"Baby, Let's Play House"

"Baby, Let's Play House", written by Arthur Gunter, is a song recorded by Elvis Presley in 1955 on the record label, Sun Records. It was on the fourth issue of a Presley record by Sun Records, and became the first song recorded by Elvis to appear on a national chart, when it made #5 on the Billboard Country Singles chart in July 1955. This song was part of the Beatles live repertoire from 1960-1962. A live recording of the Quarry Men performing the song at the Woolton Fete on July 6, 1957 -- the day John Lennon met Paul McCartney -- later surfaced (see below).

John Lennon used the line, "I'd rather see you dead, little girl, than to be with another man," from this song for the opening line of the Beatles song, "Run for Your Life."

In the early 1990s, the Beatles' "Run for Your Life" was banned by a Toronto radio station for its misogynistic message. When the radio station was asked if it had also banned "Baby, Let's Play House," the program director confessed to not being familiar with the Presley song. Upon listening to it, however, the program director banned it as well.

Wikipedia

Yellow Submarine

Yellow Submarine is a soundtrack album released by The Beatles corresponding with the film of the same name released on Apple Records (catalogue number PCS 7070 in the United Kingdom and SW 153 in the United States.)

History

"Only a Northern Song" was originally recorded during the sessions for the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, although it did not appear there. Most of the song was recorded in February 1967. "It's All Too Much" was recorded just before the release of Sgt. Pepper, although it was shortened (from eight minutes) for Yellow Submarine. "Hey Bulldog" (recorded in February 1968) and "All Together Now" (recorded in May 1967) were always intended for the film soundtrack.

"Baby You're a Rich Man" was also originally intended for the film soundtrack, but was released as the B-side to "All You Need is Love" instead and was not included in the Yellow Submarine album.

Two of the songs on the album had previously been released. "Yellow Submarine" had already appeared on Revolver in August 1966 and as a hit single at about the same time. "All You Need Is Love" had been a hit single in 1967 and had also appeared in the United States edition of Magical Mystery Tour later that year. The song makes its true stereo debut in this album. The song was previously issued in mono or rechanneled stereo on the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour album.

The second side features arrangements (recorded specifically for the album) of George Martin's orchestral score.

After mixed response to the album upon its release, The Beatles considered releasing Yellow Submarine as a five-track mono EP, without the film score but including the then-unreleased "Across the Universe" as a bonus track. The EP was mastered, but never issued. The Beatles had previously released popular songs from their LPs as EPs in the British market.

U.S. cassette and eight-track tape versions featured "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (from Sgt. Pepper) as an extra song on side two.

With the re-release of the film in 1999, the original album was re-released along with a Yellow Submarine Songtrack album.

Reception

In contrast to how the film was received, Yellow Submarine is usually considered The Beatles' weakest release, as it featured only six songs by the band. It was one of the few Beatles releases not to reach #1 on either the UK or US charts. Its highest position was #2 in the US (curiously, it was knocked off the top by The Beatles, which had been released two months before). The Beatles did not consider it a studio album, since the four previously-unreleased tracks on it were recorded at various times in 1967 and early 1968.

UK and US differences

Although the essential artwork on the album covers issued in the United States and Great Britain are similar, there are a few subtle differences on the sleeves. The front of the British jacket contains the words "NOTHING IS REAL" in green print just below the album's title. This subtitle had been omitted from the American album cover.

On the back of the cover, the British album contained a review of the Beatles' "White Album" written for the London Observer by Tony Palmer. The review was introduced by a few liner notes by Apple press officer Derek Taylor. Rather than plug the group's previous release, however, the more imaginative back of the American cover contained a fictitious illustrated biography of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, in which the ensemble's battle with the Blue Meanies was compared to three other epic struggles in the history of the English-speaking world: Beowulf's struggle to save the Heorot mead hall, King John's signing of the Magna Carta, and Thomas Jefferson's writing of the Declaration of Independence.

The two album covers (and record labels) also differ in the fact that the British version recognizes seven tracks from the film's score on Side Two, while the American version only recognizes six tracks, treating the songs "Sea of Times" and "Sea of Holes" as a single track, titled "Medley: Sea of Time & Sea of Holes."

One final difference is that the American album was only released in stereo, while the British album was available in both stereo and mono, though the mono version is simply a collapse of the stereo version and not a true mono mix.

The international compact disc release is consistent with the British version of the LP, in that the "Nothing Is Real" subtitle remains intact, and the review of the "White Album," with Taylor's introduction, is included inside the CD insert. The CD also recognizes "Sea of Time" and "Sea of Holes" as separate tracks.

Track listing

Side one

All tracks were credited to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, except where noted.

1. "Yellow Submarine" – 2:38
* Originally from Revolver
2. "Only a Northern Song" (George Harrison) – 3:27
3. "All Together Now" – 2:10
4. "Hey Bulldog" – 3:14
5. "It's All Too Much" (Harrison) – 6:28
6. "All You Need Is Love" – 3:47
* Originally a 1967 single, and also found on the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour album

Side two

All tracks were written by George Martin, except where noted.

7. "Pepperland" – 2:24
8. "Sea of Time" – 3:00
9. "Sea of Holes" – 2:21
10. "Sea of Monsters" – 3:40
11. "March of the Meanies" – 2:22
12. "Pepperland Laid Waste" – 2:15
13. "Yellow Submarine in Pepperland" (Lennon, McCartney, arrangement by George Martin) – 2:11

Released: 17 January 1969
Recorded: 12 May 1967 – 11 February 1968 (The Beatles) and 22–23 October 1968 (George Martin), Abbey Road Studios, London, United Kingdom
Genre: Psychedelic rock, rock
Length: 40:12
Language: English
Label: Apple
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia

Pattie Boyd Pictures

"I'm a Loser" Lyrics

by John Lennon and Paul McCartney

As Released by the Beatles (1964)

I'm a loser, I'm a loser
And I'm not what I appear to be.

Of all the love I have won or have lost
There is one love I should never have crossed.
She was a girl in a million, my friend
I should have known she would win in the end.

I'm a loser and I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser and I'm not what I appear to be.

Although I laugh and I act like a clown
Beneath this mask I am wearing a frown.
My tears are falling like rain from the sky
Is it for her or myself that I cry?

I'm a loser and I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser and I'm not what I appear to be.

What have I done to deserve such a fate?
I realise I have left it too late.
And so it's true pride comes before a fall
I'm telling you so that you won't lose all.

I'm a loser and I lost someone who's near to me
I'm a loser and I'm not what I appear to be.

"12-Bar Original"

"12-Bar Original" is an instrumental song by The Beatles. It was recorded in 1965, but was not commercially available until 1996 when an edited version of Take 2 of this song was included on the Anthology 2 album; the full version is almost 7 minutes long.

It is one of the few songs credited to Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey; and it is copyrighted by MPL Communications Ltd, Lenono Music, Harrisongs, and Startling Music Ltd.

Only John Lennon and Ringo Starr ever commented on the song. Lennon during a U.S. radio interview when asked if there were any unissued Beatles recordings, he replied that the only thing he could recall was "some lousy 12-bar." Ringo Starr told Journalist Peter Palmiere that "We all wrote the track and I have an acetate of one of the versions." The quote was later used by Palmiere in a Ringo Starr Cover interview/story in DISCoveries magazine in 1993 and by Jim Berkenstadt and Belmo in their book Black Market Beatles.

"12-Bar Original" was The Beatles' first instrumental after signing for EMI and was produced by George Martin at Abbey Road Studios, London.

Personnel

* John Lennon – guitar
* Paul McCartney – bass
* George Harrison – guitar
* Ringo Starr – drums
* George Martin – harmonium

Album: Anthology 2
Released: March 18, 1996 (UK) / March 19, 1996 (US)
Recorded: November 4, 1965
Genre: Blues
Length: 2:54
Label: Apple Records
Writer: Lennon/McCartney/Harrison/Starkey
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia

The Beatles (The White Album)

The Beatles is the ninth official British album and the fifteenth American album by The Beatles, a double album released in 1968. It is more commonly known as The White Album as it has no text other than the band's name (and, on the early LP and CD releases, a serial number) on its plain white sleeve. The album was the first The Beatles undertook following the death of their manager Brian Epstein. Originally entitled A Doll's House, the title was changed when the British progressive band Family released the similarly titled Music in a Doll's House earlier that year.

Composition

Most of the songs that would end up on The Beatles had been conceived during the group's visit to Rishikesh, India in the spring of 1968. There, they had undertaken a transcendental meditation course with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Although the retreat, which had required long periods of meditation, was initially conceived by the band as a spiritual respite from all worldly endeavors — a chance, in Lennon's words, to "get away from everything" — both Lennon and Paul McCartney had quickly found themselves in songwriting mode, often meeting "clandestinely in the afternoons in each other's rooms" to review the new work. "Regardless of what I was supposed to be doing," Lennon would later recall, "I did write some of my best songs there." Close to 40 new compositions had emerged in Rishikesh, a little more than half of which would be laid down in very rough form at Kinfauns, George Harrison’s home in Esher.

The Beatles left Rishikesh before the end of the course, with Ringo Starr and then McCartney departing first, and Lennon and Harrison departing together later. According to some reports, Lennon left Rishikesh because he felt personally betrayed by rumors that Maharishi had made sexual advances toward Mia Farrow, who had accompanied The Beatles on their trip. Shortly after he decided to leave, Lennon wrote a song called "Maharishi" which included the lyrics, "Maharishi/You little twat"; the song became "Sexy Sadie". According to several authors, Alexis Mardas (aka "Magic Alex") deliberately engineered these rumors because he was bent on undermining the Maharishi's influence over each Beatle. Lennon himself, in a 1980 interview, acknowledged that the Maharishi was the inspiration for the song. "I just called him 'Sexy Sadie'." In May 1968, Lennon, McCartney, and Harrison assembled at Kinfauns, and demoed 23 songs that they composed at Rishikesh.

Recording sessions

The Beatles was recorded between 30 May 1968 and 14 October 1968, largely at Abbey Road Studios, with some sessions at Trident Studios. Although productive, the sessions were reportedly undisciplined and sometimes fractious, and they took place at a time when tensions were growing within the group. Concurrent with the recording of this album, The Beatles were launching their new multimedia business corporation Apple Corps, an enterprise that proved to be a source of significant stress for the band.

The sessions for The Beatles marked the first appearance in the studio of Lennon's new girlfriend and artistic partner Yoko Ono, who would thereafter be a more or less constant presence at all Beatles sessions. Prior to Ono's appearance on the scene, the individual Beatles had been very insular during recording sessions, with influence from outsiders strictly limited. McCartney's girlfriend at the time, Francie Schwartz, was also present at some of the recording sessions.

Author Mark Lewisohn reports that The Beatles held their first and only 24-hour recording/producing session near the end of the creation of The Beatles, during which occurred the final mixing and sequencing for the album. The session was attended by Lennon, McCartney, and producer George Martin.

Division and discord in the studio

Despite the album's official title, which emphasized group identity, studio efforts on The Beatles captured the work of four increasingly individualized artists who frequently found themselves at odds. The band's work pattern changed dramatically with this project, and by most accounts the extraordinary synergy of The Beatles' previous studio sessions was harder to come by during this period. Sometimes McCartney would record in one studio for prolonged periods of time, while Lennon would record in another, each man using different engineers. At one point in the sessions, George Martin, whose authority over the band in the studio had waned, spontaneously left to go on holiday, leaving Chris Thomas in charge of producing. During one of these sessions, while recording "Helter Skelter," Harrison reportedly ran around the studio while holding a flaming ashtray above his head.

Long after the recording of The Beatles was complete, Martin mentioned in interviews that his working relationship with The Beatles changed during this period, and that many of the band's efforts seemed unfocused, often yielding prolonged jam sessions that sounded uninspired. On 16 July recording engineer Geoff Emerick, who had worked with the group since Revolver, announced he was no longer willing to work with the group.

The sudden departures were not limited to EMI personnel. On 22 August, Starr abruptly left the studio, explaining later that he felt his role was minimized compared to that of the other members, and that he was tired of waiting through the long and contentious recording sessions. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison pleaded with Starr to return, and after two weeks he did. According to Mark Lewisohn's book The Complete Beatles Chronicle, McCartney played drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." However, according to Lewisohn, in the case of "Dear Prudence" the three remaining Beatles each took a shot at bass and drums, with the result that those parts may be composite tracks played by Lennon, McCartney and/or Harrison. As of 2009, the actual musician/instrument lineup is still undetermined. Upon Starr's return, he found his drum kit decorated with red, white and blue flowers, a welcome-back gesture from Harrison. The reconciliation was, however, only temporary, and Starr's exit served as a precursor of future "months and years of misery," in Starr's words. Indeed, after The Beatles was completed, both Harrison and Lennon would stage similar unpublicized departures from the band. McCartney, whose public departure in 1970 would mark the formal end of the band's ensemble, described the sessions for The Beatles as a turning point for the group. Up to this point, he observed, "the world was a problem, but we weren't. You know, that was the best thing about The Beatles, until we started to break up, like during the White Album and stuff. Even the studio got a bit tense then."

Other musicians

Harrison asked Eric Clapton to play lead guitar on Harrison's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." Harrison soon reciprocated by collaborating on the song "Badge" for Cream's last album Goodbye. Harrison explains in The Beatles Anthology that Clapton's presence temporarily alleviated the studio tension and that all band members were on their best behavior during his time with the band in the studio.

Clapton was not the only outside musician to sit in on the sessions. Nicky Hopkins provided electric piano for the single cut of "Revolution" (recorded during these sessions) as well as acoustic piano for a few others; several horns were also recorded on the album version of "Revolution." "Savoy Truffle" also features the horn section. Jack Fallon, a bluegrass fiddler was recruited for "Don't Pass Me By," and a team of orchestral players and soothing background singers ended up being important contributors to "Good Night."

Technical advances

The sessions for The Beatles were notable for the band's formal transition from 4-track to 8-track recording. As work on this album began, Abbey Road Studios possessed, but had yet to install, an 8-track machine that had supposedly been sitting in a storage room for months. This was in accordance with EMI's policy of testing and customizing new gear, sometimes for months, before putting it into use in the studios. The Beatles recorded "Hey Jude" and "Dear Prudence" at Trident Studios in central London, which had an 8-track recorder. When they found out about EMI's 8-track recorder they insisted on using it, and engineers Ken Scott and Dave Harries took the machine (without authorization from the studio chiefs) into the Number 2 recording studio for the group to use.

Songs

Although most of the songs on any given Beatles album are usually credited to the Lennon/McCartney songwriting team, that description is often misleading, and rarely more so than on The Beatles. With this album, each of the four band members began to showcase the range and depth of his individual songwriting talents, and to display styles that would be carried over to his eventual solo career. Indeed, some songs that the individual Beatles were working on during this period eventually were released on solo albums (Lennon's "Look at Me" and "Child of Nature," eventually reworked as "Jealous Guy"; McCartney's "Junk" and "Teddy Boy"; and Harrison's "Not Guilty" and "Circles").

Many of the songs on the album display experimentation with unlikely musical genres, borrowing directly from such sources as 1930s dance-hall music (in "Honey Pie"), classical chamber music (in "Piggies"), the avant-garde sensibilities of Yoko Ono and John Cage (in "Revolution 9"), and the sentimentality of elevator music (in "Good Night"). Such diversity was quite unprecedented in global pop music in 1968, and the album's sprawling approach provoked (and continues to provoke) both praise and criticism from observers. "Revolution 9," in particular, a densely layered eight-minute-and-thirteen-second sound collage, has attracted bewilderment and disapproval from both fans and music critics over the years.

The only western instrument available to the group during their Indian visit was the acoustic guitar, and thus most of the songs on The Beatles were written and first performed on that instrument. Some of these songs remained acoustic on The Beatles (notably "Rocky Raccoon," "Julia," "Blackbird" and "Mother Nature's Son") and were recorded in the studio either solo, or by only part of the group.

Individual compositions

Lennon's contributions to the album are generally more hard-edged lyrically than his previous output, a trend which carried over to his solo career. Examples include his pleas for death on "Yer Blues," his parodic "Glass Onion," which mocks fans who read too much into The Beatles' lyrics, and what may be references to drug addiction in "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" ("I need a fix..."). Lennon's intensely personal "Julia" may be seen as foreshadowing his later song "Mother" from his first solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band; the political "Revolution 1" begins a pattern of overtly political songs like "Give Peace a Chance" and "John Sinclair"; "Revolution 9" reflects extensive contribution and influence from Ono, another feature of much of Lennon's solo output. Lennon's songs on The Beatles embrace a wide array of styles, including blues ("Yer Blues"), acoustic ballads ("Julia" and "Cry Baby Cry"), and rock ("Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey"). Lennon would later describe his contributions to the The Beatles as among his favorite songs recorded with The Beatles.

McCartney's songs for the album include pop ballads ("I Will"), the proto-heavy metal "Helter Skelter," a Beach Boys homage ("Back in the U.S.S.R."), the up-beat "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," and a music-hall foxtrot ("Honey Pie") among others. The soothing, stripped-down "I Will" foreshadowed themes of McCartney's later solo career.

Harrison's sparse ballad "Long, Long, Long" is stylistically quite similar to much of his earlier solo output. His songs on The Beatles also includes the lyrically sophisticated "While My Guitar Gently Weeps," a chronicle of gastronomic excess and dental trauma in "Savoy Truffle," and a class-driven piece of social commentary in "Piggies."

Even Starr was given leave to include the first song composed entirely by himself on a Beatles album, the country number "Don't Pass Me By."

The album is the first by the group not to feature any genuine Lennon-McCartney collaborations; in fact, there would only be one more co-write from the pair in the remainder of the band's career ("I've Got a Feeling" from the Let It Be album). This new lack of co-operation and focus is reflected in several fragmented, incomplete song ideas that were recorded and released on the album ("Why Don't We Do It in the Road?", "Wild Honey Pie," and an officially untitled McCartney snippet at the end of "Cry Baby Cry" often referred to as "Can You Take Me Back"). On previous albums, such undertakings might have been either abandoned or collaboratively developed before release, but here again, The Beatles represented a change of course for the band. The trend continued for the rest of the band's recording career: such song fragments were presented by joining them together as a long suite of songs on side two of Abbey Road.

Self-reflection and change

Many of the songs are personal and self-referencing; for example, "Dear Prudence" was written about actress Mia Farrow's sister, Prudence, who attended the transcendental meditation course with The Beatles in Rishikesh. Often she stayed in her room, engaged in Transcendental Meditation. "Julia" was the name of Lennon's beloved but frequently absent mother, who died during his youth. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" expresses concern over being "bought and sold," a theme in later songs about Harrison himself, such as "Handle with Care," recorded with The Traveling Wilburys. "Glass Onion" is a Beatles song about other Beatles songs.

Some of the songs on The Beatles mark important changes in the band's recording style. Previously, no female voices were to be heard on a Beatles album, but Yoko Ono made her first vocal appearance on this record, adding backing vocals in "Birthday" (along with Pattie Harrison); she also sang backing vocals and a solo line on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and, as noted earlier, was a strong influence on Lennon's musique concrète piece, "Revolution 9," an avant-garde sound collage that McCartney initially did not want to include on the album.

Compositions not included

A number of songs were recorded in demo form for possible inclusion but were not incorporated as part of the album. These included "Mean Mr. Mustard" and "Polythene Pam" (both of which would be used for the medley on Abbey Road); "Child of Nature" (recorded with drastically different lyrics as "Jealous Guy" for Lennon's Imagine), "Jubilee" (later retitled "Junk" and released on McCartney's first solo LP); "Etcetera" (a McCartney composition that remains unreleased); "Circles" (which Harrison would return to fourteen years later on his 1982 album Gone Troppo); "The Long and Winding Road" (completed in 1969 for the Let It Be LP); "Something" (which ended up on Abbey Road); and "Sour Milk Sea" (which Harrison gave to friend and Apple artist Jackie Lomax for his first LP, Is This What You Want). Other songs recorded for, but ultimately left off The Beatles received significant exposure via bootlegs, notably Harrison's "Circles" and "Not Guilty" (which he would eventually re-record as solo tracks and release on his 1982 album, Gone Troppo and 1979 self-titled album, George Harrison respectively) and Lennon's manic "What's the New Mary Jane."

Editing concerns, and release

The Beatles was the first Beatles' album released by Apple Records, as well as their only original double album. Producer George Martin has said that he was against the idea of a double album at the time and suggested to the group that they reduce the number of songs in order to form a single album featuring their stronger work, but that the band decided against this. Interviewed for the Beatles Anthology, Starr said he now felt it should have been released as two separate albums. Harrison felt on reflection that some of the tracks could have been released as B-sides, but "there was a lot of ego in that band." He also supported the idea of the double album, to clear out the backlog of songs the group had at the time. McCartney, by contrast, said it was fine as it was and that its wide variety of songs was a major part of the album's appeal.

The Beatles (1968) shares the same November 22 release date as The Beatles' second album, With the Beatles (1963).

Singles

Although "Hey Jude" was not intended to be included on any LP release, it was recorded during the White Album sessions and was released as a stand-alone single before the release of The Beatles. "Hey Jude"'s B-side, "Revolution," was an alternate version of the album's "Revolution 1." Lennon had wanted the original version of "Revolution" to be released as a single, but the other three Beatles objected on the grounds that it was too slow. A new, faster version, with heavily distorted guitar and a high-energy keyboard solo from Nicky Hopkins was recorded, and was relegated to the flip side of "Hey Jude." The resulting release — "Hey Jude" on side A and "Revolution" on side B — emerged as the first release on the Beatles' new Apple Records label. It went on to become the best selling of all Beatles' singles in the US.

Four tracks from the White Album were released on two American and one British single almost eight years after the original album was released. In the summer 1976, to promote the compilation album, Rock 'n' Roll Music, EMI's Parlophone label in the UK and its Capitol label in the US each released a single that contained A and B-sides that appeared on the compilation album. In Britain, Parlophone issued "Back in the U.S.S.R." as the single (its B-side was "Twist and Shout," which originally appeared on the group's first album, Please Please Me). In America, Capitol released "Got to Get You Into My Life" (from the group's 1966 album, Revolver) on the A-side, but selected "Helter Skelter" to serve as the flip side. "Helter Skelter" was likely chosen for the B-side because a cover version of the song had been prominently featured in a made-for-tv movie about the Charles Manson murders that had aired on CBS shortly before the release of Rock 'n' Roll Music. The singles were successful, with "Got to Get You into My Life" hitting No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the US and "Back in the U.S.S.R." hitting No. 18 on the New Musical Express chart in Britain. Both records also helped sell Rock 'n' Roll Music, which hit No. 2 in the United States and No. 10 in the UK. With the success of the singles from the compilation album, Capitol followed-up "Got To Get You Into My Life" with the release of another single in November of 1976. Instead of taking two more tracks from Rock 'n' Roll Music, however, Capitol selected two White Album tracks—"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" as the A-Side, and "Julia" as the B-Side. The "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" single was sold in an individually-numbered white picture sleeve that mimicked the design of the original album. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" did not duplicate the success of its predecessor, however, as it failed to make the Top Forty, stalling out at No. 49 on Billboard.

Mono version

The Beatles was the last Beatles album to be released with a unique, alternate mono mix, albeit one issued only in the UK. Twenty-eight of the album's 30 tracks ("Revolution 1" and "Revolution 9" being the only exceptions) exist in official alternate mono mixes.

Beatles' albums after The Beatles (except Yellow Submarine in the UK) occasionally had mono pressings in certain countries (such as Brazil), but these editions—Yellow Submarine, Abbey Road and Let It Be—were in each case mono fold-downs from the regular stereo mixes.

In the U.S., mono records were already being phased out; the U.S. release of The Beatles was the first Beatles LP to be issued in the U.S. in stereo only.

Sleeve

The album's sleeve was designed by Richard Hamilton, a notable pop artist who had organized a Marcel Duchamp retrospective at the Tate Gallery the previous year. Hamilton's design was in stark contrast to Peter Blake's vivid cover art for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and consisted of a plain white sleeve. The band's name was discreetly embossed slightly below the middle of the album's right side, and the cover also featured a unique stamped serial number, "to create," in Hamilton's words, "the ironic situation of a numbered edition of something like five million copies." Indeed, the artist intended the cover to resemble the "look" of conceptual art, an emerging movement in contemporary art at the time. Later vinyl record releases in the U.S. showed the title in gray printed (rather than embossed) letters. Early copies on compact disc were also numbered. Later CD releases rendered the album's title in black or gray. The 30th anniversary CD release was done to look like the original album sleeve, with an embossed title and serial number, including a small reproduction of the poster and pictures.

The album's inside packaging included a poster, the lyrics to the songs, and a set of photographs taken by Richard Avedon during the autumn of 1968 that have themselves become iconic. This is the only sleeve of a Beatles studio album not to show the members of the band on the front.

Tape versions of the album did not feature a white cover. Instead, cassette, reel-to-reel, and 8-track versions (first issued on two cartridges in early 1969) contained cover artwork that featured a black and white (with no gray) version of the four Avedon photographs. In both the cassette and 8-track versions of the album, the two tapes were sold in a black slip-cover box that bore the title, "The BEATLES" in gold lettering along the front. This departure from the LP's design not only made it difficult for less-informed fans to identify the tape in record stores, but it also led some fans at the time to jokingly refer to the 8-track or cassette not as the "white album" but as the "black tape." In 1988, Capitol/EMI re-issued the 2-cassette version of the album, still with the same cover artwork as the original cassettes — but without the black slip-cover box.

Critical reception and legacy

The Beatles were at the peak of their global influence and visibility in late 1968. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, released the previous year, had enjoyed a combination of commercial success, critical acclaim, and immense cultural influence that had previously seemed inconceivable for a pop release. Time, for instance, had written in 1967 that Pepper constituted a "historic departure in the progress of music — any music," while Timothy Leary, in a widely quoted assessment of the same period, declared that the band were prototypes of "evolutionary agents sent by God, endowed with mysterious powers to create a new human species." After creating an album that had delivered such critical, commercial, and generational shockwaves, The Beatles faced the inevitable question of what they could possibly do to top it. The next full-length album, whatever it was, was destined to draw considerable scrutiny. The intervening release of Magical Mystery Tour notwithstanding (released as a double-EP package in the UK), The Beatles represented the group's first major musical statement since Sgt. Pepper, and thus was a highly anticipated event for both the mainstream press and the youth-oriented counterculture movement with which the band had by this time become strongly associated. Expectations, to say the least, were high. The reviews were mixed.

* Tony Palmer, in The Observer, wrote shortly after the album's release: "If there is still any doubt that Lennon and McCartney are the greatest songwriters since Schubert, then . . . [the album The Beatles] . . . should surely see the last vestiges of cultural snobbery and bourgeois prejudice swept away in a deluge of joyful music making. . . ."

* Richard Goldstein, writing in The New York Times on December 8, 1968, described the album as a "major success."

* Another review in The New York Times, this one by Nik Cohn, considered the album "boring beyond belief" and described "more than half the songs" as "profound mediocrities."

* Alan Smith, in an NME review entitled "The Brilliant, the Bad, and the Ugly," derided "Revolution #9" as a "pretentious" example of "idiot immaturity" and, in the following sentence, assigned the benediction "God Bless You, Beatles!" to "most of the rest" of the album.

Smith's review established a pattern that has endured for much of the critical assessment that followed. Many of the reviews since 1968 — and The Beatles surely ranks among the most-reviewed releases in rock history — have tempered rapturous enthusiasm with a consistent note of criticism about the album's seemingly undisciplined structure. Unlike such albums as Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Revolver, The Beatles is a release that, four decades on, tends to provoke heated discussions of such topics as continuity, style, and integrity.

* The New Rolling Stone Album Guide praises the album but maintains that it has "loads of self-indulgent filler," identifying "Revolution #9" in particular as "justly maligned," and suggests that listeners in the CD era, who can program digital players to skip over unwanted tracks, may have an advantage over the album's original audience.

Some contemporary critics say the album's inclusion of supposedly extraneous material is a part of its appeal. The allmusic.com review contends that:

* "Each song on the sprawling double album The Beatles is an entity to itself, as the band touches on anything and everything they can. This makes for a frustratingly scattershot record or a singularly gripping musical experience, depending on your view, but what makes the White Album interesting is its mess."

One important current trend in critical assessments of the album is to draw parallels between the band's disintegrating ensemble and the chaotic events of the tumultuous year in which The Beatles was created, 1968. Along these lines, Slant Magazine observed that:

* "(The album) reveals the popping seams of a band that had the pressure of an entire fissuring generational/political gap on its back. Maybe it's because it shows The Beatles at the point where even their music couldn't hide the underlying tensions between John, Paul, George, and Ringo, or maybe because it was (coincidentally?) released at the tail end of a year anyone could agree was the embittered honeymoon's end for the Love Generation, the year when, to borrow from a famous Yeats poem, the center decidedly could not hold ... for whatever reason, The Beatles is still one of the few albums by the Fab Four that resists reflexive canonization, which, along with society's continued fragmentation, keeps the album fresh and surprising."

In 1997, The Beatles was named the 10th greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998, Q magazine readers placed it at number 17, while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 7 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever.

In 2001, the TV network VH1 named it as the 11th greatest album ever.

It was ranked number 10 in Rolling Stone's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time in 2003.

In 2006, the album was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time.

On the 40th anniversary of the album's release the Vatican issued an unusual review of the album. The official Vatican newspaper, L'Osservatore Romano, published a lengthy article which declared that "Forty years later, this album remains a type of magical musical anthology: 30 songs you can go through and listen to at will, certain of finding some pearls that even today remain unparalleled." Forgiving John Lennon's "more popular than Jesus" remark, the paper called the White Album the "creative summit" of the Beatles' career, comparing it favorably to contemporary music and taking note of the now antiquated equipment used, concluding that "a listening experience like that offered by the Beatles is truly rare."

Cultural responses

Ian MacDonald, in his book Revolution in the Head, argues that The Beatles was the album in which the band's cryptic messages to its fan base became not merely vague but intentionally and perhaps dangerously open-ended, citing oblique passages in songs like "Glass Onion" (e.g., "the walrus was Paul") and "Piggies" ("what they need's a damn good whacking"). These pronouncements, and many others on the album, came to attract extraordinary popular interest at a time when more of the world's youth were using drugs recreationally and looking for spiritual, political, and strategic advice from The Beatles. Steve Turner, too, in his book A Hard Day's Write, maintains that, with this album, "The Beatles had perhaps laid themselves open to misinterpretation by mixing up the languages of poetry and nonsense." Bob Dylan's songs had been similarly mined for hidden meanings, but the massive countercultural analysis of The Beatles surpassed anything that had gone before.

Even Lennon's seemingly direct engagement with the tumultuous political issues of 1968 in "Revolution 1" carried a nuanced obliqueness, and ended up sending messages the author may not have intended. In the album's version of the song, Lennon advises those who "talk about destruction" to "count me out." As McDonald notes, however, Lennon then follows the sung word "out" with the spoken word "in." At the time of the album's release — which followed, chronologically, the up-tempo single version of the song, "Revolution," in which Lennon definitely wanted to be counted "out" — that single word "in" was taken by many on the radical left as Lennon's acknowledgment, after considered thought, that violence in the pursuit of political aims was indeed justified in some cases. At a time of increasing unrest in the streets and campuses of Paris and Berkeley, the album's lyrics seemed to many to mark a reversal of Lennon's position on the question, which was hotly debated during this period.

The search for hidden meanings within the songs reached its low point when cult leader Charles Manson used the record, and generous helpings of hallucinogens, to persuade members of his "family" that the album was in fact an apocalyptic message predicting a prolonged race war and justifying the murder of wealthy people. The album's association with a high-profile mass murder was one of many factors that helped to deepen the accelerating divide between those who were profoundly skeptical of the "youth culture" movement that had unfolded in the middle and late 1960s in the UK, the United States and elsewhere, and those who admired the openness and spontaneity of that movement. Prosecutor Vincent Bugliosi wrote a best-selling book about the Manson "family" that explicated, among other things, the cult's fixation with identifying hidden messages within The Beatles; Bugliosi's book was entitled Helter Skelter, the term Manson took from the album's song of that name and construed as the conflict he thought impending.

Cultural responses to the album persisted for decades, and even offer a glimpse into the process of collective myth-making. In October 1969, a Detroit radio program began to promote theories based on "clues" supposedly left on The Beatles and other Beatles albums that Paul McCartney had died and been replaced by a lookalike. The ensuing hunt for "clues" to a "cover-up" The Beatles presumably wanted to suppress (and simultaneously publicize) became one of the classic examples of the development and persistence of urban legends.

Sales

The album was a major commercial success, spending a total of eight weeks at #1 in the UK (the first week being that of December 7, 1968), and nine weeks at #1 in the United States (the first week being that of December 28, 1968). Total US sales are estimated at over 9.5 million copies (19 million units).

According to the Recording Industry Association of America, The Beatles is The Beatles' best-selling album at 19-times platinum and the tenth-best-selling album of all time in the United States.

Re-issues

Two re-issues in 1978 (one by Capitol Records, the other by Parlophone) saw the album pressed on white vinyl, completing the look of the "white" album. In 1985, EMI Electrola released a DMM (direct metal mastered) white vinyl pressing of the album in Germany, which was imported to the United States in large numbers. Another popular white vinyl pressing was manufactured in France. The 1978 Parlophone white vinyl export pressing and the German DMM pressing are widely considered the best-sounding versions of the album. This is due to the use of the famed Neumann lathe on the 1978 export pressing and the use of the DMM process on the 1985 pressing.

On January 7, 1982, Mobile Fidelty Sound Lab released the album in a non-embossed unnumbered version of The White Album cover with the ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING banner at the top. Neither the poster nor portraits were included. The labels to the discs are white with primarily black text and the Capitol dome logo at three o'clock. The MFSL discs were made with Super Vinyl, a heavy and hard compound that that provides an extraordinary quiet playing surface. Although MFSL leased the album from Capitol and used the company's sub-master, the discs still sound superior to the standard British and American pressings. The discs were stored in "rice paper" static-free, dust-free inner sleeves enclosed in an off-white gatefold reinforced stiff board that fit into the custom fabricated album jacket.

In 1998, a 30th anniversary reissue of the album was released on a two-disc compact disc version in the United Kingdom. The packaging of this release is virtually identical to its vinyl counterpart. It has the same pure white gatefold cover, complete with the title "The BEATLES" in a slightly raised, embossed graphic at a slight angle. It also included the now-classic sequentially numbered serial number on the front of this cover, thus making this one a real limited edition. The interior of this cover features the song titles on the left-hand side, and the four black-and-white photos of the group members on the right. This version of the cover even accurately mimics the original British vinyl pressing from 1968, with the openings for the discs at the top rather than the sides. There are miniatures of the four full-color glossy portrait photos included, as well as an exact replica of the poster with the photo collage on one side, and the album's complete song lyrics on the opposite side. The CDs are housed in black sleeves, which were also used for the original British album. This commemorative double CD album is housed in a clear plastic slipcase.

Influences, parodies and tributes

The album's cover, though stark and minimalistic, has been highly influential. Goth band The Damned released The Black Album in 1980, and is considered the first album to draw influence from the cover, as well as the first band to use the term "Black Album." The 1984 Rob Reiner "rockumentary" This Is Spinal Tap also pays homage with their own "Black Album," which is juxtaposed to the original by A&R staff Bobbi Fleckman, who notes in a debate about appropriate packaging material: "What about the White album? There's was nothing on that Goddamned cover." The band are generally less enthusiastic, referring to it variously as "a black mirror," "none more black" and "death." The self-titled debut album of They Might Be Giants is commonly referred to as "The Pink Album" due to the amount of the color pink on the cover. Comedian Dennis Miller released a stand-up comedy recording in October 1988 titled "The Off-White Album" which mimicked the design of The Beatles. In the 1990s, both Prince and Metallica released self-titled albums with their names printed against mostly plain black covers, and are both informally referred to as "The Black Album." In 2003, rapper Jay-Z released an album officially called The Black Album. DJ Danger Mouse produced the mash-up The Grey Album by combining vocals from Jay-Z's Black Album with samples from The Beatles. Two compilations of Beatles' material, released in 1973 as 1962–1966 and 1967–1970, are often referred to as "The Red Album" and "The Blue Album" respectively, in reference to their color scheme. The Bob and Tom Show named their first collection of material as The White Cassette (later renamed The White Album when released on CD). All three of Weezer's self-titled albums borrow from this idea as well and fans refer to them respectively as "The Blue Album" (1994), "The Green Album" (2001), and "The Red Album" (2008). 311's self-titled release from 1995 is often referred to as "The Blue Album," and The Dells' 1973 self-titled album is often known as "The Brown Album," as is The Band's 1969 self-titled album. Australian comedy duo Martin/Molloy also released a CD called The Brown Album in 1995, while American rock band Primus did likewise in 1997. The animated television series The Simpsons and SpongeBob Squarepants both used the title The Yellow Album for their spin-off CDs, with the latter also parodying the plain cover. The British electronica duo Orbital released their first two albums without definite names, which in time became known as The Green Album and The Brown Album, while their final release is known as The Blue Album. The satirical Australian alternative rock band TISM released The White Albun [sic] in 2004. The band Phish covered the album in its entirety for their second set of their three set Halloween show in 1994.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Lennon/McCartney, except where noted.
Side one
# Title lead vocals Length
1. "Back in the U.S.S.R." McCartney 2:43
2. "Dear Prudence" Lennon 3:56
3. "Glass Onion" Lennon 2:17
4. "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" McCartney 3:08
5. "Wild Honey Pie" McCartney 0:52
6. "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" Lennon 3:14
7. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" (George Harrison) Harrison 4:45
8. "Happiness Is a Warm Gun" Lennon 2:43
Side two
# Title lead vocals Length
1. "Martha My Dear" McCartney 2:28
2. "I'm So Tired" Lennon 2:03
3. "Blackbird" McCartney 2:18
4. "Piggies" (Harrison) Harrison 2:04
5. "Rocky Raccoon" McCartney 3:32
6. "Don't Pass Me By" (Richard Starkey) Starr 3:50
7. "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?" McCartney 1:41
8. "I Will" McCartney 1:46
9. "Julia" Lennon 2:54
Side three
# Title lead vocals Length
1. "Birthday" McCartney with Lennon 2:42
2. "Yer Blues" Lennon 4:01
3. "Mother Nature's Son" McCartney 2:48
4. "Everybody's Got Something to Hide Except Me and My Monkey" Lennon 2:24
5. "Sexy Sadie" Lennon 3:15
6. "Helter Skelter" McCartney 4:29
7. "Long, Long, Long" (Harrison) Harrison 3:04
Side four
# Title lead vocals Length
1. "Revolution 1" Lennon 4:15
2. "Honey Pie" McCartney 2:41
3. "Savoy Truffle" (Harrison) Harrison 2:54
4. "Cry Baby Cry" Lennon with McCartney 3:01
5. "Revolution 9" N/A 8:22
6. "Good Night" Starr 3:11

The arrangement of the songs on the The Beatles follows some patterns and symmetry. For example, "Wild Honey Pie" is the fifth song from the beginning of the album and "Honey Pie" is the fifth song from the end. Also, three of the four songs containing animal names in their titles ("Blackbird", "Piggies", and "Rocky Raccoon") are grouped together. "Savoy Truffle," the fourth song from the end of the album, contains a reference to "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da," the fourth song from the beginning. In addition, the four songs composed by Harrison are distributed with one on each of the four sides.

Personnel

The Beatles

* George Harrison – lead, harmony and background vocals; lead and rhythm (electric and acoustic) guitars, four- and six-string bass guitar; Hammond organ; drums and assorted percussion (tambourine, hand-shake bell, handclaps and vocal percussion) and sound effects
* John Lennon – lead, harmony and background vocals; lead and rhythm (electric and acoustic) guitars, 4 and 6-string bass guitar; pianos (electric and acoustic), Hammond organ, harmonium, mellotron; drums and assorted percussion (tambourine, maracas, thumping on the back of an acoustic guitar, handclaps and vocal percussion); harmonica, saxophone and whistling; tapes, tape loops and sound effects (electronic and home-made)
* Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and background vocals; lead and rhythm (electric and acoustic) guitars, 4 and 6-string bass guitar; pianos (electric and acoustic), Hammond organ, drums, timpani and assorted percussion (tambourine, handclaps and vocal percussion; drums on "Back in the U.S.S.R." and "Dear Prudence"); recorder, flugelhorn and sound effects
* Ringo Starr – drums and assorted percussion (tambourine, bongos, cymbals, maracas, vocal percussion); lead vocals, electric piano and sleigh bell (on "Don't Pass Me By") , lead vocals (on "Don't Pass Me By" and "Good Night") and backing vocals ("The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill")

Guests musicians

* Eric Clapton – lead guitar on "While my Guitar Gently Weeps"
* Mal Evans – backing vocals and handclaps on "Dear Prudence","The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Birthday", saxophone and sound effects on "Helter Skelter"
* Jack Fallon – violin on "Don't Pass Me By"
* Pattie Harrison – backing vocals on "Birthday"
* Jackie Lomax – backing vocals and handclaps on "Dear Prudence"
* Jimmy Scott – congas on "Ob-La-Di-Ob-La-Da"
* Maureen Starkey – backing vocals on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill"
* Yoko Ono – backing vocals and handclaps on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and tapes and sound effects on "Revolution 9", backing vocals on "Birthday"

Session musicians

* Ted Barker – trombone on "Martha My Dear"
* Leon Calvert – trumpet and flugelhorn on "Martha My Dear"
* Henry Datyner, Eric Bowie, Norman Lederman, Ronald Thomas (all on "Glass Onion"), Bernard Miller, Dennis McConnell, Lou Soufier and Les Maddox (all on "Martha My Dear") – violins
* Reginald Kilby (on "Glass Onion" and "Martha My Dear"), Eldon Fox (on "Glass Onion") and Frederick Alexander (on "Martha My Dear") – cellos
* Harry Klein – clarinet on "Honey Pie", saxophone on "Savoy Truffle"
* Alf Reece – tuba on "Martha My Dear"
* The Mike Sammes Singers – backing vocals on "Good Night"
* Stanley Reynolds and Ronnie Hughes – trumpet (all on "Martha My Dear")
* Tony Tunstall – French horn on "Martha My Dear"
* John Underwood, Keith Cummings (all on "Glass Onion"), Leo Birnbaum and Henry Myerscough (all on "Martha My Dear") – violas

Production team

* Geoff Emerick – engineer, vocal on "Revolution #1" ("Take 2")
* George Martin – record producer and mixer; string, brass, clarinet, orchestral arrangements and conducting; piano on "Rocky Raccoon"
* Ken Scott – engineer and mixer
* Chris Thomas – producer; mellotron on "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill," harpsichord on "Piggies" and piano on "Long, Long, Long"

Released: 22 November 1968
Recorded: 30 May – 14 October 1968, Abbey Road Studios and Trident Studios, London, United Kingdom
Genre: Rock
Length: 93:35
Language: English
Label: Apple, Parlophone, EMI
Producer: George Martin

Wikipedia

"Look at Me" Lyrics

by John Lennon

Original Manuscript, "look at me (pre janov!)" (1970)

look at me
who am I supposed to be?
who am I supposed to be?
look at me
what am I supposed to be
what am I supposed to be
look at me oh my love - oh my love

here I am
what am I supposed to do
what am I supposed to do
here I am
what can I do for you
what can I do for you
here I am - oh my love - oh my love

look at me, oh please look at me my love
here I am oh my love

who am I
nobody knows but me
" " " you
who am I
nobody else can you
just you and me
who are we. oh my love

As Released by John Lennon (1970)

Look at me
Who am I supposed to be?
Who am I supposed to be?
Look at me
What am I supposed to be?
What am I supposed to be?
Look at me
Oh my love, oh my love

Here I am
What am I supposed to do?
What am I supposed to do?
Here I am
What can I do for you?
What can I do for you?
Here I am
Oh my love, oh my love

Look at me, oh please look at me, my love
Here I am
Oh my love

Who am I?
Nobody knows but me
Nobody knows but me
Who am I?
Nobody else can see
Just you and me
Who are we?
Oh my love, oh my love, oh my love

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the British rock band The Beatles. Recorded over a 129-day period beginning on 6 December 1966, the album was released on 1 June 1967 in the United Kingdom and the following day in the United States. Sgt. Pepper is often described as The Beatles' magnum opus and recognized as one of the most influential albums of all time by prominent critics and publications. It was ranked the greatest album of all time by Rolling Stone in 2003.

Background

The album project had originally been titled Dr. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but after it was discovered that Dr. Pepper was a trademarked name for an American soft drink, The Beatles changed the title to Sgt. Pepper's.

When Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was being recorded, "Beatlemania" was waning. The Beatles had grown tired of touring and had quit the road in August 1966. After one particular concert, while being driven away in the back of a small van, the four of them—even Paul McCartney, who was perhaps the most in favor of continuing to tour—decided that enough was enough. From that point on the Beatles became an entirely studio-based band. For the first time in their careers, the band had more than ample time with which to prepare their next record. As EMI's premier act and Britain's most successful pop group they had almost unlimited access to the state of the art technology of Abbey Road Studios. All four band members had already developed a preference for long, late night sessions, although they were still extremely efficient and highly disciplined in their studio habits.

George Harrison, the lead guitarist of the Beatles, went on a trip to India to learn to play the sitar, an Indian instrument, with Ravi Shankar, a renowned sitarist. Harrison brought back with him Indian culture and music.

Recording for the album began in late 1966 and early 1967 with two songs that were ultimately dropped from Sgt. Pepper, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane." When Beatles manager Brian Epstein decided that a new single was needed, the two songs were issued as a double-A-sided single in February 1967. In keeping with the group's usual practice, the single tracks were not included on the LP (a decision George Martin maintains he regrets to this day). They were released only as a single in the UK at the time, but were included as part of the American LP version of Magical Mystery Tour (which was issued as a 6-track EP in Britain). The Harrison composition "Only a Northern Song" was also recorded during the Pepper sessions but did not see release until January 1969 when the soundtrack album for the animated feature Yellow Submarine was issued.

Concept

With Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles wanted to create a record that could, in effect, tour for them — an idea they had already explored with the promotional film-clips made over the previous years, intended to promote them in the United States when they were not touring there.

McCartney decided that he should create fictitious characters for each band member and record an album that would be a performance by that fictitious band. This "alter-ego group" gave the Beatles the freedom to experiment with songs.

The Beatles' fame motivated them to grow moustaches and beards and even longer hair, and was an inspiration for the disguise of their flamboyant Sgt. Pepper costumes. McCartney was well known for going out in public in disguise and all four had used aliases for travel bookings and hotel reservations.

Thus, the album starts with the title song, which introduces Sgt. Pepper's band itself; this song segues seamlessly into a sung introduction for bandleader "Billy Shears" (Starr), who performs "With a Little Help from My Friends". A reprise version of the title song was also recorded, and appears on side 2 of the original album (just prior to the climactic "A Day in the Life"), creating a "bookending" effect.

However, the Beatles effectively abandoned the concept after recording the first two songs and the reprise. Lennon was unequivocal in stating that the songs he wrote for the album had nothing to do with the Sgt. Pepper concept. Since the other songs on the album are actually unrelated, one might be tempted to conclude that the album does not express an overarching theme. However, the cohesive structure and careful sequencing of and transitioning between songs on the album, as well as the use of the Sgt. Pepper framing device, have led the album to be widely acknowledged as an early and ground-breaking example of the concept album.

Before beginning work on Sgt. Pepper, the Beatles had begun to work on a series of songs that were to form an album thematically linked to childhood and everyday life. The first fruits of this exercise - "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were released as a double-A single after EMI and Epstein pressured George Martin for a released single. Once the singles were released the concept was abandoned in favor of 'Pepper.' However, traces of this initial idea survive in the lyrics to several songs on the album ("A Day in the Life", "Lovely Rita", "Good Morning, Good Morning", "She's Leaving Home", "Getting Better", and "When I'm Sixty-Four") and it could be argued provide more of a unifying theme for the album than that of the Pepper concept itself.

Recording

Since the introduction of magnetic recording tape in 1949, multitrack recording had been developed. By 1967 all of the Sgt. Pepper tracks could be recorded at Abbey Road using mono, stereo and 4-track recorders. Although 8-track tape recorders were already available in the U.S., the first 8-tracks were not operational in commercial studios in London until late 1967, shortly after Sgt. Pepper was released. In retrospect, the limitations of EMI's studio technology most likely pushed the Beatles and their production staff to be more inventive and resourceful than they otherwise would have been.

Like its predecessors, the recording made extensive use of the technique known as bouncing down (also called multing), in which a number of tracks were recorded across the four tracks of one recorder, which were then mixed and dubbed down onto one track of the master 4-track machine. This enabled the Abbey Road engineers to give the Beatles a virtual multi-track studio.

Magnetic tape had also led to innovative use of instruments and production effects, notably the tape-based keyboard sampler, the Mellotron, effects like flanging and phasing, as well as a greatly improved system for creating echo and reverberation.

The Beatles also used new modular effects units like the wah-wah pedal and fuzzbox, which they augmented with their own experimental ideas, such as running voices and instruments through a Leslie speaker. Another important sonic innovation was McCartney's discovery of the direct input (DI) technique, in which he could record his bass by plugging it directly into an amplifying circuit in the recording console. While the still often-used technique of recording through an amplifier with a microphone sounds more natural, this setup provided a radically different presence in bass guitar sound versus the old method. But the most frequently used method was to record the bass last, after all the other recording was done, by placing the amplifier in the centre of the studio and placing the microphone six feet from the source.

Several then-new production effects feature extensively on the recordings. One of the most important was automatic double tracking (ADT), a system that used tape recorders to create an instant and simultaneous doubling of a sound. Although it had long been recognised that using multitrack tape to record 'doubled' lead vocals produced a greatly enhanced sound (especially with weaker singers), it had always been necessary to record such vocal tracks twice, a task which was both tedious and exacting.

ADT was invented specially for the Beatles by EMI engineer Ken Townsend in 1966, mainly at the behest of Lennon, who hated tracking sessions and regularly expressed a desire for a technical solution to the problem. ADT quickly became a near-universal recording practice in popular music. Producer George Martin, having a bit of fun at John Lennon's expense, described the new technique to an inquisitive Lennon as a "double-bifurcated sploshing flange." The anecdote explains one variation of how the term "flanging" came to be for this recording effect.

Also important was varispeeding, the technique of recording various tracks on a multi-track tape at slightly different tape speeds. The Beatles use this effect extensively on their vocals in this period. The speeding up of vocals (also known as 'tweaking') also became a widespread technique in pop production. The Beatles also used the effect on portions of their backing tracks (as on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds") to give them a 'thicker' and more diffuse sound.

In another innovation, non-US pressings of the album (in its original LP form that was later released on CD) end in an unusual way, beginning with a 15-kilohertz high-frequency tone (put on the album at Lennon's suggestion and said to be "especially intended to annoy your dog"), followed by an endless loop of laughter and gibberish made by the runout groove looping back into itself. The loop (but not the tone) made its U.S. debut on the 1980 Rarities compilation, titled "Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove". However, it is only featured as a 2-second fragment at the end of side 2 rather than an actual loop in the run out groove. The CD version of Sgt. Pepper's Inner Groove is actually a bit shorter than that one found on the original UK vinyl pressing.

The sound in the loop is also the subject of much controversy, being widely interpreted as some kind of secret message. McCartney later told his biographer Barry Miles that in the summer of 1967 a group of kids came up to him complaining about a lewd message hidden in it when played backwards. He told them, "You're wrong, it's actually just 'It really couldn't be any other.'" He took them to his house to play the record backwards to them, and it turned out that the passage sounded very much like "We'll fuck you like Superman." McCartney recounted to Miles that his immediate reaction had been, "Oh my God!"

However, it seems that in reality it is nothing more than a few random samples and tape edits played backwards. The loop is re-created on the CD version which plays for a few seconds, then fades out. Although most of the content of the runout groove is impossible to decipher, it is possible to distinguish a sped-up voice (possibly McCartney's) actually reciting the phrase "never could be any other way". Played backwards, the last element of the original LP loop that is Sgt. Pepper's Inner Groove appears to be George Harrison saying "Epstein" (obviously missing from the CD version).

Some tension and discord took place during the recording sessions. One instance involved "She's Leaving Home", when an impatient McCartney, frustrated by Martin's unavailability, hired freelance arranger Mike Leander to arrange the string section — the first of only two occasions during the group's entire career that he worked with another arranger (the other was in connection with some backing orchestration used in the Magical Mystery Tour film (12 October 1967 session; see Lewisohn), which were also arranged by Leander. Harrison also became alienated by McCartney's growing dominance in the studio, particularly when McCartney re-recorded the guitar solos for the album's title track.

The Beatles were present during the mixing of the album in mono and the LP was originally released as such alongside a stereo mix prepared by Abbey Road engineers led by Geoff Emerick; the Beatles themselves did not attend the mixing of the stereo version. (The mono version is now out of print on vinyl and was not officially released on CD.) The two mixes are fundamentally different. For example, the stereo mix of "She's Leaving Home" was mixed at a slower speed than the original recording and therefore plays at a slower tempo and at a lower pitch than the original recording. Conversely, the mono version of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is considerably slower than the stereo version and features much heavier gating and reverb effects. McCartney's yelling voice in the coda section of "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)" (just before the segue into "A Day in the Life") can plainly be heard in the mono version, but is nearly inaudible in the stereo version. The mono version of the song also features drums that open with much more presence and force, as they are turned well up in the mix. Also in the stereo mix, the famous segue at the end of "Good Morning Good Morning" (the chicken-clucking sound which becomes a guitar noise) is timed differently and a crowd noise tape comes in later during the intro to "Sgt. Pepper (Reprise)".

Other variations between the two mixes include louder laughter at the end of the mono mix of "Within You Without You", as well as a gush of laughter between the coda of the title track and the beginning of "With a Little Help From My Friends", and a colder, echoless ending on the mono version of "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

Music

Sgt. Pepper features elaborate arrangements — for example, the clarinet ensemble on "When I'm Sixty-Four" — and extensive use of studio effects including echo, reverberation and reverse tape effects. Many of these effects were devised in collaboration with producer George Martin and his team of engineers.

By the time the Beatles recorded the album their musical interests had grown from their simple R&B, pop, and rock and roll beginnings to incorporate a variety of new influences. They had become familiar with a wide range of instruments such as the Hammond organ and electric piano; their instrumentation now covered a wider range including strings, brass, woodwind, percussion, and even some exotic instruments such as the sitar. McCartney, although unable to read music, had scored a recent British film The Family Way (see The Family Way soundtrack) with the assistance of producer/arranger George Martin, which earned him a prestigious Ivor Novello award. McCartney came to be greatly influenced by the avant garde composer Karlheinz Stockhausen, whom he wanted to include on the cover.

Another example of the album's unusual production is John Lennon's song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!", which closes side 1 of the album. The lyrics were adapted almost word for word from an old circus poster which Lennon had bought at an antique shop in Kent the day the Beatles had been filming the promotional clip for Strawberry Fields Forever there. The flowing sound collage that gives the song its distinctive character was created by Martin and his engineers, who collected recordings of calliopes and fairground organs, which were then cut into strips of various lengths, thrown into a box, mixed up and edited together in random order, creating a long loop which was mixed in during final production.

The opening track of side two, "Within You Without You", is unusually long for a 'pop' recording of the day, and features only George Harrison, on vocals, sitar and acoustic guitar, with all other instruments being played by a group of London-based Indian musicians. These deviations from the traditional rock and roll band formula were facilitated by the Beatles' decision not to tour, by their ability to hire top-rate session musicians, and by Harrison's burgeoning interest in India and Indian music, which led him to take lessons from sitar maestro Ravi Shankar. Harrison's fascination with Indian music is further evidenced by the use of a tamboura on several tracks, including "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" as well as "Getting Better".

This album also makes heavy use of keyboard instruments. Grand piano is used on tracks such as "A Day in the Life," along with Lowrey organ on "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds." A harpsichord can be heard on "Fixing a Hole," and a harmonium was played by George Martin on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite". Electric piano, upright piano, Hammond organ, glockenspiel and Mellotron are all heard on the record.

The thunderous piano chord that dramatically concludes "A Day in the Life", and the album, was produced by assembling three grand pianos in the studio and playing an E chord on each simultaneously. Together on cue Lennon, Starr, George Martin and assistant Mal Evans hammered the keys on the assembled pianos and held the chord. The sound from the pianos was then mixed up with compression and increasing gain on the volume to draw out the sound to maximum sustain.

Possible drug references

Concerns that lyrics in Sgt. Pepper referred to recreational drug use led to several songs from the album being banned by the BBC and criticized in other quarters.

The album's closing track, "A Day in the Life," includes the phrase "I'd love to turn you on". The BBC banned the song from airplay on the basis of this line, claiming it could "encourage a permissive attitude toward drug-taking." Both Lennon and McCartney denied any drug-related interpretation of the song.

The song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" also became the subject of speculation regarding its meaning, as many believed that the words of the chorus were code for LSD. The BBC used this as their basis for banning the song from British radio. Again, John Lennon consistently denied this interpretation of the song, maintaining that the song describes a surreal dream scape inspired by a picture drawn by his son Julian. However, during a newspaper interview in 2004, McCartney was quoted as saying:

“'Lucy in the Sky', that's pretty obvious. There's others that make subtle hints about drugs, but, you know, it's easy to overestimate the influence of drugs on the Beatles' music. Just about everyone was doing drugs in one form or another and we were no different, but the writing was too important for us to mess it up by getting off our heads all the time.”

Other songs recorded during that period

Four other tracks were recorded during the time span of the Sgt. Pepper recording sessions but not incorporated on the album:

* "Strawberry Fields Forever" – The first song recorded for the album, written by Lennon with the title referring to a Salvation Army orphanage near where he lived during his childhood in Liverpool.
* "Penny Lane" – A McCartney song written as a counterpoint to Lennon's "Strawberry Fields" - it was McCartney's own nostalgic take on the Liverpool of his youth.

Though "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" had originally been intended for the new album, in January 1967 producer George Martin responded to EMI Records' pressure for a new single (the Beatles had not released a single since August 1966) and called the two tracks for issue in February 1967. In common with UK music industry practice at that time, which did not duplicate recent singles on new albums, both tracks were subsequently left off the Sgt. Pepper album. The tracks were issued on the US Magical Mystery Tour album in late 1967 and on a UK compilation album in 1973. Martin later described the decision to extract the two songs from the album as the biggest mistake of his career.

* "Only a Northern Song" – A George Harrison song that offered a sarcastic commentary on his music publishing contract with the Beatles' publishing company "Northern Songs". Harrison presented it as a possibility for inclusion on the album to George Martin, who rejected it. Harrison then decided to write another track for the album, "Within You Without You", and that song about spirituality was deemed a more suitable choice for the album. "Only a Northern Song" was shelved and then given to the makers of the animated feature film Yellow Submarine. It was used in the 1968 film and then incorporated on the soundtrack album released the following year.
* "Carnival of Light" – A McCartney sound collage reportedly lasting ten to fifteen minutes, the piece was commissioned and recorded for use at a psychedelic London event in early 1967—the "Carnival of Light Rave"—and expanded on the use of tape loops that the Beatles had explored on "Tomorrow Never Knows". "Carnival of Light" has not yet appeared on any release, be it official or a bootleg recording. However, a minute-long track claimed to be an excerpt from the song containing backwards, sped up electric guitar noises has appeared on various file-sharing networks. In November 2008 McCartney confirmed its existence, and he believes the time has come to let it be released.

Album cover

The Grammy Award-winning album packaging was created by art director Robert Fraser, mostly in collaboration with McCartney, designed by Peter Blake, his wife Jann Haworth, and photographed by Michael Cooper. It featured a colorful collage of life-sized cardboard models of famous people on the front of the album cover and lyrics printed on the back cover, the first time this had been done on an English pop LP. The Beatles themselves, in the guise of the Sgt. Pepper band, were dressed in custom-made military-style outfits made of satin dyed in day-glo colors. The suits were designed by Manuel Cuevas. Among the insignia on their uniforms are:

* MBE medals on McCartney's and Harrison's jackets. MBEs had been awarded to all four Beatles.
* The Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom, on Lennon's right sleeve
* Ontario Provincial Police flash on McCartney's sleeve

Art director Robert Fraser was a prominent London art dealer who ran his own gallery and sponsored exhibitions at the Indica Gallery, through which he had become a close friend of McCartney, and it was at his strong urging that the group abandoned their original cover design, a psychedelic painting by The Fool. The Fool's design for the inner sleeve was, however, used for the first few pressings.

Fraser was one of the leading champions of modern art in Britain in the 1960s and after. He argued strongly that the Fool artwork was not well-executed and that the design would soon be dated. He convinced McCartney to abandon it, and offered to art-direct the cover; it was Fraser's suggestion to use an established fine artist and he introduced the band to a client, noted British 'pop' artist Peter Blake, who, in collaboration with his wife, created the famous cover collage, known as "People We Like".

According to Blake, the original concept was to create a scene that showed the Sgt. Pepper band performing in a park; this gradually evolved into its final form, which shows the Beatles, as the Sgt. Pepper band, surrounded by a large group of their heroes, rendered as life-sized cut-out figures. Also included were wax-work figures of the Beatles as they appeared in the early '60s, borrowed from Madame Tussauds. The wax figures appear to be looking down on the word "Beatles" spelled out in flowers as if it were a grave, and it has been speculated that this symbolizes that the innocent mop-tops of yesteryear were now dead and gone. At their feet were several affectations from the Beatles' homes including small statues belonging to Lennon and Harrison, a small portable TV set and a trophy. A young delivery boy who provided the flowers for the photo session was allowed to contribute a guitar made of yellow hyacinths. Although it has long been rumored that some of the plants in the arrangement were cannabis plants, this is untrue. Also included is a Shirley Temple doll wearing a sweater in homage to the Rolling Stones (who would return the tribute by having the Beatles hidden in the cover of their own Their Satanic Majesties Request LP later that year).

The collage depicted more than 70 famous people, including writers, musicians, film stars and (at Harrison's request) a number of Indian gurus. Starr reportedly made no contribution to the design. The final grouping included Marlene Dietrich, Carl Gustav Jung, W.C. Fields, Diana Dors, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Aldous Huxley, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sigmund Freud, Aleister Crowley, Edgar Allan Poe, Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, William S. Burroughs, Marlon Brando, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and controversial comedian Lenny Bruce. Also included was the image of the original Beatles bass player, the late Stuart Sutcliffe. Pete Best said in a later NPR interview that Lennon borrowed family medals from his mother Mona for the shoot, on condition he not lose them. Adolf Hitler and Jesus Christ were requested by Lennon, but ultimately they were left out.

A photo also exists of a rejected cardboard printout with a cloth draped over its head; its identity is unknown, but may possibly be Elvis Presley. Even now, co-creator Jann Haworth regrets that so few women were included. The entire list of people on the cover can be found at List of images on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

The package was a 'gatefold' album cover, that is, the album could be opened like a book to reveal a large picture of the Fab Four in costume against a yellow background. The reason for the gate fold was that the Beatles originally planned to fill two LPs for the release. The designs had already been approved and sent to be printed when they realized they would only have enough material for one LP.

Originally the group wanted the album to include a package with pins, pencils and other small Sgt. Pepper goodies but this proved far too cost-prohibitive. Instead, the album came with a page of cut-outs, with a description in the top left corner:

SGT. PEPPER CUT-OUTS

* Mustache
* Picture card of Sgt. Pepper
* Stripes
* Badges
* Stand-up of the band

The special inner sleeve, included in the early pressings of the LP, featured a multi-coloured psychedelic pattern designed by the Fool.
The inner sleeve

The collage created legal worries for EMI's legal department, which had to contact the people who were still living to obtain their permission. Mae West initially refused — famously asking "What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?" — but she relented after the Beatles sent her a personal letter. Actor Leo Gorcey requested payment for inclusion on the cover, so his image was removed. An image of Mohandas Gandhi was also removed at the request of EMI (it was airbrushed out), who had a branch in India and were fearful that it might cause offence there. Lennon had, perhaps facetiously, asked to include images of Jesus Christ and Adolf Hitler, but these were rejected because they would almost certainly have generated enormous controversy. Most of the suggestions for names to be included came from McCartney, Lennon and Harrison, with additional suggestions from Blake and Fraser (Starr demurred and let the others choose). Beatles manager Brian Epstein had serious misgivings, stemming from the scandalous U.S. Butcher Cover controversy the previous year, going so far as to give a note reading "Brown paper bags for Sgt. Pepper" to Nat Weiss as his last wish.

The collage was assembled by Blake and his wife during the last two weeks of March 1967 at the London studio of photographer Michael Cooper, who took the cover shots on March 30, 1967 in a three-hour evening session. The final bill for the cover was £2,868 5s/3d, a staggering sum for the time — it has been estimated that this was 100 times the average cost for an album cover in those days.

There were also variations of the cover for different countries. On the Soviet Union pirate edition cover, the writing on the bass drum was translated into cyrillic, Karl Marx was replaced by Rasputin and a photo of the director of the record company was added in the back row between Edgar Allan Poe and Fred Astaire. Some countries had colored vinyl such as a yellow LP in The Netherlands and a red one in Japan.

Release and reception

Upon release, Sgt. Pepper received both popular and critical acclaim. Various reviews appearing in the mainstream press and trade publications throughout June 1967, immediately after the album's release, were generally positive. In The Times prominent critic Kenneth Tynan described Sgt. Pepper as "a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization." Others including Richard Poirier, and Geoffrey Stokes were similarly expansive in their praise, Stokes noting, "listening to the Sgt. Pepper album one thinks not simply of the history of popular music but the history of this century."

One notable critic who did not like the album was Richard Goldstein, a critic for The New York Times, who wrote, "Like an over-attended child, "Sergeant Pepper" is spoiled. It reeks of horns and harps, harmonica quartets, assorted animal noises, and a 41-piece orchestra," and added that it was an "album of special effects, dazzling but ultimately fraudulent." On the other hand, Goldstein called "A Day in the Life" "a deadly earnest excursion in emotive music with a chilling lyric," and that "it stands as one of the most important Lennon-McCartney compositions, and it is a historic Pop event."

One rock musician who apparently did not like the album was Frank Zappa, who accused the Beatles of co-opting the flower power aesthetic for monetary gain, saying in a Rolling Stone article that he felt "they were only in it for the money." That criticism later became the title of the Mothers of Invention album (We're Only in It for the Money), which mocked Sgt. Pepper with a similar album cover. Ironically, when recording of Sgt. Pepper was completed, McCartney said, "This is going to be our Freak Out!", referring to Zappa's 1966 debut album, which is considered by many as the first rock concept album.

Within days of its release, Jimi Hendrix was performing the title track in concert, first for an audience that included Harrison and McCartney, who were greatly impressed by his unique version of their song and his ability to learn it so quickly. Also, Australian band The Twilights — who had obtained an advance copy of the LP in London — wowed audiences in Australia with note-perfect live renditions of the entire album, weeks before it was even released there.

The chart performance of the album was even stronger than critical reception. In the UK it debuted at #8 before the album was even released (on June 1, 1967) and the next week peaked at #1 where it stayed for 23 consecutive weeks. Then it was knocked off the top for The Sound of Music on the week ending November 18, 1967. Eventually it spent more weeks at the top, including the competitive Christmas week. When the CD edition was released on June 1, 1987, it made #3. In June 1992, the CD was re-promoted to commemorate its 25th Anniversary, and charted at #6. In 2007, commemorating 40 years of its release, Sgt. Pepper again re-entered the charts at #47 in the UK. In all, the album spent a total of 201 weeks on the UK charts. The album won the Grammy Award for Album of the Year, the first rock album to do so, and Best Contemporary Album in 1968. U.S. sales for the album totalled 11 million units, with 30 million worldwide.

The album won Best British Album at the first Brit Awards in 1977.

Planned TV movie

On 10 February 1967, during the orchestral recording sessions for "A Day in the Life," six cameramen filmed the chaotic events with the purpose of using the footage for a planned but unfinished Sgt. Pepper television special. The TV special was to have been written by Ian Dallas and directed by Keith Green. If the project had proceeded, it would have been the first full-length video album (that claim would later go to Blondie's Eat to the Beat in 1979). The shooting schedule included all the songs from the album set to music video style scenes: for example; "Within You Without You" scenes would have been set throughout offices, factories and elevators. There were even production numbers planned involving "meter maids" and "rockers". Although production was canceled, the "A Day in the Life" footage was edited down with stock footage into a finished clip. This clip was not released to the public until the John Lennon documentary Imagine: John Lennon was released in 1988. A more complete version was later aired on The Beatles Anthology series.

Legacy

It has been on many lists of the best rock albums, including Rolling Stone, Bill Shapiro, Alternative Melbourne, Rod Underhill and VH1. In 1987 Rolling Stone named Sgt. Pepper the greatest album of the last twenty years (1967-1987). In 1997 Sgt. Pepper was named the number 1 greatest album of all time in a 'Music of the Millennium' poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM. In 1998 Q magazine readers placed it at number 7, while in 2003 the TV network VH1 placed it at number 10; In 2003, the album was ranked number 1 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. In 2006, the album was chosen by Time Magazine as one of the 100 best albums of all time. In 2002, Q magazine placed it at number 13 in its list of the 100 Greatest British Albums Ever. In 2003, it was one of 50 recordings chosen by the Library of Congress to be added to the National Recording Registry.

Charts

Year / Chart / Position
1967 / US Billboard 200 / 1
1967 / UK Albums Chart / 1
1967 / Australian ARIA Albums Chart / 1
1967 / Norwegian Album Chart / 1

The album entered the UK Albums Chart on 3 June 1967 and has remained there for a total of 201 weeks as at 1 July 2007. In the USA the album stayed in the Billboard 200 chart for 175 weeks.

Grammy Awards

The album project was nominated for an impressive seven Grammy Awards on the 1968 ceremony, receiving four of them, including the prestigious Album of the Year, becoming the first rock/pop album to receive the prize.
Year Winner Award
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album of the Year
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Best Album Cover, Graphic Arts
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Best Engineered Recording, Non-Classical
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Contemporary Album

Grammy Award nominations
Year Nominee Award
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Group Vocal Performance
1968 Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Contemporary Vocal Group
1968 "A Day in the Life" Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s)

Track listing

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was the first Beatles album to be released with identical track listings in the United Kingdom and the United States (although the American release did not originally contain the side two runout groove and inner groove sound effects that were restored for worldwide CD issue). The projected track listing for side one was 'Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'; 'With a Little Help From My Friends'; 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite!'; 'Fixing a Hole'; 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'; 'Getting Better'; 'She's Leaving Home'.

All songs written and composed by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted.
Side One
# Title Lead vocals Length
1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" McCartney 2:02
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" Starr 2:44
3. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" Lennon 3:28
4. "Getting Better" McCartney 2:47
5. "Fixing a Hole" McCartney 2:36
6. "She's Leaving Home" McCartney and Lennon 3:35
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" Lennon 2:37
Side two
# Title Lead vocals Length
8. "Within You Without You" (George Harrison) Harrison 5:05
9. "When I'm Sixty Four" McCartney 2:37
10. "Lovely Rita" McCartney 2:42
11. "Good Morning Good Morning" Lennon 2:41
12. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise)" McCartney, with Harrison and Lennon 1:18
13. "A Day in the Life" Lennon and McCartney 5:33

Inner groove

Following the last track on the album is an extremely high-pitched tone (15 kHz), too high-pitched for many adults to hear, but audible to dogs, other animals, and most younger listeners. The high tone was inserted, as was John Lennon’s intention, to irritate the listener’s dog. The tone was only inserted on the first 5000 copies of the LP (save for the American Capitol Records pressing), but was included on all copies of the later CD release.

The 15 kHz tone is followed by a loop of incomprehensible Beatles studio chatter, spliced together apparently at random and with sections playing both normally and in reverse. This lasts for two seconds and the final three syllables were mastered into the final "run-out" groove of vinyl LP record, creating a loop of gibberish that is repeated ‘endlessly’ on manual turntables until the listener lifts the tonearm. This coda to the Sgt. Pepper LP was included in British pressings but not originally in American pressings; it was included on the 1980 "Rarities" compilation LP, as "Sgt. Pepper Inner Groove." The 1987 CD re-release simulates this effect, though since an infinite loop cannot be created on compact discs, the Beatle chatter is looped eleven times before fading out.

Personnel

The Beatles

* George Harrison – lead, rhythm, acoustic and bass guitars; sitar; lead, harmony and background vocals; tamboura; harmonica and kazoo; handclaps; maracas
* John Lennon – lead, harmony and background vocals; lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars; Hammond organ and piano; bass guitar; handclaps, harmonica, tape loops, sound effects and kazoo; tambourine and maracas
* Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and background vocals; lead electric and acoustic guitars; bass guitar; piano and Hammond organ; handclaps, vocalizations, tape loops, sound effects and kazoo
* Ringo Starr – drums, congas, tambourine, maracas, handclaps and tubular bells; lead vocals; harmonica and kazoo; final piano E chord

Additional musicians and production

* Neil Aspinall – tamboura and harmonica
* Geoff Emerick – recording and mixing engineer; tape loops and sound effects
* Mal Evans – counting, alarm clock and final piano E chord
* Matthew Deyell – tambourine
* George Martin – producer and mixer; tape loops and sound effects; harpsichord, Hammond organ and piano strings; final harmonium chord.
* Session musicians – four French horns on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; string section and harp on "She's Leaving Home", arranged by Mike Leander and conducted by Martin; harmonium, tabla, sitar, dilruba, eight violins and four cellos on "Within You, Without You", arranged and conducted by Harrison and Martin; clarinet trio on "When I'm Sixty Four", as arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; saxophone sextet on "Good Morning, Good Morning", arranged and conducted by Martin and Lennon; and forty-piece orchestra (strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion) on "A Day in the Life", arranged by Martin, Lennon and McCartney and conducted by Martin and McCartney

Released: 1 June 1967
Recorded: 6 December 1966 – 21 April 1967 at Abbey Road Studios, London, England
Genre: Psychedelic rock
Length: 39:42
Language: English
Label: Parlophone/Capitol
Producer: George Martin

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