When Lennon asked him what the picture was of, Julian answered, “Lucy in the sky with diamonds.” John Lennon, who wrote the majority of the lyrics, always insisted that the song was written after his then three-year-old son Julian came home from school with a crayon drawing of a schoolmate. The initials of the song's title were rumored to stand for the hallucinogenic drug LSD, and caused the song to be banned from British airwaves. “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”– This song caused more controversy than the other tracks. On April 4th, 2009 McCartney and Starr performed the song for the first time together in public at New York City's Radio City Music Hall during the “Change Begins Within” benefit concert. Since returning to the road in 1989, Starr has included “With A Little Help From My Friends” in his concert setlists, usually as the show closer The song was originally called “Bad-Finger Boogie.” “With A Little Help From My Friends”– One of the last songs recorded for the project, it features Ringo Starr on lead vocals, with McCartney on piano and also playing one of his most distinctive and melodic bass parts. Since 1989, the song has been a concert staple for McCartney. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band”– The album opener, which led many people to initially believe that the album was recorded in front of a live audience, features a searing lead guitar part from Paul McCartney. Instead of coming to the studio with finished and fully arranged tracks as they did in the past, many of their songs were brought to life on the studio floor, including “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Being For The Benefit Of Mr. The album's influence on pop culture has been immense.īecause of the group's success, they were allowed unlimited studio time and creative carte blanche to rehearse, arrange, record, and overdub while in the studio. Many other aspects of the album raised the bar for pop music albums, from the way the songs ran into each other, to sonic jokes embedded in the tracks, to the elaborate cover photo and packaging. It also represented a musical and visual step into psychedelia and the counterculture by the world's most popular band, and its release coincided with the famous 1967 “Summer of Love.” It was hailed as a masterpiece by musicians and critics in all fields, and helped show the world that pop music could be taken more seriously as art. The album was notable for its advance in the Beatles' songwriting, its unusual arrangements and orchestration, and its groundbreaking production techniques. The recording sessions stretched over a five-month period, spanning from November 24th, 1966 to April 21st, 1967, at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. As a result, the band could now take all the time they wanted with producer George Martin, rather than try to squeeze sessions in between tours, films, and other activities. Pepper was the first Beatles album to be recorded after the group had stopped touring. Pepper album debuted at Number Three on the Billboard 200 album chart. Pepper, along with 5.1 surround sound and hi-res stereo mixes, a 114-page booklet, two posters and a replica “cut-out” insert from the original album release. The motherload was the super deluxe six-CD set that featured a brand-new stereo mix by Giles Martin and Sam Okell created from the original master tapes, with two discs including 100 minutes of never-before heard outtakes, along with new mixes of “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.”Īlso included are both DVD and Blu-ray versions of the 1992 documentary, The Making Of Sgt. The album was re-released in both single and double-disc versions, as well as a two-record set. In June 2017, the Beatles released the six-disc 50th anniversary deluxe edition of Sgt. The album was highly anticipated and an immediate critical and commercial success. There had been an unprecedented eight-month gap with no new Beatles music since the group's previous album, 1966's Revolver, with the exception of the double A-sided single “Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever,” which was recorded during the Sgt Pepper sessions. The album, which was released a day later in the U.S., was one of the most groundbreaking and influential records in history.

Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album in the U.K.

It was 56 years ago today (June 1st, 1967), that the Beatles released the legendary Sgt.

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