Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Cover

- recording began in November 1966 - "concept" album, all songs like from a concert by the Beatles alter ego, Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Hearts Club Band - On Sgt. Pepper the Beatles made use of every creative impulse that came to mind. The instruments that were used include: Hammond organ, harpsichord, harmonium, orchestral brass and horns, violins, harp, cellos, chimes, glockenspiel - The album took six months to complete and cost 50,000 Pounds. It was released in the UK on June 1.

Background of the songs

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds - some of the lyrics were inspired by Alice in Wonderland, Lennon claimed that any connection with LSD is a coincidence. "My son Julian came in one day with a picture he paintetd about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it ´Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds´

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! - idea based on a poster for "Pablo Fanque´s Circus Royal" Lennon saw.

A Day In The Life - mixture of Lennon´s lyrics from a newspaper ("4,000 holes in Blackburn, Lancashire", "the English army had just won the war") and McCartney´s bit about a man getting ready for work ("I had a smoke", "and then I went into a dream"). Lennon called the orchestral build up at the end of the song "musical orgasm".

The end of the album

At the end of the album the Beatles added a sound file with a high frequency that only dogs can hear.

Reception

Mojo Magazine, 2007: "When the Beatles unleached Sgt. Pepper´s Lonely Heart´s Club Band the blew the finest minds of their generation and changed all music forever."

References

Womack, Kenneth. The Cambridge Companion to the Beatles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Hertsgaard, Mark. "The Beatles". München: Hanser, 1995.