[1] Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:02
[2] Little Help from My Friends (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:44
[3] Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (Lennon/McCartney) - 3:29
[4] Getting Better (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:47
[5] Fixing a Hole (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:37
[6] She's Leaving Home (Lennon/McCartney) - 3:35
[7] Being for the Benefit of Mr.Kite! (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:37
[8] Within You, Without You (Harrison) - 5:05
[9] When I'm Sixty-Four (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:38
[10] Lovely Rita (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:42
[11] Good Morning, Good Morning (Lennon/McCartney) - 2:42
[12] Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Lennon/McCartney) - 1:20
[13] Day in the Life (Lennon/McCartney) - 5:04
George Harrison - Guitar, Harmonica, Sitar, Tambourine, Vocals, Tamboura
John Lennon - Guitar, Percussion, Rhythm Guitar, Marimbas, Hammond B3 Organ, Vocals
Paul McCartney - Guitar, Piano, Conductor, Bass Guitar, Harpsichord, Hammond B3 Organ, Vocals
Ringo Starr - Harmonica, Bongos, Drums, Vocals
George Martin - Organ, Piano, Arranger, Horn, Hammond B3 Organ
Mal Evans - Harmonica, Piano, Tambourine
Barrie Cameron - Saxophone
Bill Monroe - Violin
John Lee - Trombone
Mike Leander - Score
Tony Randall - French Horn
David McCallum - Violin
Robert Burns - Clarinet
Monty Montgomery - Trumpet
Neil Aspinall - Harmonica, Tamboura
Michael Barnes - Tuba
Lionel Bently - Violin
Dean Bradley - Violin
Sheila Bromberg - Harp
Ray Brown - Trombone
Jack Brymer - Clarinet
James W. Buck - French Horn
John Burden - French Horn
Alan Civil - French Horn
Alan Dalziel - Cello
Henry Datyner - Violin
Bernard Davis - Viola
Gwen Edwards - Viola
N. Fawcett - Bassoon
Tristan Fry - Percussion
Francisco Gabarro - Cello
Jose Garcia - Violin
Hans Geiger - Violin
David Glyde - Saxophone
Erich Gruenberg - Violin
Jurgen Hess - Violin
Alan Holmes - Saxophone
Harold Jackson - Trumpet
Derek Jacobs - Violin
Granville Jones - Violin
Roger Lord - Oboe
Henry MacKenzie - Clarinet
Cyril Macarthur - Double Bass
Marijke - Tambourine
John Meeks - Viola
T. Moore - Trombone
Alex Nifosi - Cello
Gordon Pearce - Double Bass
Raymond Premru - Trombone
Frank Reidy - Clarinet
David Sandeman - Flute
Neil Sanders - French Horn
Sidney Sax - Violin
Ernest Scott - Violin
Clifford Seville - Flute
Stephen Shingles - Viola
Basil Tschaikov - Clarinet
John Underwood - Viola
Dennis Vigay - Cello
Alfred Waters - Bassoon
Donald Weekes - Violin
Trevor Williams - Violin
David Mason - Trumpet
Peter Vince - Engineer
Ken Townsend - Engineer
Adrian Ibbetson - Engineer
Malcolm Addey - Engineer
Geoff Emerick - Engineer
Richard Lush - Second Engineer
Phil McDonald - Second Engineer
Keith Slaughter - Second Engineer
Graham Kirkby - Second Engineer
Peter Blake - Liner Notes, Art Direction, Design
Michael Cooper - Photography
Jann Haworth - Design
MC Productions & The Apple - Design
Vor Sgt. Pepper glaubte doch niemand ernsthaft daran, daß es sich
bei Popmusik um richtige Kunst handeln könnte. Das jedoch sollte
sich 1967 gründlich ändern, als John, Paul, George und Ringo
("with a little help" von ihrem Produzenten George Martin) dieses
unanfechtbare Kunstwerk veröffentlichten, das nach immerhin mehr
als dreißig Jahren noch zu den einflußreichsten Alben aller
Zeiten gehört. Von Lennons beschwörenden Wort- und
Soundcollagen (dem ausgeflippten "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" und
dem rummelplatzhaften "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite"), über
McCartneys Music-Hall-Nummer "When I´m 64" und Harrisons
Ostanleihe "Within You Without You", bis zu der abschließenden,
avantgardistischen Mini-Suite "A Day In The Life" war Sgt. Pepper
beides: Ein Meilenstein für die 60er Jahre und die populäre
Kultur.
Billy Altman, Amazon.de
With A Little Help ..., unter anderem eines 120 köpfigen
Orchesters, mit Witz und Intelligenz setzten die Pilzköpfe anno
1967 den neuen Standard in der Musik-Moderne.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will forever be known as the
recording that changed rock & roll. At the time of its release, it
immediately changed the perception of what a rock band could achieve,
not only in the rock community but in the mainstream, which had
previously dismissed the music as child's play. With its effortless
command of sound, styles and songcraft, it wasn't easy to dismiss Sgt.
Pepper. Anyone that had paid attention to Revolver would have realized
that the Beatles had already made the great leap forward, reaching a
previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless
experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, is a refinement of that
breakthrough, as the Beatles learned how to synthesize all their
influences into a seamless sound. They had unconsciously achieved that
with their earliest records, where they tied a variety of early rock
& roll influences into a distinctive sound, but here they
consciously blend such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song,
classical music, rock & roll and music hall, often in the course of
one song.
Similarly, the album was designed as a song suite, with each song
leading into the next, occasionally with no breaks between the tracks.
It gave Sgt. Pepper the appearance of being a concept album -- and
initially it was designed as a concept album about childhood, but that
idea was abandoned once "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane"
were pulled as a single during the recording sessions -- but there is
no unifying theme besides the layered sound and thirst for
experimentation. That's enough, of course. Sgt. Pepper is a richly
diverse album and not once does its eclectism seem forced -- the genius
of the record is how the vaudevillian "When I'm 64" seems like a
logical extension of "Within You Without You" and how it provides a
gateway to the chiming guitars of "Lovely Rita." There's no discounting
the individual contributions of each member or their producer George
Martin, but the preponderance of whimsy and classical influences gives
the impression that Paul McCartney is the leader of the Lonely Hearts
Club Band. He dominates the album in terms of compositions ("Getting
Better," "Fixing a Hole," "She's Leaving Home," "When I'm Sixty-Four,"
"Lovely Rita," the title track) and he sets the tone for the album with
his unabashed melodicism and deviously clever arrangements, which are
always considerably more complex than they intially appear.
Lennon's contributions are few and far between, and unfortunately a
couple of them are slight -- for all of its appealing carnivalesque
psychedelia, it's clear that he dashed off "Being for the Benefit of
Mr. Kite!," and "Good Morning Good Morning" is merely a good throwaway
-- but his major statements are stunning. "With a Little Help from My
Friends" is the ideal Ringo tune, a rolling, friendly pop song that not
only is perfect for his puppy-dog personality, but hides some genuine
Lennon anguish, ala "Help!" The notorious "Lucy in the Sky with
Diamonds" remains one of the touchstones of British psychedelia, thanks
to its inventive arrangement and elongated melody. And Lennon is the
mastermind behind the bulk of "A Day in the Life," the final song and
centerpiece of Sgt. Pepper. A haunting number that skillfuly blends
Lennon's verse and chorus with McCartney's bridge, "A Day in the Life"
is surely one of their greatest recorded achievements; decades after
its release, it still can still astonish, even if every note has been
memorized.
It is possible that first-time listeners may find Sgt. Pepper a little
underwhelming, in light of its titanic reputation and years of being
force-fed hype that claims it is the greatest album of all time. It is
true that modern-day listners might find its whimsy quaint or
antiquated, not charming, and that its few flaws stand out larger in
light of the hype. After all, they have grown accustomed to the
innovations that were pioneered here. And it may be true that there are
better Beatles albums -- Revolver, The Beatles, Abbey Road, A Hard
Day's Night and Rubber Soul all are valid contenders for the position
-- but there are no albums quite as historically important as this.
After Sgt. Pepper, there were no rules to follow -- rock and pop bands
could try anything, for better or worse. Ironically, few tried to
achieve the sweeping, all-encompassing embrace of music as the Beatles
did here.
Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All-Music Guide
"I just listened to it and said to myself, 'God, I really love this
album.' Still, today, it just sounds so fresh. It sounds full of ideas.
These guys knew what they were doing. They're good. And they're
inventive. I haven't heard anything this year that's as inventive. I
don't really expect to."
That's how Paul McCartney describes his response to hearing "Sgt.
Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club" Band earlier this year, and it's hard to
argue with him. The album he and those other "guys" in the Beatles
released in 1967 revolutionized rock & roll. The "splendid time"
McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr "guaranteed for
all" has lasted more than two decades - and that immensely pleasurable
trip has earned Sgt. Pepper its place as the best record of the past
twenty years.
After the Beatles stopped touring in 1966, they had time to explore in
greater depth the possibilities of the recording studio with producer
George Martin. And removed, essentially for the first time, from the
nonstop hoopla of Beatlemania, they also had time to question their
identity as Beatles. A chasm had begun to open between their growing
musical sophistication and the public's perception of them as lovable
mop tops. The magnitude of the Beatles phenomenon was starting to
encroach on the band - and their experience with psychedelic drugs made
that phenomenon seem increasingly surreal. Already trapped, in their
early twenties, the Beatles had to find a way out. "Sgt. Pepper's
Lonely Hearts Club Band" was born.
"Pepper was probably the one Beatle album I can say was my idea,"
McCartney says. "It was my idea to say to the guys, 'Hey, how about
disguising ourselves and getting an alter ego, because we're the
Beatles and we're fed up. Every time you approach a song, John, you
gotta sing it like John would. Every time I approach a ballad, it's
gotta be like Paul would. Why don't we just make up some incredible
alter egos and think, "Now how would he sing it? How would he approach
this track?"' And it freed us. It was a very liberating thing to do."
Clearly the "Sgt. Pepper" concept was more significant for the
psychological escape route it provided the Beatles than for its
specific use on the album. Apart from some relatively modest touches -
the colorful uniforms, the opening theme song, the reprise near the end
and Ringo's entertaining turn as "the one and only Billy Shears" in
"With a Little Help from My Friends" - the alter egos make no
discernible appearances on the album. But one look at the cover of
"Sgt. Pepper" - festooned with the band's wildly eclectic gallery of
heroes and with the wax figures of the youthful Fab Four standing next
to their far more hirsute and serious-looking real-life counterparts -
eloquently tells how greatly removed the group had grown from what they
were. Under the guise of alter egos the Beatles had finally allowed
their real selves to emerge.
Interestingly, however, the Beatles had freed themselves not merely to
chronicle such weighty subjects as the joys of mind-expanding drugs, in
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," the paradoxical wisdom of Eastern
religious philosophy, in "Within You Without You," or the sterile
absurdity of mainstream values in the astonishing "Day in the Life." On
the contrary, Sgt. Pepper is filled with sly inside jokes, broad
music-hall humor and completely gratuitous novelties. It is not only
the Beatles' most artistically ambitious album but their funniest.
Take, for example, the dog whistle - which humans can't hear - buried
on the album's second side. "We're sitting around the studio, and one
of the engineers starts talking about wavelengths, wave forms and
stuff, kilohertz," McCartney recalls. "I still don't understand these
things - I'm completely nontechnical. And as for John, he couldn't even
change a plug - he really couldn't, you know. The engineers would be
explaining to us what all this stuff was. An ultrasonic sound wave - 'a
low one, you can kill people with the low ones.' We were all saying,
'Wow, man. Hey, wow.' 'And the high ones,' he said, 'only dogs can hear
it.' We said, 'We gotta have it on! There's going to be one dog and his
owner, and I'd just love to be there when his ears prick up.'"
And the famous "Inner Groove" - the snippet of pointless conversation
that sticks in the album's run-out groove and that was not included in
the original American version of "Sgt. Pepper" - has an equally zany
genesis. Around the time of "Sgt. Pepper's" release, McCartney
explains, "a lot of record players didn't have auto-change. You would
play an album and it would go, 'Tick, tick, tick,' in the run-out
groove - it would just stay there endlessly. We were whacked out so
much of the time in the Sixties - just quite harmlessly, as we thought,
it was quite innocent - but you would be at friends' houses, twelve at
night, and nobody would be going to get up to change that record
player. So we'd be getting into the little 'tick, tick, tick,': 'It's
quite good, you know? There's a rhythm there.' We were into Cage and
Stockhausen, those kind of people. Obviously, once you allow yourself
that kind of freedom . . . well, Cage is appreciating silence, isn't
he? We were appreciating the run-out groove! We said, 'What if we put
something, so that every time it did that, it said something?' So we
put a little loop of conversation on."
These are minor points, perhaps, in the context of the enormous
achievement of "Sgt. Pepper". But such fun-loving experimentalism -
born of the optimistic determination to blow away anything that "stops
my mind from wandering where it will go" - is "Sgt. Pepper's" best
legacy for our time. In a decade of political conservatism and stifling
musical formats, of sexual fear and obsession with the past, the hopful
message of "Sgt. Pepper" - that visionary breakthroughs are necessary
to strive for and possible to achieve in every facet of life - is much
more urgent now than it was twenty years ago today. (RS 507)
It was twenty years ago today,
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They've been going in and out of style
But they're guaranteed to raise a smile.
So may I introduce to you
The act you've known for all these years,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
We hope you will enjoy the show,
We're Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band,
Sit back and let the evening go.
Sgt. Pepper's lonely, Sgt. Pepper's lonely,
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
It's wonderful to be here,
It's certainly a thrill.
You're such a lovely audience,
We'd like to take you home with us,
We'd love to take you home.
I don't really want to stop the show,
But I thought that you might like to know,
That the singer's going to sing a song,
And he wants you all to sing along.
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
A Little Help From My Friends
A little help from my friends
What would you think if I sang out of tune,
Would you stand up and walk out on me.
Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song,
And I'll try not to sing out of key.
I get by with a little help from my friends,
I get high with a little help from my friends,
Going to try with a little help from my friends.
What do I do when my love is away.
(Does it worry you to be alone)
How do I feel by the end of the day
(Are you sad because you're on your own)
No I get by with a little help from my friends,
Do you need anybody,
I need somebody to love.
Could it be anybody
I want somebody to love.
Would you believe in a love at first sight,
Yes I'm certain that it happens all the time.
What do you see when you turn out the light,
I can't tell you, but I know it's mine.
Oh I get by with a little help from my friends,
Do you need anybody,
I just need somebody to love,
Could it be anybody,
I want somebody to love.
I get by with a little help from my friends,
Yes I get by with a little help from my friends,
With a little help from my friends.
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies,
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,
That grow so incredibly high.
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,
Waiting to take you away.
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,
And you're gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Picture yourself on a train in a station,
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties,
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstyle,
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes.
Getting Better
It's getting better all the time
I used to get mad at my school
The teachers who taught me weren't cool
You're holding me down, turning me round
Filling me up with your rules.
I've got to admit it's getting better
A little better all the time
I have to admit it's getting better
It's getting better since you've been mine.
Me used to be a angry young man
Me hiding me head in the sand
You gave me the word
I finally heard
I'm doing the best that I can.
I've got to admit it's getting better
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
And I'm doing the best that I can.
I admit it's getting better
A little better all the time
Yes I admit it's getting better
It's getting better since you've been mine
Fixing a Hole
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where will it go
I'm filling the cracks that ran through the door
And kept my mind from wandering
Where will it go
And it really doesn't matter if I'm wrong
I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong.
See the people standing there who disagree and never win
And wonder why they don't get in my door.
I'm painting my room in the colourful way
And when my mind is wandering
There I will go.
And it really doesn't matter if
I'm wrong I'm right
Where I belong I'm right
Where I belong.
Silly people run around they worry me
And never ask me why they don't get past my door.
I'm taking the time for a number of things
That weren't important yesterday
And I still go.
I'm fixing a hole where the rain gets in
And stops my mind from wandering
Where it will go.
She's Leaving Home
Wednesday morning at five o'clock as the day begings
Silently closing her bedroom door
Leaving the note that she hoped would say more
She goes downstairs to the kitchen clutching her hankerchief
Quietly turing the backdoor key
Stepping outside she is free.
She (We gave her most of our lives)
is leaving (Sacraficed most of our lives)
home (We gave her everything money could buy)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years. Bye, bye
Father snores as his wife gets into her dressing gown
Picks up the letter that's lying there
Standing alone at the top of the stairs
She breaks down and cries to her husband
Daddy our baby's gone.
Why would she treat us so thoughtlessly
How could she do this to me.
She (We never though of ourselves)
Is leaving (Never a thought for ourselves)
home (We struggled hard all our lives to get by)
She's leaving home after living alone
For so many years. Bye, bye
Friday morning at nine o'clock she is far away
Waiting to keep the appointment she made
Meeting a man from the motor trade.
She What did we do that was wrong
Is having We didn't know it was wrong
Fun Fun is the one thing that money can't buy
Something inside that was always denied
For so many years. Bye, Bye
She's leaving home bye bye
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
For the benefit of Mr. Kite
There will be a show tonight on trampoline
The Hendersons will all be there
Late of Pablo Fanques Fair-what a scene
Over men and horses hoops and garters
Lastly through a hogshead of real fire!
In this way Mr. K. will challenge the world!
The celebrated Mr. K.
Performs his feat on Saturday at Bishopsgate
The Hendersons will dance and sing
As Mr. Kite flys through the ring don't be late
Messrs. K and H. assure the public
Their production will be second to none
And of course Henry The Horse dances the waltz!
The band begins at ten to six
When Mr. K. performs his tricks without a sound
And Mr. H. will demonstrate
Ten summersets he'll undertake on solid ground
Having been some days in preparation
A splendid time is guaranteed for all
And tonight Mr. Kite is topping the bill.
Within You Without You
We were talking-about the space between us all
And the people-who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth-then it's far too late-when they pass away.
We were talking-about the love we all could share-when we find it
To try our best to hold it there-with our love
With our love-we could save the world-if they only knew.
Try to realise it's all within yourself
No-one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small,
And life flows within you and without you.
We were talking-about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
Who gain the world and lose their soul-
They don't know-they can't see-are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself-then you may find, peace of mind,
Is waiting there-
And the time will come when you see
we're all one, and life flows on within you and without you.
When I'm Sixty-Four
When I get older losing my hair,
Many years from now.
Will you still be sending me a valentine
Birthday greetings bottle of wine.
If I'd been out till quarter to three
Would you lock the door,
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
You'll be older too,
And it you say the word,
I could stay with you.
I could be handy, mending a fuse
When your lights have gone.
You can knit a sweater by the fireside
Sunday mornings go for a ride,
Doing the garden, digging the weeds,
Who could ask for more.
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
Every summer we can rent a cottage,
In the Isle of Wight, if it's not too dear
We shall scrimp and save
Grandchildren on your knee
Vera Chuck & Dave
Send me a postcard, drop me a line,
Stating point of view
Indicate precisely what you mean to say
Yours sincerely, wasting away
Give me your answer, fill in a form
Mine for evermore
Will you still need me, will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four.
Lovely Rita
Lovely Rita meter maid.
Lovely Rita meter maid.
Lovely Rita meter maid.
Nothing can come between us,
When it gets dark I tow your heart away.
Standing by a parking meter,
When I caught a glimpse of Rita,
Filling in a ticket in her little white book.
In a cap she looked much older,
And the bag across her shoulder
Made her look a little like a military man.
Lovely Rita meter maid,
May I inquire discreetly,
When are you free,
To take some tea with me.
Took her out and tried to win her,
Had a laugh and over dinner,
Told her I would really like to see her again,
Got the bill and Rita paid it,
Took her home I nearly made it,
Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two.
Oh, lovely Rita meter maid,
Where would I be without you,
Give us a wink and make me think of you.
Good Morning, Good Morning
Nothing to do to save his life call his wife in
Nothing to say but what a day how's your boy been
Nothing to do it's up to you
I've got nothing to say but it's O.K.
Good morning, good morning...
Going to work don't want to go feeling low down
Heading for home you start to roam then you're in town
Everybody knows there's nothing doing
Everything is closed it's like a ruin
Everyone you see is half asleep.
And you're on your own you're in the street
Good morning, good morning...
After a while you start to smile now you feel cool.
Then you decide to take a walk by the old school.
Nothing has changed it's still the same
I've got nothing to say but it's O.K.
Good morning, good morning...
People running round it's five o'clock.
Everywhere in town is getting dark.
Everyone you see is full of life.
It's time for tea and meet the wife.
Somebody needs to know the time, glad that I'm here.
Watching the skirts you start to flirt now you're in gear.
Go to a show you hope she goes.
I've got nothing to say but it's O.K.
Good morning, good morning...
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
We're Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you have enjoyed the show
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We're sorry but it's time to go.
Sergeant Pepper's lonely.
Sergeant Pepper's lonely.
Sergeant Pepper's lonely.
Sergeant Pepper's lonely.
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
We'd like to thank you once again
Sergeant Pepper's one and only Lonely Hearts Club Band
It's getting very near the end
Sergeant Pepper's lonely
Sergeant Pepper's lonely
Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
A Day in the Life
I read the news today oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well I just had to laugh
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 Lords.
I saw a film today oh boy
The English Army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
but I just had to look
Having read the book.
I'd love to turn you on
Woke up, fell out of bed,
Dragged a comb across my head
Found my way downstairs and drank a cup,
And looking up I noticed I was late.
Found my coat and grabbed my hat
Made the bus in seconds flat
Found my way upstairs and had a smoke,
Somebody spoke and I went into a dream
I read the news today oh boy
Four thousand holes in Blackburn, Lancashire
And though the holes were rather small
They had to count them all
Now they know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
I'd love to turn you on