As I said in an earlier blog, June 1st will be the fortieth anniversary of the release of one of the most influential albums of all time – St. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles. When I was young, I have only one memory of Sgt. Pepper’s. It’s odd, but I remember being young (couldn’t have been any more than seven) and at someone else’s house. I saw the album and was fascinated by all the images of people on the cover. I asked someone who they all were and the person, I’m pretty sure it was neither of my parents, told me who several were, but the only one I remember is Jane Mansfield. That is because they told me she was the actress that was in a car wreck and it cut her head off (which is incorrect – it was a wig that started that rumor). Horrified, I would have nothing to do with Sgt Pepper’s for the next ten to twelve years.
When I was in my late teens though, I discovered what an incredible album this really was. It is listed in the number one position of Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. It was a success almost immediately upon release. When it was recorded, the Beatles had begun to change from a mere teenybopper band to a significant musical force. This album used new techniques like the wah-wah pedal and the fuzzbox. They also experimented with voices and effects like echo, reverberation, and reverse tape effects, creating a sound never heard before. Two songs that were dropped from the Sgt. Pepper’s album, Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane, went on to eventually become hits for the Beatles. Some music critics have argued that Sgt. Pepper’s was the last time the Beatles really worked together as a group, before conflicting egos took over.
The Beatles as we know them (John, Paul, George, and Ringo) were only together as a band for a short seven years, but their music and influence will live on forever.