By: Darko Veselinovic
Released on the 26th of May 1967, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was perhaps one of the most interesting pop/rock albums of the 21st century, due to its innovative approach. The album quickly became a hit, having topped the charts for 27 weeks in the U.K and 14 weeks in the U.S..
The Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature had described the album as, “the most important and influential rock and roll album ever recorded.”
What made Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band so unique was the attitude that shifted within the band and the approach that they decided to take. According to Rolling Stone magazine, Paul McCartney was quoted as saying “We were fed up with being the Beatles, we really hated that f***** four little mop-top approach. We were not boys, we were men…. And thought of ourselves rather than artists”. It was this attitude that drove them to make this album the success that it still is to this day.
The band had taken Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band on with a very experimental approach, trying out new ideas, as another evolutionary step from Revolver. Due to the experimental nature of the album, it has been regarded by musicologists as a concept album.
One major example of this would be after the title track “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was recorded Paul McCartney suggested that the band should record an entire album using an alter ego called Sgt. Pepper. By having an alter ego, it gave the Beatles a completely new train of thought that would deviate from their previous work.
One very interesting fact of the Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was that it wasn’t just your typical rock instruments being recorded such as bass, guitar, and vocals. The Beatles had included some very unusual instruments such a hair comb and toilet paper, all of which were used in the song “Lovely Rita”, during a harmony to achieve their desired effect.
The creation of this tune was directly responsible for the direction that the entire album would head in. Paul McCartney sang on the opening track acting as the alter ego known as “Sgt. Pepper.”
The song starts off by Sgt. Pepper introducing the band and is evident with the line “We’re Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.” The whole song serves mainly as an introduction of the band to the audience and continues in a very interesting way, in such a way where bands usually stop in between songs to talk to their audience.
Sgt. Pepper captures the audience lyrically with, “It’s certainly a thrill. You’re such a lovely audience.” Lyrics like these are something that you would hear from any band in the middle of a setlist or even at the end, in a live performance.
Sgt. Pepper’s character is very interesting in itself; it has been speculated for years as to who his true identity is. Some individuals believe that Sgt. Pepper is a member of the band such as Paul McCartney or John Lennon, but it was a British Army Officer named, James Melvin Babington.
This was revealed by Bruce Spizer in his book called, The Beatles and Sgt. Pepper: A Fans’ Perspective.
This song was written for Ringo Starr who sang the lead vocal on the track. Many people thought that this tune was about drugs and with lines such as “Mm, get high with a little help from my friends” you would think so too. John Lennon had claimed that the song was not about drugs, but many people didn’t believe him.
Drugs were purportedly during the making of the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album, as noted by Paul McCartney in Uncut magazine,
“I did cocaine for about a year around the time of Sgt Pepper. Coke and maybe some grass to balance it out. I was never completely crazy with cocaine. I’d been introduced to it and at first, it seemed okay, like anything that’s new and stimulating. When you start working your way through it, you start thinking: ‘Mmm, this is not so cool an idea,’ especially when you start getting those terrible comedowns.”
Like other tunes within the album, many people believe that this song was about drugs. It was widely believed that each of the title nouns was intentionally made to spell “LSD” but John Lennon repeatedly denied that he intended it as a drug song.
John Lennon’s son was part of the inspiration of the song, he had a nursery school drawing that he called “Lucy in the sky with diamonds”. The picture that John Lennon’s son drew was a picture of a girl flying in the sky with diamonds as stars. John Lennon thought it was interesting and wrote a psychedelic song based on the drawing.
The belief of a drugs reference on this track was so strong that the tune was banned from the BBC. One thing that makes this song stand out and unique is the fact that it was played in three different keys and used two different beats.
Written mainly by Paul McCartney with lyrical contributions from John Lennon, this track was about John Lennon’s past relationships and how he treated women poorly. Lennon had admitted in an interview in 1980 how he abused his wife and other women. The track offered some specifics, that may or may have not been true.
“I used to be cruel to my woman. I beat her and kept her apart from the things that she loved Man; I was mean but I’m changing my scene”
Like any other song off of this album, it is a mystery. The Beatles seem to enjoy making the lyrics elusive for the fans to figure out, and with a title such as “Fixing a Hole” and the lyrics, you would think it’s something simple, but it’s quite different.
Once again people thought that “Fixing a Hole” was about drugs, in this case, heroin. Paul McCartney had said in the book, Many years from Now, that “Fixing a Hole was about all those pissy people who told you, ‘Don’t daydream, don’t do this, don’t do that.’ It seemed to me that that was all wrong and that it was now time to fix all of that.”
This very quote can relate to most of us in our lives. Most of us get told by people not to follow our dreams and to stick to the safe route and they try to tell us what’s right and what’s wrong. Though the song was not only about this, it was also about taking a shot at the Beatles fans.
Obsessive Beatles fans would camp outside of Paul McCartney’s home and were hoping to be let inside. In the bridge you will hear the lines “See the people standing there / Who disagree and never win / And wonder why they don’t get in my door,” this was a direct reference to Beatles obsessed fans.
This track was quite different from other tunes on the album from a recording perspective. George Harrison and Ringo Starr were not included in the recording, instead, Paul McCartney and John Lennon wrote the chorus, which they sang together. The instrumentals on the song were played by a small string orchestra.
The inspiration for this tune came from the Daily Mail, and it was about a teenage runaway. “She’s leaving home” talked about a teenager called Melanie Coe, who ran away from home and how she had everything she ever wanted except for love and affection. This sends a strong message that material possessions are not the source of happiness as many people would have themselves believe.
Interestingly enough, Melanie Coe didn’t realize the song was about her until many years later. In a 2008 interview for The Guardian Melanie had said “I can’t listen to the song. It’s just too sad for me. My parents died a long time ago and we were never resolved. That line, ‘She’s leaving home after living alone for so many years’ is so weird to me because that’s why I left. I was so alone.
While the movie “Strawberry Fields Forever” was being recorded, John Lennon and Tony Bramwell (who was an Apple Records Employee) walked into an antique store and bought an old poster advertising a variety show which starred Mr. Kite.
Once again, the Beatles got accused of making drugs references and “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” was another song that was banned by the BBC. Supposedly the phrase “Henry the horse” was widely known as slang for heroin. Lennon had denied that song had anything to do with heroin.
This was one of the more complex tunes of the album as it used various effects to achieve the sounds that you hear now. John Lennon wanted the tune to have a “carnival atmosphere”, and told his producer at the time that he wanted “to smell sawdust on the floor”.
“Within You Without You” had an Indian flavor to it. This tune was one that didn’t blend well with other songs on the album but was strong on its own. If you were to listen to this tune you would not think of it as a typical Beatles song. George Harrison was the only Beatle to play on this track and there were no guitars, bass, or drums but did feature hand-drums.
This song was original length was 30 minutes but was trimmed down for the album. George Harrison had a deep interest in meditation and eastern culture and wanted to create a song that headed in that direction. The Beatles sound engineer Geoff Emerick told Rolling Stone magazine, “The other three were taken aback by it, but George was very serious about it.”
This track was written by Paul McCartney when he was 15 years old and it was inspired by his father James McCartney. “When I’m Sixty-Four” is a love song by the Beatles; the song is sung by a young man to his lover who talks about his plan of growing old together with her.
“Lovely Rita” is a song about the narrator’s love for a woman called Rita who is meter maid. It seems by the lyrics “Standing by a parking meter When I caught a glimpse of Rita” that the narrator had seen this woman for the first time and wanted to take her on a date. Throughout the entire song, it can be seen that the narrator is making a consistent effort to try to win over Rita.
“When are you free to take some tea with me?” this lyric shows that the first move has been made in an attempt to establish a relationship with Rita, then shows towards the end that the first date was a success with the narrator singing “Took her out and tried to win her. Had a laugh and over dinner Told her I would really like to see her again”
Fun fact, Paul McCartney had received a parking ticket from a meter maid before he had made this song. McCartney was very surprised by how pretty the female traffic cop looked and that is when the idea of “Lovely Rita” was born.
“Good Morning Good Morning”
Inspiration for “Good Morning Good Morning” had come from a Kellogg’s Corn Flakes commercial. Quite an unusual song for the album, it had sound effects from animals such as chickens. This was easily the weakest song on the album, like “Within You Without You” it didn’t feel part of the album and felt like a filler on the record. John Lennon had referred to this song as “A throwaway, a piece of garbage.”
With the repetitiveness of the song and its uncreative structure, it did feel like a song that was been put on the record for the sake of having a certain number of songs on the record. John Lennon had also admitted said “I was never proud of it. I just knocked it off to do a song.”
A continuation from “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band 13. “A Day in the Life,” this song takes a hip-hop vibe with it. The song starts and ends with the band ending its live show, and is evident with lines such as “We hope you have enjoyed the show Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band We’re sorry but it’s time to go.”
While this track is quite short, it’s memorable and it was a strong way to continue the first portion of the song. The idea for a reprise was suggested by the Beatles’ assistant Neil Aspinall. Neil had spoken to Paul about the idea and said,
“I said to Paul, ‘Why don’t you have Sgt. Pepper as the compère of the album? He comes on at the beginning of the show and introduces the band, and at the end, he closes it. A bit later, Paul told John about it in the studio, and John came up to me and said, ‘Nobody likes a smart-arse, Neil’… That was when I knew that John liked it and that it would happen.”
The final track of the album, and a great way to finish the album. The song had everything from great lyrics, to amazing drum fills by Ringo Starr. “A Day in Life” feels like a mixture of happy music and horror, with it starting happy and having haunting sections in-between.
The verse lyrics were mainly written by John Lennon, with Paul McCartney primarily contributing to the song’s middle section. “A Day in The Life” was the third song of the album to get banned by the BBC for its alleged drug reference in the line “I’d love to turn you on”.
John Lennon’s lyrics were mostly inspired by contemporary newspaper articles, which included a report of Guinness heir, Tara Browne.
After more than fifty years, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band continues as a solid enjoyable album all-round, and one that will be remembered for generations to come. The whole album is a mystery and was intended to be that way as the Beatles love for fans to figure out the meaning of some of their songs. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band came with many interesting facts besides the inspirations for each song.
The album cover, which remains the most iconic album cover to this day has some interesting tales behind it. The cover itself cost over 3,000 pounds ($60,000 US – 2019) to produce. The concept was for the four Beatles members to appear as if they were as members of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Fifty-eight people were presented on the final album artwork. Many other figures were supposed to be included but were left out on the final version, these figures had included Gandhi, Jesus, and Hitler. Gandhi was excluded from the album as Sir Joseph Lockwood was worried that the album would not sell in India.
As you may be aware, many of the songs were thought to have references to drugs, and purportedly two of the Beatles members were high for the photoshoot. John Lennon had confirmed this when he said: “If you look closely at the album cover, you’ll see two people are flying, and two who aren’t.”
Rolling Stone magazine said, Ringo Starr chipped in saying “Have a look at the cover and come to your own conclusion! There’s a lot of red-eyed photos around!”
Elvis Presley was originally supposed to appear on the album cover but according to Paul McCartney “Elvis was too important and too far above the rest to even mention.”
If you are looking for an album that is short but memorable and is full of new ideas, then Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band is definitely for you.
ABOUT Darko Veselinovic
Hailing from Australia, a music and heavy metal enthusiast, Darko has been playing guitar for over 7 years, and is the founder of The Music Gig.
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