Paul McCartney's "salt and pepper"* concept of recording
an entire album as the fictional Sgt. Pepper Band allowed the group to explore
more experimental musical choices under the guise of alter egos that dabbled in
vaudeville, Indian tablas, Western classical music, Broadway (West End more
accurately) and the avant-garde, effectively blurring the lines
between popular and "high" art and expanding the notion of what was possible in
rock music.
The iconic cover itself dabbles in the eclectic: In the
crowd (top row, fifth from the left), you'll find avant-garde classical
composer Karlheinz Stockhausen nestled between comedian Lenny Bruce and
vaudeville pioneer W.C. Fields. There you go. Stockhausen, known for
experiments in electronic and aleatoric music, was an influence on both
McCartney — who named Gesang der Jünglinge as his favorite Stockhausen piece — and
Lennon, who later used the composer’s work as inspiration for the 1968 song "Revolution 9" (my least favorite Beatles experimental track). An urgent
telegram was sent to the composer requesting his permission for inclusion in
the cover.
The Beatles, Martin and Emerick (oh yeah, and about 100
others), in a time frame of some 300 hours (the 700 hour mark unnecessary
hyperbole) have led to our still celebrating the LP 50 years on. This writer, btw,
is dancing in the streets. That's my bottom line review, but for those who just
can't get enough, here is my song by song analysis and ephemera.
Side One
The first ten seconds of the album transport listeners to
a buzzing concert hall, in which the tuning of instruments can be heard over
the murmur of a live audience. Not long after the launch into the song's famous
opening guitar riff, a contrapuntal horn interlude brings in another classical
touch. Following the line "So may I introduce to you the act you've known
for all these years, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," the horns
give a regal welcome to the fictional band and a nod to the Edwardian-era
military band concept that inspired the album. The intro leads into Ringo's classic
Billy Shears performance, a song that punctuates the eclectic nature of "the
band." And how more lonely-hearted can one get than Ringo (I think back to A
Hard Day’s Night and the lonely walk)? Hearing the remix is like playing the LP
for the first time, but this time, not on a Sears Silvertone record player.
"Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds"
As the story goes, one day in 1966 John Lennon's son, Julian,
came home from nursery school with a drawing he said was of a classmate, Lucy. Showing the artwork to his father, young Julian described the
picture as "Lucy - in the sky with diamonds." Despite all the LSD
insinuations, that's the story, morning glory. John, using the imagery created
by Julian and interpolating Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, would write the
song over the next few weeks, if not months.
The first day of recording for the song, February 28th, 1967 in EMI Studio Two, was actually used entirely for rehearsals, no known takes put to tape. Eight hours of rehearsals, from 7pm to 3am, is practically unheard of today. Indeed, with EMI recording The Beatles and owning the studios at Abbey Road, the expense of studio time was merely an internal paper transaction, which didn't affect The Beatles' royalty payments. No budget restraints were put on the group, nor onto George Martin, no longer an EMI employee. As George Martin explained: "I can only presume that EMI realized it was onto a good thing." By then, you think?
The first day of recording for the song, February 28th, 1967 in EMI Studio Two, was actually used entirely for rehearsals, no known takes put to tape. Eight hours of rehearsals, from 7pm to 3am, is practically unheard of today. Indeed, with EMI recording The Beatles and owning the studios at Abbey Road, the expense of studio time was merely an internal paper transaction, which didn't affect The Beatles' royalty payments. No budget restraints were put on the group, nor onto George Martin, no longer an EMI employee. As George Martin explained: "I can only presume that EMI realized it was onto a good thing." By then, you think?
Having the bugs worked out, the group filed back into EMI
Studio Two the next day for proper recording of the rhythm track. The
session began as usual at 7 pm, the first order of business being recording a
piano overdub for the previously mixed "A Day In The Life," the overdub never
being used. Next, the rhythm track for "Lucy" was laid down with Paul playing a Lowery
organ, John the acoustic guitar, Ringo on drums, George on maracas and George
Martin on piano – Paul and Ringo's playing being the only elements specifically
noticeable in the finished product. John sang a lead vocal on the verses during
these rhythm tracks, merely perfunctory and performed solely
for the purpose of guiding the musicians. Analyzing John's vocal performance shows the evolution of delivery and feel the vocals went through as
the song took shape in the studio. Geoff Emerick Pepper sound engineer, stated that, "During the early part of the session,
he was singing the words 'Cellophane flowers of yellow and green' in such a way
that each was enunciated slowly, separately and precisely. Paul can be
heard suggesting he sing them quicker, in one flowing sentence, to which John
replied 'OK' and did just that." It is that kind of Yin and Yang that
constituted the Lennon/McCartney tag more than any other aspect of their
writing.
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Design by The Fool |
The true lead vocals to the song weren't recorded until the next day, but one other element was added before the day was done. "Take
seven" saw George Harrison put down his maracas and instead play a
droning tamboura. "I particularly liked the sounds on it where I managed
to superimpose some Indian instruments onto Western music," Harrison
related. "Under normal circumstances that wouldn't work on a Western song
like 'Lucy,' which has chord changes and modulations whereas tambouras and
sitars stay in the same key forever."
While spending nearly a total of twenty-four hours of
studio time, divided up between three consecutive days may sound like a lot, it
was actually one of the quickest Pepper recordings. Compared to "A Day In
The Life" or "Penny Lane," for instance, "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” was a
breeze!
"Fixing a Hole" and "Getting Better"
Taking cues from classical orchestration, both "Fixin' a
Hole" and "Penny Lane" defy traditional rock instrumentation. Beatles' producer
George Martin plays the harpsichord prominently featured on "Fixing a
Hole." In "Penny Lane," baroque piccolo-trumpet solos are
sprinkled throughout. The idea for featuring the unusual instrumentation for
both came to McCartney after he saw a televised performance of Bach's
Brandenburg Concerto No. 2. This was pure pop and classic old school Beatles.
"Getting Better" was the simplest song on the LP (with one slight codicil), traditional Beatles with George Martin plucking the strings of a piano. The next day's session had Harrison once again adding the Tambura. Shortly into the session, Lennon stated that he was feeling sick... (tune in tomorrow for the LSD stoRy).
"Getting Better" was the simplest song on the LP (with one slight codicil), traditional Beatles with George Martin plucking the strings of a piano. The next day's session had Harrison once again adding the Tambura. Shortly into the session, Lennon stated that he was feeling sick... (tune in tomorrow for the LSD stoRy).
"She's Leaving Home"
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Can You Imagine? |
"For the Benefit of
Mr. Kite"
The track (featured in the post below) is just plain
sideshow fun. George Harrison and Ringo Starr played harmonicas along with Mal
Evans and Neil Aspinall. It also featured a steam organ, which was taken from
old tapes, though "rearranged." George Martin told engineer, Geoff Emerick to
cut up old tapes of organ music, throw them in the air and reassemble them at
random, running the new sounds concurrent with the song's main organ melody.
Paul states that to date, the "Kite" bass-line is the most difficult he ever played.
Side One of Sgt. Pepper is so monumental in scope, one is hard-pressed to want to play the flip side. Let’s listen to Side One again; we’ll flip it over tomorrow.
Side One of Sgt. Pepper is so monumental in scope, one is hard-pressed to want to play the flip side. Let’s listen to Side One again; we’ll flip it over tomorrow.
*McCartney was a fabulous wordsmith, indeed, the working title for "Yesterday" was "Scrambled Eggs," so Paul's interpolating Sgt. Pepper from out of salt and pepper fits right in.