The Beatles: SGT. PEPPERS LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
Finally free of touring, the Beatles next sought to be free of themselves, hitting on the rather daft concept of recording as an alias band. The idea held for all of two songs, one coda, and one album sleeve, but was retained as the central organizing and marketing feature of the band's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Hailed on its release as proof that popular music could be as rich an artistic pursuit as more high-minded media such as jazz and classical, the record's reputation and sense of ambition ushered in the album era. Its influence was so pervasive and so instructional regarding the way music is crafted and sold to the public that this is still the predominant means of organizing, distributing, and promoting new music four decades later, well after the decline of physical media. The amazing stretch of music created by John, Paul, George, and Ringo in 1966-67 was the peak of the Beatles as a working band. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a legendary album that revolutionized rock & roll.
Tracklist:
1.Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band 2.With A Little Help From My Friends 3.Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds 4.Getting Better 5.Fixing A Hole 6.She's Leaving Home 7.Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite 8.Within You Without You 9.When I'm Sixty-Four 10.Lovely Rita 11.Good Morning Good Morning 12.Sgt. Peppers (Reprise) 13.A Day In The Life
Lineup:
John Lennon - lead, harmony and background vocals, rhythm, acoustic and lead guitars, Hammond organ, final piano E chord, harmonica, tape loops, sound effects, comb and tissue paper, handclaps, tambourine, maracas, Paul McCartney - lead, harmony and background vocals, bass and lead guitars, piano, grand piano, Lowrey and Hammond organs, handclaps, vocalisations, sound effects, comb and tissue paper, George Harrison - harmony and background vocals, lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, sitar, tambura, swarmandal, harmonica, comb and tissue paper, handclaps, maracas, lead vocals on "Within You Without You", Ringo Starr - drums, congas, tambourine, maracas, handclaps, tubular bells, lead vocals on "With A Little Help From My Friends", harmonica, comb and tissue paper, final piano E chord. Additional musicians: Sounds Inc. - saxophones, trombones and French horn on "Good Morning, Good Morning", Neil Aspinall - tambura, harmonica, Geoff Emerick - audio engineering, tape loops, sound effects, Mal Evans - counting, harmonica, alarm clock, final piano E chord, George Martin - producer, mixer, tape loops, 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", piano on "Getting Better", piano solo on "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 by Natwar Soni, dilrubas by Anna Joshi and Amrit Gajjar, and tambura by Buddhadev Kansara on "Within You Without You", 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.