Recorded: 6, 8, 20, 21 December 1966
19, 20 January 1967
1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10, 16, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 28 February 1967
1, 2, 3, 6, 7, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 20, 21, 22, 23, 28, 29, 30, 31 March 1967
1, 3, 21 April 1967
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Adrian Ibbetson, Malcolm Addey, Ken Townsend, Peter Vince
Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)
Personnel
John Lennon: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, piano, Hammond organ, cowbell
Paul McCartney: vocals, electric guitar, bass, piano, Lowery organ
George Harrison: vocals, electric guitar, acoustic guitar, harmonica, tambura, sitar, maracas
Ringo Starr: vocals, drums, harmonica, tambourine, maracas, congas, bongos, chimes
George Martin: Hammond organ, Lowery organ, piano, pianette, harpsichord, harmonium, glockenspiel
Mal Evans: harmonica, Hammond organ, piano, alarm clock
Neil Aspinall: harmonica, tambura
Erich Gruenberg, Derek Jacobs, Trevor Williams, José Luis Garcia, Alan Loveday, Julien Gaillard, Paul Scherman, Ralph Elman, David Wolfsthal, Jack Rothstein, Jack Greene, Granville Jones, Bill Monro, Jurgen Hess, Hans Geiger, D Bradley, Lionel Bentley, David McCallum, Donald Weekes, Henry Datyner, Sidney Sax, Ernest Scott: violin
John Underwood, Stephen Shingles, Gwynne Edwards, Bernard Davis, John Meek: viola
Dennis Vigay, Alan Dalziel, Reginald Kilbey, Allen Ford, Peter Beavan, Francisco Gabarro, Alex Nifosi: cello
Cyril MacArthur, Gordon Pearce: double bass
Sheila Bromberg, John Marston: harp
Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy, Basil Tschaikov, Jack Brymer: clarinet
Roger Lord: oboe
N Fawcett, Alfred Waters: bassoon
Clifford Seville, David Sanderman: flute
Barrie Cameron, David Glyde, Alan Holmes: saxophone
David Mason, Monty Montgomery, Harold Jackson: trumpet
Raymond Brown, Raymond Premru, T Moore, John Lee: trombone
Alan Civil, Neil Sanders, James W Buck, Tony Randall, John Burden, Tom (surname unknown): French horn
Michael Barnes: tuba
Tristan Fry: timpani, percussion
Marijke Koger: tambourine
Unknown musicians: dilruba, svarmandal, tabla, tambura
Tracklisting
‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’
‘With A Little Help From My Friends’
‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’
‘Getting Better’
‘Fixing A Hole’
‘She’s Leaving Home’
‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!’
‘Within You Without You’
‘When I’m Sixty-Four’
‘Lovely Rita’
‘Good Morning Good Morning’
‘Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)’
‘A Day In The Life’
The Beatles’ eighth UK album caused a seismic shift in popular music. Recorded in over 400 hours during a 129-day period, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band helped define the 1967 Summer of Love, and was instantly recognised as a major leap forward for modern music.
The mood of the album was in the spirit of the age, because we ourselves were fitting into the mood of the time. The idea wasn’t to do anything to cater for that mood – we happened to be in that mood anyway. And it wasn’t just the general mood of the time that influenced us; I was searching for references that were more on the fringe of things. The actual mood of the time was more likely to be The Move, or Status Quo or whatever – whereas outside all of that there was this avant-garde mode, which I think was coming into Pepper.There was definitely a movement of people. All I am saying is: we weren’t really trying to cater for that movement – we were just being part of it, as we always had been. I maintain The Beatles weren’t the leaders of the generation, but the spokesmen. We were only doing what the kids in the art schools were all doing. It was a wild time, and it feels to me like a time warp – there we were in a magical wizard-land with velvet patchwork clothes and burning joss sticks, and here we are now soberly dressed.
Even more so than its predecessor, Revolver, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band saw The Beatles pushing boundaries within the studio, creating sounds which had never before been heard. They made extensive use of orchestras and other hired musicians, and combined a variety of musical styles including rock, music hall, psychedelia, traditional Indian and Western classical.
From the fairground swirls of ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite!’ to the animal stampede that closes ‘Good Morning Good Morning’, Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band signalled to the world that The Beatles were no longer the loveable moptops of old, unwilling to sing simple love songs and perform for crowds who were more interested in screaming than listening.
The album was always going to have ‘Sgt Pepper’ at the beginning; and if you listen to the first two tracks, you can hear it was going to be a show album. It was Sgt Pepper and his Lonely Hearts Club Band with all these other acts, and it was going to run like a rock opera. It had started out with a feeling that it was going to be something totally different, but we only got as far as ‘Sgt Pepper’ and Billy Shears (singing ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’), and then we thought: ‘Sod it! it’s just two tracks.’ It still kept the title and the feel that it’s all connected, although in the end we didn’t actually connect all the songs up.
At the core of Sgt Pepper is the sound of The Beatles’ English background, with tales of runaway girls, circus attractions, Isle of Wight holiday cottages, domestic violence, home improvements, Daily Mail news stories, memories of school days, and favourite childhood literature – far from the riches they enjoyed as the most famous foursome on the planet, but remembering times past and wondering what the future would hold.
Prior to the release of Sgt Pepper, however, many commentators believed The Beatles to be over as a group. They had ceased touring and largely retreated from public view, and ‘Penny Lane’/‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ had failed to top the UK singles chart after its February 1967 release.
After the record was finished, I thought it was great. I thought it was a huge advance, and I was very pleased because a month or two earlier the press and the music papers had been saying, ‘What are The Beatles up to? Drying up, I suppose.’ So it was nice, making an album like Pepper and thinking, ‘Yeah, drying up, I suppose. That’s right.’ It was lovely to have them on that when it came out. I loved it. I had a party to celebrate – that whole weekend was a bit of a party, as far as I recall. I remember getting telegrams saying: ‘Long live Sgt Pepper.’ People would come round and say, ‘Great album, man.’
Anthology
Ah yes Avery Road my fav Beatles album.lol
I read a quote from George once where he stated for him making Sgt Peppers was not a pleasant experience. It was Paul’s baby and he only allowed the others to contribute as he saw fit.
Personally I prefer the White Album and Revolver and Abbey Road being my fav Beatles album.
I’m sure you have Martin on camera or tape saying this correct? All I’ve ever seen Sir George speak about was how he took two “incomplete” songs given to him from Paul and John where he worked out the basic arrangement which eventually became Day In The Life.
Trixie is referring to George Harrison who indeed stated he was not really “into” that album when recording it.
George Martin didn’t weld the two parts of “….Life”. John and Paul did. Then Paul and George M. worked out the arrangements.
Beatles Bible states that “Sgt. Pepper” was issued (in the UK) on 1st June 1967. I am certain it was issued on 26th May 1967. The Beatle Monthly magazine issued on 1st June 1967 indicates that the release had already happened and the album entered the UK album chart at No. 1 on a chart published 1st June 1967, both signifying that the release must be before 1st June. Interestingly, the 2017 50th anniversary remix/reissue was released on 26th May 2017, which ties in exactly with what I think/remember as being the original release date in 1967.
Game changer. I think John outshone Paul on this one. The most creative song (in my opinion) was George’s song, though. That song changed me.
I would like to know if you intend to take into account the information that appears in the 50th anniversary deluxe edition of “Sgt Pepper”. There are lots of new and interesting things. For example, John’s bass in “Fixing a Hole,” George’s mellotron on “Strawberry …” or Paul and Ringo drumming on “Good Morning …”, which explains that full sound. However, there are also contradictions or omissions. For example, in “Strawberry …” they do not say who plays the piano or percussion. In “A Day in the Life” it says that John plays piano, but it does not specify if it only refers to the final chord, because in the line-up it does not specify who they played in that chord. In “Being the benefit …” they omit John’s piano and Lowery, but they talk about a Martin mellotron. What do you think?
Paul overdubbed bass on “Fixing a Hole” and AFAIK, John and George both played guitars on “Good Morning, Good Morning” with Paul playing the guitar solo as well as bass and the double drums with Ringo, just as you mentioned.
A number of sources (Wikipedia being one, so tread lightly) say that the album was going to be called Dr. Pepper’s LHCB, but wasn’t because of the soda in the US. If true, that puts Macca’s name origin story in a different light.
On Sgt Pepper, (on the CD) shouldn’t the “hidden track” be somehow hidden instead of tagged on the end of A Day In The Life? Like with a signal that the CD is over and just ends, unless you hit the skip button to go to the final track before it stops (if you want to hear it). I mean it would be a little more “in the day” that way.
Beatles fandom myth begins…”Sgt. Peppers is the first concept album”. Myth dispelled by actual Beatle John, who says, ” besides the opening song leading into the next song, you could take any song off this album and put it onto any of our albums”. Of course, as we all know, a concept album is when all songs were written with a predetermined theme each relating to another. When I’m 64 was written by Paul when he was 16. Benefit for Mr.Kite was written by John by essentially rewriting what he had read off an antique poster.
Who keeps adding musician names to the list and why?!?
Joe, the site creator/moderator does as he becomes aware of more information.
Pretty simple, isn’t it?!?
In Part 4 above, George Harrison is quoted as saying, “I’d just got back from India, and my heart was still out there. After what had happened in 1966, everything else seemed like hard work. It was a job, like doing something I didn’t really want to do, and I was losing interest in being ‘fab’ at that point.”
What was it that had happened in 1966??
Brian Epstein died, then they went on their transformational trip to India. I think that was the order of things, though I could be wrong. They were all grieving Epstein’s death, and people handle grief in different ways. Paul poured himself into work, and I guess George didn’t feel like it. He did come up with probably the most meaningful song on the album, though, Within You, Without You, obviously inspired by his time in India, and, to an extent, his grief.
As for the Personnel section: Paul: vocals, … and drums (Good Morning Good Morning). First time for Paul on drums on the Beatles album. By the way, does anyone know if Paul played one of Ringo’s drum kits here?
From “Mad Magazine” when I was probably 11. I was nine when SPLHCB was released.
“Ringo, George, Paul and John, played a trick and put us on. Dropped a hint that Paul was dead as nails and rocketed their record sales”
I first heard Sergeant Pepper in about 1974 I think, I borrowed it from a friend at school when I would have been about 16. I was a Beatles fan by default almost, to people of my generation they were just there, and you expected them to come out with brilliant things. I was extremely disappointed by this album which I thought sounded muddy compared to other Beatles efforts. I had heard Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields by then, but the only songs from the album as such that I recognised were When I’m 64 and With a Little Help From My Friends, possibly only from covers, so the material was farily new to my ears. I still think that notwithstanding its brilliance it is questionable whether as a sum of its parts it equals other Beatles albums, before or after. There are only a couple of songs in my view on the album or released as singles that are good songs and are also as well arranged and produced as they could be, including Fixing a Hole and Within You Without You. There are other brilliant songs such as With a Little Help From My Friends, When I’m 64, Lucy in the Sky, Good Morning that are really to my ears let down by the arrangements. I would also include Penny Lane (is that clunky piano really that interesting?) and A Day in the Life (this is a pop group/rock band whatever, who let that orchestra in here, they’re ruining the song?!). And then there are items of what could just be whimsy such as Lovely Rita which is almost perfectly arranged and produced, and Getting Better, which in the absence of its arrangement performance and production would barely be a song at all, but which I think is one of the most brilliantly executed recordings they ever produced. So coming to it some years after it was issued it struck me as patchy, and still does.
I don’t blame EMI for rejecting John’s brash suggestion of putting Hitler on the cover, because it would have been very offensive to Germans and survivors of the Nazi regime. According to Horst Fascher, John would often greet the audiences at the clubs in Hamburg with a Heil Hitler and give the Nazi salute, pull out a black comb and pretend it was a moustache, so that he could look like Hitler.
I’m surprised that John didn’t get arrested by the German authorities or put in a Hamburg prison, because giving the Nazi salute or chanting “Sieg Heil” is a criminal offence in Germany, according to Strafgesetzbuch section 86a.
As for the Personnel section: Paul: vocals, … and drums (Good Morning Good Morning). First time for Paul on drums on the Beatles album. By the way, does anyone know if Paul played one of Ringo’s drum kits here?
I have seen a photo where Ringo is playing his drum kit at a studio session and a clean-shaven Paul is standing up with some drumsticks, presumably to play on the floor tom.
The second drum part in question on “GM, GM” could well have been Ringo and Paul collaborating on double drumming and to clarify things, Paul’s part would, logically, have been intended to augment, not replace, Ringo’s drumming – an earlier instance occurred on the recording of “Yes it is” when Paul overdubbed a cymbal, again to augment Ringo’s drums.
Sorry, but for anyone who puts SPLHCB down in any way (notwithstanding comparing that which preceeded or followed) basically you need to go get some new ears. Any of the more recent masterings show that the main driver (Sir Paul) steered the Beatle ship at this period. The guy was basically on fire from 66 onwards when the touring ceased
I always wanted to know WHY Paul turned his back to the camera for the back cover photo? And why would they use that photo for the album? It is so odd a choice. It practically invites the “Paul is dead” crowd to notice and interpret.
I suppose we’ll never know.
I remember hearing that it was Mal Evans standing in for Paul on that back cover shot – forget why, but McCartney wasn’t at the shoot (separate one from the cover)
I never heard the Mal stand in story. Makes sense if it’s true. Thanks for sharing.
Cheers!
Mal Evans standing in for Paul? In his biography on this website Joe describes Mal as “tall and burley.” Paul was hardly tall and burly. Couldn’t be Mal unless someone manipulated the photo to make Mal look more like Paul in stature.
That’s true. Mal Evans was 6 feet 3 inches tall.
Paul is 5 feet 10 inches. Unless it’s a cardboard cutout of Paul’s back as a subtle allusion to the front cover? Someone should ask Paul!
https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/aug/14/photo-that-solves-sgt-pepper-mccartney-mystery-up-for-auction
“It had long been rumoured that Paul McCartney was not at the Sgt Pepper’s sleeve photo shoot because the back of the album only showed him from behind. This image showed the side of his face which would prove that he was indeed there on the day.”
So this photo shone on The Guardian website from Aug 14 2023 proves McCartney was present at the Pepper photo-shoot for the back cover. But the question remains… Why turn your back, Paul?
@ Neall Calvert
You asked, “What was it that had happened in 1966??” to make George lose so much enthusiasm for carrying on as a Beatle like before.
I think he is referring to two things in particular.
First, during their world tour, they had a horrible experience in the Philippines. They had been invited to visit the palace of the ruthless dictator of the Philippines, Ferdinand Marcos, who was ruling the country under martial law. The Beatles declined the invitation because it was scheduled for one of their rare days-off and they desperately wanted a break to relax and have a rest. The television news was broadcasting what was supposed to be live coverage of President Marcos and his loathesome, kleptocratic wife, Imelda, “honouring” their guests with an official reception. When The Beatles failed to appear, the dictator felt humiliated. He made an angry announcement to the effect that The Beatles were depraved Western degenerates who had been sent to the Philippines to corrupt the nation’s youth. He ordered that they be deported immediately.
Not only did The Beatles have to make their own way to the airport without any security protection but the local police actively encouraged the public to give the Fabs a hard time. George got the worst of it and was beaten up pretty roughly. He had a black eye to show for it. The authorities also stole all of the money which The Beatles had earned for their work.
Years later, when the rest of the world had found out what a nasty piece of work Ferdinand and Imelda Marcos really were, George stated that, looking back, he was quite proud that he and The Beatles were one of the few people who had stood up to these thoroughly nasty, unpleasant people while everybody else in the political sphere bowed and scraped to them.
Well said, George!
But it was still a terrifying experience for him at the time.
If anything, it got even worse when they proceeded from the Philippines to the USA for what proved to be their final American tour. John’s “Jesus Christ” statement from months before had suddenly been made into a major controversy by influencers in the American “Bible Belt”. They found that the American press corps had turned against them. The press conferences had become aggressive and confrontational. This was a stark contrast to the previous routine where the engagements with the press were characterised by witty entertainment and good-humoured exchanges.
Lunatic fringes such as the KKK were stoking the fires and numerous death threats were taken very seriously by local police departments. At one point, somebody through a firecracker onto the stage while The Beatles were performing. When they heard it exploding, every one of them looked around to see if one of them had been shot.
No kidding.
From George’s point of view, the tour was a living hell and at the end of it, he said, “That’s it! I’m never going to go through this again. I’m finished with touring.”
After that tour, The Beatles took their first extended break for years. George went off to India and acquired an entirely new perspective on his life and it never left him. That was the frame of mind in which he returned to England in late 1966 to start work on what became the Sgt. Pepper project. He had become convinced that there were far more important things in his life than simply being “Beatle George.”