The Beatles have announced the 50th anniversary edition of their 1967 album Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The landmark album is to be reissued on 26 May 2017 on four formats: single CD; double CD; double vinyl; and a super deluxe edition containing four CDs, a DVD, a Blu-ray disc, posters and inserts, in a replica EMI tape box with a slipcase.
There will also be a limited edition reissue of the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single on vinyl for Record Store Day on 22 April.
Here’s the press release from Apple Corps:
The Beatles will release an expanded, newly remixed and lavishly presented edition of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in several configurations on May 26, just ahead of its June 1 anniversary. This is the first time ‘Sgt. Pepper’ has been remixed and presented with previously unreleased recordings from the studio sessions.“It’s crazy to think that 50 years later we are looking back on this project with such fondness and a little bit of amazement at how four guys, a great producer and his engineers could make such a lasting piece of art,” says Paul McCartney in his newly-penned introduction for the ‘Sgt. Pepper’ anniversary edition.
For Record Store Day on April 22, Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe will release an exclusive, limited edition 7-inch vinyl single for The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane,” the first songs recorded during the band’s ‘Sgt. Pepper’ sessions, which began in November 1966.
To create Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s new stereo, 5.1 surround, and high resolution audio mixes, producer Giles Martin oversaw an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All of the anniversary edition releases include Martin’s new stereo remix of the album, sourced from the original, Beatles-preferred mono mix produced by his father, George Martin, from the four-track masters.
George Martin once explained, “We were into another kind of art form where you were putting something down on tape that could only be done on tape.” The Beatles clocked more than 400 hours in Abbey Road’s Studio 2 to record Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, wrapping sessions in April 1967.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Anniversary Edition) releases include:– 1CD featuring Giles Martin’s new stereo album remix, complete with the run-out groove “Edit for LP End” dog whistle equivalent 15 kHz tone and garbled speech from the original U.K. LP.
– Deluxe Anniversary Edition: Expanded 2CD, digital, and 180-gram 2LP vinyl packages, adding Martin’s stereo mixes for “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane,” plus previously unreleased alternate takes for each of the album’s 13 tracks, sequenced in the same order as the album.
– Special Collector’s Anniversary Edition: The six-disc boxed set features the album’s new stereo mix on its first CD; two CDs with 33 additional recordings from the studio sessions, most previously unreleased and mixed for the first time from the four-track masters, sequenced in chronological order of their recording dates; a fourth CD with the remastered original mono mixes of the album and the “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” singles, Capitol Records’ U.S. promotional single for “Penny Lane,” and previously unreleased alternate mono mixes of “She’s Leaving Home,” “A Day In The Life,” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” (a mix thought to have been wiped from the master reel, but discovered during tape research for the new edition); and DVD and Blu-ray discs with Martin’s new 5.1 surround audio mixes of the album and “Penny Lane,” plus “Strawberry Fields Forever” (first released in The Beatles’ ‘1+’ audio and video collection), Martin’s new high resolution (96 kHz/24-bit) stereo mixes of the album, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “Penny Lane,” and video features including the 4K restored original promotional films for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” and “A Day In The Life,” as well as ‘The Making of Sgt. Pepper,’ a newly restored 1992 documentary film featuring insightful interviews with McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, and in-studio footage introduced by George Martin.
The album’s extravagant Pop Art cover, which finds The Beatles surrounded by a crowd of heroes in collage, and its extras-laden packaging were created by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth in collaboration with The Beatles. The artwork is showcased across the suite of anniversary edition releases, including the album’s original pull-out sheet of ‘Sgt. Pepper’ cutouts. Housed in a 12-inch by 12-inch box with lenticular artwork and two bonus posters, the six-disc special collector’s edition is presented in a 144-page hardcover book featuring McCartney’s written introduction, comprehensive song-by-song details and recording information, in-depth essays about the design of the cover, the album’s musical innovations and its historical context by Giles Martin; Beatles historian, author and radio producer Kevin Howlett; composer and musicologist Howard Goodall; music producer and writer Joe Boyd; and journalists Ed Vulliamy and Jeff Slate, plus rare photographs, reproductions of handwritten lyrics, Abbey Road Studios documentation, and original ‘Sgt. Pepper’ print ads. The deluxe edition’s 2CD digipak is slipcased with a 50-page booklet abridged from the box set’s book, and the 2LP vinyl is presented in a faithful reproduction of the album’s original gatefold jacket.
“Sgt. Pepper’ seemed to capture the mood of that year, and it also allowed a lot of other people to kick off from there and to really go for it,” says Ringo Starr in the anniversary edition’s book.
Also on this day...
- 2019: Ringo Starr and his All-Starr Band live: Tokyo Dome City Hall, Tokyo
- 2010: Paul McCartney live: Coliseo de Puerto Rico, San Juan
- 2003: Paul McCartney live: Hallam FM Arena, Sheffield
- 2002: Paul McCartney live: MGM Grand Garden Arena, Las Vegas
- 1970: Ringo Starr is interviewed for the BBC’s Scene And Heard
- 1967: Paul McCartney visits Jane Asher in Denver
- 1965: Filming: Help!
- 1964: Filming: A Hard Day’s Night
- 1963: The Beatles receive their first silver disc
- 1962: The Beatles live: Cavern Club, Liverpool (evening)
- 1961: The Beatles live: Top Ten Club, Hamburg
- 1946: Jane Asher is born
Want more? Visit the Beatles history section.
Udiscover seem to have details on each track: https://www.udiscovermusic.com/new-releases/the-beatles-announce-six-disc-super-deluxe-anniversary-reissue-of-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band/
Thanks McLerristarr! I’ve added more details to the article.
Does the new single vinyl LP include the ‘run out’ groove of garbled chat sounding something like ‘never could be any other’. I have both the stereo and mono LP versions but neither include this. Could you let me know. Thanks.
There’s only a double LP coming out, the first LP of which is the same new stereo mix contained on the first disc of all the CD packages. It will contain the run-out, just like the 2009 remastered CDs.
Not correct – this is a new stereo remix. The 2009 CDs were a remaster of the original 1967 stereo mix.
McLerristarr was referring to the new 2017 remixed CD packages.
The run-out groove only appeared on the U.K. version of the original album.
And the Australian Original as well , Australia used the same plates I believe ?
In the mid-Seventies I bought a used copy of Sgt. Pepper’s at a flea market. At that time, I lived in California, which I only mention because that copy had the run out groove. I never knew only the UK version had it and I am now amazed that it traveled so far to end up at a second hand sale. To me, the album “never could be any other way” than with that phrase. I no longer have it, but I don’t recall it having any distinct indications that it was imported.
And on the original Australian release. We had the UK releases but with a couple of different album cover images for With the Beatles and Beatles for Sale.
Does the double LP comes included on the Super Deluxe Edition or not?
The Super Deluxe Edition contains 4 CDs, a DVD and BluRay disc, a hardcover book, poster reproductions and a reproduction of the original cut outs insert, with a 3D lenticular cover sleeve for the box. It doesn’t include the vinyl copies, but every track that is on the vinyl copy is included on the CDs. The BluRay and DVD contain the same content, including a 5.1 surround sound mix, but in a lossless format on the BluRay copy. The 6 discs are housed in a folder that looks exactly like the vinyl album cover.
Having a very hard time deciding between the super deluxe edition and the regular special deluxe edition ….HELP!!
Any suggest?
And still no Carnival Of Light? (Pout)
I really want the blue-ray for the documentary and videos, but want the 2LP (don’t have a CD player at home, juts vinyl and MP3). Wish they could separate them.
Would love to know how much this is going to cost!
Its 100 pounds (UK) for the super deluxe cd/dvd version. I ordered it through Abbey road store.
The Beatles Deluxe package is expensive. It is nice to listen how the music and lyrics were joined together.
Sgt. Pepper 50 years later can be heard and enjoyed by the Baby Bombers again. Many tossed their old
worn out Sgt. Peppers Lps. Barry Blum, Broomall, Pa.
As I’m listening to the 2017 remastered stereo cd, it seems to my ears that some of the tracks sound faster than previous releases, especially the opening track with the crowd noise, and Within You Without You. Maybe
I’m just getting older. No, I’m definitely getting older. The instruments seem to have better separation.
ARGGHHH. Giles left the alarm clock ring out of ‘Day in the life’…..
Ummmm… no he didn’t… I suspect he left the 15 kHz dog whistle tone out after the song because I can’t hear it, and he also removed it from my mono vinyl because I know I could hear it there and can’t any more, but the alarm clock is definitely still there.
The dog whistle tone is there. You can’t hear it because it’s too high, which is the point. Some people can hear it, particularly younger people like me.
Well the alarm clock is certainly heard on the digital download or steamed version I’m listening to on Apple Music
It’s there, just way back in the mix. Yes, very faint. I agree, you gotta have it. Originally it was a mistake to have it in. Maybe now it’s a mistake to leave it out. As John would say, ‘You’ll just have to use an imaginary one.’
The story of my life.
On the super deluxe CD set: When I play disc 2 (Strawberry Fields outtakes, etc) on my PC it brings up the album art and track listings of Magical Mystery Tour! Disc 3 (Fixing a hole, etc) brings up the standard Sgt Pepper track listing instead of the outtakes, and my BluRay disc doesn’t work at all (corrupted data). Can anyone else please check and see if this is happening to you? This is super weird, I’m not making this up.
The track names and album art have nothing to do with the discs; your software (iTunes or whatever you’re using) finds them using the Internet.
Hello Ric Von Kellog,
Yes my disc 2 has the Magical Mystery Tour info as well. My disc 3 also has the wrong track listings. Thankfully the Blu-ray disc does work.
Does anyone know how many copies of the Super Deluxe edition were made ?