worn or lost copy of an LP.  Use of high quality headphones are highly recommended at least once.