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Twenty Years Ago Today, It Was Twenty Years Ago Today*

Willets Point Jun 01 2007 12:29 AM

The Beatles released their 8th album on this date in 1967. Post your memories here. And don't go shitting on my parade by going on about how much you've always hated it or that you never got around to listening to it. * Props to Edgy DC for the title.

smg58 Jun 01 2007 05:16 AM

I wasn't around forty years ago, but I was raised on Beatles LP's and I still haven't come across a better band. Sgt. Pepper's is still the standard by which rock albums are judged, and I wonder if there's any group out there who can change that.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 07:12 AM Edited 1 time(s), most recently on Jun 01 2007 07:35 AM

I put Pepper among the bottom half of my favorite Beatle records. A breakthrough recording in it's time, but when you judge albums by songs, it doesn't hold up to those around it. The concept and the recording was so dominant over the compositions that, when they did have a good song --- such as "With a Little Help from My Friends" --- it took Joe Cocker to discover it, while the Beatles tossed it off to Ringo, who should have sung "When I'm 64" instead. Plus "Fun Is the one thing that money can't buy" is one the more embarrassing Beatle lines. I think, for all the production values, the song that endures for me isn't "A Day in the Life" or "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite," but "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band (Reprise)" where the band just plugs in and plays. (If Paulie were here, he might tell me that this track was actually a very complicated mixdown.) I also like the bridge of "Good Morning, Good Morning" and Indian wall of sound of "Within You, Without You." I wonder if I'd have liked it more if "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" were on it. By the way, I also think Pet Sounds is flawed, though I like it track for track. So maybe I'm just a crank about artistic breakthroughs by pop bands.

sharpie Jun 01 2007 07:31 AM

I got as a present soon after it came out (don't remember the occasion). The first record I ever really really wanted. It led to a lifetime of obsessing over pop music. Yes, sometimes it sounds precious and overproduced but it was and is a masterful achievement. Bottom half of Beatles records? Feh. It, along with Rubber Soul, Revolver and Abbey Road are their greatest achievements (as albums --- they had many other great songs and their singles rule). Yes, Joe Cocker did a better "With a Little Help From My Friends" and for years I disliked "She's Leaving Home" (but not any more) and "When I'm 64" doesn't do a whole lot for me but the rest of it still rocks my world: the ending of "Lovely Rita," the opening of "Good Morning Good Morning", the chorus of "Getting Better", John's vocal on "A Day in the Life" and on and on make this, despite having listened to it half a million times over 40 years, still a delightful listening experience.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 07:38 AM

Well, I'm not meaning to suggest that the bottom half of the Beatles catalog is spice cake. Along with Rubber Soul, Revolver and Abbey Road , I have a love jones for The Beatles and Let It Be despite both of them being breakup albums.

Johnny Dickshot Jun 01 2007 07:43 AM

Pepper is not my favorite Beatle album either, though the idea of adding "Penny Lane" as an improvement to be fair also applies to every album ever recorded. One of the most satisfying glances of Record Store Guy Checkout Approval I ever received came when I purchased an LP version of 'Pepper' at a local record store/headshop near my kollege kampus. This was probably when Sgt. Pepper was 18 years old. We exchanged that glance, and money, then he said, "All these years and this thing still sells."

soupcan Jun 01 2007 08:07 AM

Wasn't the hand over Paul's head on the album cover one of the clues to the whole 'Paul is dead' thing?

sharpie Jun 01 2007 08:10 AM

Yes, let us not forget that the single from the album was Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever, two of the greatest pop songs of all time and one of the the three totally amazing Beatles a/b sides along with Paperback Writer/Rain and Come Together/Something.

Willets Point Jun 01 2007 08:10 AM

soupcan wrote: Wasn't the hand over Paul's head on the album cover one of the clues to the whole 'Paul is dead' thing? Yup. Also the flower arrangement of the guitar under the word "Beatles" is supposed to look like it says "Paul?"

soupcan Jun 01 2007 08:22 AM

Willets Point wrote: Yup. Also the flower arrangement of the guitar under the word "Beatles" is supposed to look like it says "Paul?" Oh, come on, really? - that's dumb. How does that even remotely look like 'Paul'?

smg58 Jun 01 2007 09:24 AM

It's supposed to look like Paul's left-handed bass. I've always thought Cocker's version of "Friends" was overwrought. "She's Leaving Home" has grown on me over the years as well, but "Within You Without You" has even more so. The Beatles' interest in world music is often overlooked, which is remarkable given how most facets of them and their music have been dissected to death. You can add Hey Jude/Revolution to the list of essential Beatles 45's.

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 09:30 AM

Cocker overwrought? Sure, from the minute he wakes up in the morning. It's soul music. You're almost supposed to wear your heart out there. Little Steven, meanwhile, can't get enough Pepper on his dinner.

sharpie Jun 01 2007 10:02 AM

All of this Sgt. Pepper talk reminded me of a blog I ran into that had an interesting Rubber Soul/Revolver smackdown (can't say I agree with his choice of Michelle over She Said She Said or Yellow Submarine over The Word but it seems like the kind of exercise that would go over big here. http://parenthetical.blog-city.com/rubber_soul_vs_revolver__side_1.htm http://parenthetical.blog-city.com/rubber_soul_vs_revolver__side_2.htm http://parenthetical.blog-city.com/rubber_soul_vs_revolver__side_3.htm

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 10:09 AM

I always thought the guitar riff on "Best Friend's Girl" was derived from Buddy Holly and not Carl Perkins, though that may be because it reminds me of the Beatles version of "Words of Love." Is George taking his lick more from Carl than Buddy there?

Johnny Dickshot Jun 01 2007 10:19 AM

The "Best Friend's Girl" geetar is ripped off from the Beatles' "I Will" I always thought. Now what was "I Will" stolen from?

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 10:22 AM

Yeah, that's it also.

Willets Point Jun 01 2007 01:29 PM

The first time I heard Sgt. Pepper was under less than optimal conditions. My mom was involved in a group for singles and divorced people and for Labor Day weekend in 1987 this group hosted a camping weekend. I ended up sharing a platform tent with a bunch of other boys including one chubby kid (chubbier even than me) who pretty much didn't leave the tent all weekend and played Sgt. Pepper over and over while singing along in his loud, nasal voice. Despite that bad intro I got my own copy of Sgt. Pepper later that year and thought it was the coolest thing ever. These days, it is not my favorite Beatles album, and compared to much of the Beatles opus which has a timeless quality, Sgt. Pepper sounds dated and screams "Sixties Psychedelia". Still there are some great songs, and you cannot deny the impact of the album.

metirish Jun 01 2007 01:39 PM

Been listening all day to the album and various people including the Beatles talking about it on radio. http://www.wfuv.org/ One guy just said that you could never really fully understand "Sgt.Peppers" unless you were walking around that summer of love.... Enjoying the music and accompanying show greatly. One other fella just said that "Pet Sounds" would have been unimaginable without "Sgt Peppers"....

Edgy DC Jun 01 2007 01:44 PM

He's got that backwards, as Pet Sounds came out a year earlier.

metirish Jun 01 2007 01:47 PM

="Edgy DC"]He's got that backwards, as Pet Sounds came out a year earlier. It's possible it's me that's backwards...... Actually he may have said that "Pet Sounds" doesn't happen without "Rubber Soul" and "Sgt Pepper" doesn't happen without "Rubber Soul" "A Day in the Life" is just brilliant. Here is the program I was listening too. http://www.paulingles.com/ listen here http://www.paulingles.com/pepper.html

Frayed Knot Jun 01 2007 02:19 PM

No other album (or book or movie that I can think of) has as famous a release date as SPLHCB. This is the only one I know off the top of my head and I've known it since before it was even 'Twenty Years Ago Today' Not too many Nassau County residents here that I know of, but the station that operates out of NCC (90.3 FM) has a real good Beatles show every Friday night (8-11 I think) which I'm sure will have a heavy Sgt Pepper them tonight.

Rockin' Doc Jun 01 2007 03:18 PM

The Beatles were simply the greatest band ever. Nowhere is the Beatles' willingness to take on risks and experiment with sound more evident than on SPLHCB. Not the Beatles greatest album, but certainly one of the most influential.

cooby Jun 01 2007 07:44 PM

="Johnny Dickshot"]Pepper is not my favorite Beatle album either, though the idea of adding "Penny Lane" as an improvement to be fair also applies to every album ever recorded. ." Yep.

Willets Point Jul 06 2007 10:09 AM

50 years ago today John met Paul.

SteveJRogers Jul 10 2007 03:12 PM

Rockin' Doc wrote: The Beatles were simply the greatest band ever. Nowhere is the Beatles' willingness to take on risks and experiment with sound more evident than on SPLHCB. Not the Beatles greatest album, but certainly one of the most influential. Even the Beatles themselves would and have argued at least Rubber Soul and Revolver are better albums. Also the whole mystique surrounding the album added to the legacy. -The Beatles essentially quit touring and spent time away from the studio and then a long time in the studio making the record, so the anticipation to this new record was pretty much akin to waiting years for a planned sequel of a major blockbuster movie. -The fact that it was the first record to have lyrics on the back cover as well as the different people and things on the front gave those who over-interpet and over-anaylize a field day. Most importantly of course it gave several "Paul Is Dead" clues.