| The fruitful period which produced the singles "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" as well as the Sgt. Pepper album was the first in which the Beatles were totally devoted to the studio. They took an unprecentented 105 hours to record both sides of the single and then a further five months to complete the album.
Sgt. Pepper was the brainchild of Paul, who conceived the album as a show staged by a fictional Edwardian brass band transported through time into the psychedelic age and played, of course, by the electronically equipped Beatles. Released in June 1967, Sgt Pepper was the album of what became known as 'The Summer of Love' - a brief season when the hippie ethic that radiated from San Francisco seemed to pervade the whole of the Western world. For anyone who was young at the time, the music automatically evokes the sight of beads and kaftans, the sound of tinkling bells and the aroma of marijuana masked by joss sticks. Despite this, there were only four songs on Sgt. Pepper - "Lucy In The Skies With Diamonds", "She's Leaving Home", "Within You Without You" and "A Day In The Life" - that made specific reference to the social upheaval caused by the changing youth culture. The rest of the songs were very British pop songs, tackling a range of domestic subjects from neighbourhoodliness ("A Little Help From My Friends") and self-improvement ("Getting Better"), through suburban living ("Good Morning, Good Morning") and home decoration ("Fixing A Hole"), to Victorian entertainment ("Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite"). The language of the songs was often deliberately old-fashioned - 'guarantied to raise a smile', 'may I inquire discreetly', 'meeting a man from the motor trade', 'a splendid time is guaranteed for all', 'indicate precisely what you mean to say' - as if this really was an Edwardian production staged by the good Sergeant Pepper and his men from the local Lonely Hearts club. Yet, the spirit of 1967 did shape the album in other significant ways. It encouraged the belief that limits to the imagination were culturally imposed and should therefore be challenged. Anything that appeared artistically possible was attempted, including a frenetic orchestral climax on "A Day In The Life" and a special high note that only a dog could hear on the playout groove. Almost all the conventions in album-making were overturned. Sgt. Pepper was on of the first record to have a gatefold sleeve, printed lyrics, decorated inner bag, free gift and elaborately staged cover photograph. It was also one of the first albums to present itself as a total concept rather than a simple collection of songs. "Basically Sgt. Pepper was McCartney's album, not Lennon's", says Barry Milles, who was the group's main contact on the London underground scene at the time. "People make the mistake of thinking it must have been Lennon's because he was so hip. Actually, he was taking so many drugs and trying to get rid of his ego that it was much more McCartney's idea". Sgt. Pepper was a tremendous commercial and critical success, reaching Number 1 in the album charts in Britain and America. Almost 30 years later, it still regularly tops critics' polls as the greatest rock album ever made. |
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