Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the Beatles' most famous album and has the most famous and instantly recognisable album cover by any recording artist ever. Magazines and books have debated whether it is the greatest album ever. The Beatles' Revolver album is generally regarded as their best album musically; Sgt. Peppers is a landmark in musical history, but it has its flaws, and of all the Beatles' albums, it is the most dated.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was an immediate critical and popular sensation - described by fans, music critics and fellow musicians as innovative in every sense. It was an adventure in concept, sound, song writing, studio technology - not to mention Sir Peter Blake's eye-popping artwork on the cover.
Released on 1st June 1967 the album launched the "Summer of Love" - the psychedelia, spirituality, and acid craze that swept the globe. At the time of its release The London Times newspaper described Sgt. Pepper as "a decisive moment in the history of Western civilization."
But behind the scenes it was the result of a staggering 129 days, or some 700 hours, the Beatles spent in the studio - recording, experimenting and mastering the album. Richard Porter runs the Beatles in London Tour. He says the way the Sgt. Pepper concept connected songs together seamlessly created a new standard to follow, turning albums into the prevailing format instead of singles. "For a long, long time the album was king, people used to put lots of effort into singles but then after Sgt. Pepper it was albums that became the thing to do."
Sgt Peppers was the Beatles ninth official album release. It sold a quarter of a million copies in Britain in it's first week of release, and by the end of June had topped 500,000 sales. But it didn't sell it's One Millionth copy until April 1973, some 6 years later. It is still in the Top 10 albums of all time worldwide and is THE top selling album in the U.K. of ALL time. t went straight to number 1 and dominated the top slot for the next 23 weeks.
Sgt. Peppers was the first "concept" album ever, although any link between tracks was tenuous. The record is the first not to be banded into individual tracks, with hardly any gaps between songs. It was also the first to use the run-out groove, therefore leave the stylus on the record and it would chatter away endlessly. The Beatles insisted that the album be issued identically worldwide, so for the first time Capitol in America fell into line and didn't split tracks over different L.P.'s.
The Cover
Commonly regarded as the grandfather of pop album covers, it was designed by artist Peter Blake, his wife Jann Haworth, and photographed by Michael Cooper. It is the most famous album covers that was ever created. The front picture shows the Beatles dressed as S.P.L.H.C.B. while a host of famous people look on - perhaps they are supposed to be the audience. If you buy this album in CD format a booklet is included, which explains whom everyone on the cover is and the legal difficulties involved with the photo shoot. Suffice it to say some of John Lennon's suggestions for the crowd were not used! Also included in the booklet is a copy of the card with the cut-outs supplied with the original vinyl releases. The cover has a picture montage by Peter Blake, 9 waxwork models loaned from Madam Tussaud's, A Sgt. Pepper drumskin, A stone bust, Four Statuettes, An Idol, A doll wearing a jumper emblazoned with "Welcome The Rolling Stones" and "Good Guys", A portable television, A Gold award, A variety of flower arrangements around a grave, one spelling "Beatles", and another of a guitar, plus a row of Marijuana plants, and ... The Beatles. Other than the waxworks, the other items all came from the personal collections of The Beatles. The drumskin was painted by a genuine fairground artist, Joe Ephgrave, who actually did two versions. The chosen design is now part of Beatles iconography and is probably the second most famous drumskin of all time.
The picture montage depicts more than 70 famous people, including writers, musicians, film stars and (at Harrison's request) a number of Indian gurus. Starr reportedly made no contribution to the design. The final grouping includes Marlene Dietrich, W.C. Fields, Diana Dors, Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Karlheinz Stockhausen, Sigmund Freud, Aleister Crowley, Edgar Allan Poe, Karl Marx, Oscar Wilde, William S. Burroughs, Marlon Brando, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and controversial comedian Lenny Bruce. Also included is the image of the original Beatles bass player, the late Stuart Sutcliffe. Pete Best said in a later NPR interview that Lennon borrowed family medals from his mother Mona for the shoot, on condition he not lose them. Adolf Hitler was requested by Lennon, but ultimately he was left out. It can, however, be seen in place as well as leaning against the wall in several photographs taken on the set. A photo also exists of a rejected cardboard printout with a cloth draped over its head; its identity is unknown, but may possibly be Elvis Presley. Even now, co-creator Jann Haworth regrets that so few women were included. Peter Blake not only created the memorable cover of The Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but also the covers for the Band Aid single Do They Know It's Christmas? (1984), Paul Weller's Stanley Road (1995) and the Ian Dury tribute album Brand New Boots and Panties (2001). Most recently he designed the cover for Oasis's greatest hits album Stop the Clocks.
Alternative cover designs |Album details | Who Are The People On The Cover? | More information | List of images on the cover of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Is Paul Dead? ...
A few months before Sgt Pepper's was released, rumours began to circulate that Paul McCartney had been killed in a motor vehicle accident on 9th November 1966 after running a red light, and had been replaced in the band by a little known English guitarist. The band's decision not to tour again was said to have been made so that the real identity of the "new Paul" would not be revealed.
Evidence of Paul's death was said to be contained in the Beatles' songs. Sgt. Peppers was the first Beatles' album to be released after Paul's alleged death, so believers and skeptics alike couldn't wait to get their hands on the album to see if it contained any more clues. They were not disappointed. Though it didn't jump out and scream "PAUL IS DEAD", numerous very clever subliminal messages in the cover art and lyrics of the songs carried the unmistakable message. Whether Paul did die (some of the evidence is quite convincing), whether it was one big publicity stunt to keep the Beatles in the public's eye now that they were no longer a touring band, and whether or not the Beatles were in on it may never be known. For the none believers and the curious, here's a list of the subliminal messages that have been found in the Sgt. Pepper's album artwork. Other clues are said to be contained in the songs.
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On the back cover (above left), the Beatles are all facing forward except for Paul, who's has his back to the camera. George is pointing a "sixth finger at him, which in many cultures is a sign of ill-omen. If you read across the back cover, from left to right, you can find all sorts of clues. Starting with "Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly" (from Lucy), continue to read across "Wednesday Morning at five o'clock as the day begins", "life flows on within you and without you" (funny that the "without you" seems to extend from Paul's head), "you're on your own you're in the street". Inside the album, Paul has a patch on his left arm "O. P. D.", Officially Pronounced Dead?
The paper sleeve that held the original vinyl record (above right) used
an image of a psychedelic painting called The Fool. It made the sleeve
look like it had been soaked in blood! At the bottom it's bright red
but then fades into a light pink at the top. Subsequent releases of
this album did not have the red-faded-into-pink color scheme on the
inner sleeve.
Sgt. Pepper's lyrics:
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band: "..so let me introduce to you
the one and only Billy Shears and Sgt. Pepper's lonely heart's club
band.." (Sgt. Pepper's Band is actually an idea taken from history
where a man - Billy Shears - was able to take the place of another man
without anyone catching on.
Fixing A Hole: "..and it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong I'm right
where I belong. See the Beatles standing there, they disagree.."
"..silly Beatle run around, they worry me.." (William is adjusting to
his new role)
She's Leaving Home: "..Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begins.." (the time of the fatal accident)
Lovely Rita: "..standing by a parking meter when I caught a glimpse of Rita.." (took his eyes off the road!)
Good Morning, Good Morning: "..nothing to do to save his life.." "..and
you're on your own you're in the street.." "..people running around
it's 5 o'clock.." "..watching the skirts you start to flirt, now you're
in gear.."
A Day In The Life: "..I saw the photograph. He blew his mind out in a
car, he didn't notice that the lights had changed. A crowd of people
stood and stared they'd seen his face before, nobody was really sure if
he was from the house of Paul ..."
