No.22: “Sgt. Pepper’s “Lonely Hearts” Club Band” by The Beatles (1967)
The most famous album of all-time, if not the best, this album is nevertheless number one in most of these charts based on public opinion, i.e. not really from connoisseurs of music but from casual listeners who don’t go into too much depth. I rate it at No.22 which is pretty high anyway.
But it is a classic album in every sense of the word though of course. From the opening bars of the title song and its segue into ‘With A Little Help From My Friends’ and some wonderful songs such as ‘She’s Leaving Home’, ‘Fixing A Hole’, ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ and the grand finale of the amazing ‘A Day In The Life’ – they saved the best till last there.
Videos are hard to come by. There were obviously no live performances at this stage in The Beatles’ career and no singles from the album either. What I can find is a selection of interviews, session takes and so on. But you all know these songs anyway and I’ll try to get all this in one post…
Sleeve image, other images:
Videos/articles:
Full album (audio):
Track listing:
Side one
- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”
- “With a Little Help from My Friends”
- “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”
- “Getting Better”
- “Fixing a Hole”
- “She’s Leaving Home”
- “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
Side two
- “Within You Without You”
- “When I’m Sixty-Four”
- “Lovely Rita”
- “Good Morning Good Morning”
- “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)”
- “A Day in the Life”
Personnel and recording:
The Beatles
• John Lennon – lead, harmony and background vocals; rhythm, acoustic and lead guitars; Hammond organ and final piano E chord; harmonica, tape loops, sound effects, and comb and tissue paper; handclaps, tambourine and maracas
• Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and background vocals; bass and lead guitars; electric and acoustic pianos, Lowrey and Hammond organs; handclaps; vocalisations, tape loops, sound effects, and comb and tissue paper
• George Harrison – harmony and background vocals; lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars; sitar; tamboura; harmonica and kazoo; handclaps and maracas; lead vocals on “Within You Without You”
• Ringo Starr – drums, congas, tambourine, maracas, handclaps and tubular bells; lead vocals on “With a Little Help from My Friends”; harmonica; final piano E chord
Additional musicians and production
• Sounds Incorporated – the saxophone sextet on “Good Morning, Good Morning”
• Neil Aspinall – tamboura and harmonica
• Geoff Emerick – audio engineering; tape loops and sound effects
• Mal Evans – counting, harmonica, alarm clock and final piano E chord
• George Martin – producer and mixer; tape loops and sound effects; harpsichord on “Fixing a Hole”, harmonium, Lowrey organ and glockenspiel on “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”, Hammond organ on “With a Little Help from My Friends”, and piano on “Getting Better” and the piano solo in “Lovely Rita”; final harmonium chord.
• Session musicians – four French horns on “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”: Neill Sanders, James W. Buck, John Burden, Tony Randall, arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; string section and harp on “She’s Leaving Home”, arranged by Mike Leander and conducted by Martin; tabla, dilrubas, tamboura and swarmandal on “Within You Without You”, played by members of the Asian Music Circle, with eight violins and four cellos arranged and conducted by Harrison and Martin; clarinet trio on “When I’m Sixty-Four”: Robert Burns, Henry MacKenzie, Frank Reidy, arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; saxophones on “Good Morning, Good Morning”, arranged and conducted by Martin and Lennon; and forty-piece orchestra, including strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion on “A Day in the Life”, arranged by Martin, Lennon and McCartney and conducted by Martin and McCartney.
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