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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

First released: 1967, June 2

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Tracks
  1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (2:02)
    Recorded: February 1, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubbing February 2, March 3, and March 6, 1967
    John Lennon - lead guitar, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - lead guitar, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
    George Martin - organ
    Session musicians - four horns
  2. With a Little Help From My Friends (2:44)
    Recorded: March 29, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added March 30, 1967
    John Lennon - background vocal
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, piano, background vocal
    George Harrison - tambourine
    Ringo Starr - lead vocal, drums
  3. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds (3:29)
    Recorded: March 1, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added March 2, 1967
    John Lennon - lead vocal, lead guitar
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, Hammond organ, harmony vocal
    George Harrison - sitar, harmony vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
  4. Getting Better (2:48)
    Recorded: March 9, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubbing March 10, March 21 and March 23, 1967
    John Lennon - lead guitar, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, background vocal
    George Harrison - lead guitar, tamboura, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums, bongos
    George Martin - piano strings
  5. Fixing a Hole (2:36)
    Recorded: February 9, 1967 at Regent Sound Studio, London, England with overdubbing February 21, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - maracas, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, lead guitar, harpsichord
    George Harrison - lead guitar, double-tracked lead guitar solo, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
  6. She's Leaving Home (3:35)
    Recorded: March 17, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with vocals overdubbed March 20, 1967
    John Lennon - lead vocal, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, background vocal
    Session musicians - strings, harp
  7. Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite! (2:37)
    Recorded: February 17, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubbing February 20, March 28-29 and March 31, 1967
    John Lennon - lead vocal, Hammond organ (main melody)
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, lead guitar
    George Harrison - harmonica
    Ringo Starr - drums, harmonica
    George Martin - Wurlitzer organ (countermelody), piano
    Mal Evans - harmonica
    Neil Aspinall - harmonica
  8. Within You Without You (5:06)
    Recorded: March 15, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubbing March 22, 1967 and April 3, 1967
    George Harrison - lead vocal, tamboura
    Neil Aspinall - tamboura
    Indian session musicians - dilruba, tamboura, tabla, swordmandel
    Session musicians - eight violins, three cellos
  9. When I'm Sixty-Four (2:37)
    Recorded: December 6, 1966 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added December 8 and December 20-21, 1966
    John Lennon - lead guitar, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, piano, background vocal
    George Harrison - background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Session musicians - bass clarinet, two clarinets
  10. Lovely Rita (2:42)
    Recorded: February 23, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added February 24, March 7 and March 21, 1967
    John Lennon - acoustic guitar, comb and paper, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar, piano, comb and paper, background vocal
    George Harrison - acoustic guitar, comb and paper, background vocal
    Ringo Starr - drums
    George Martin - honky-tonk piano
  11. Good Morning, Good Morning (2:42)
    Recorded: February 8, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England with overdubs added February 16, March 13 and March 28-29, 1967
    John Lennon - lead vocal, background vocal
    Paul McCartney - bass guitar, lead guitar and solo, background vocal
    George Harrison - lead guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Sounds Incorporated - three saxophones, two trombones, French horn
  12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (1:19)
    Recorded: April 1, 1967 at Abbey Road, London, England
    John Lennon - lead vocal, lead guitar, maracas
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal, bass guitar
    George Harrison - lead vocal, lead guitar
    Ringo Starr - drums
  13. A Day in the Life (5:33)
    Recorded: January 19, 1967 (basic track) and February 10, 1967 (orchestral track) at Abbey Road, London, England with the final-chord ending overdubbed February 22, 1967
    John Lennon - lead vocal (first, second and last verses), acoustic guitar, lead guitar
    Paul McCartney - lead vocal (middle section), piano, conducts the forty-one-piece orchestra
    Ringo Starr - drums
    Lennon, McCartney, Starr, Mal Evans - three pianos (final chord)
    George Martin - harmonium
    Mal Evans - alarm clock
    Session musicians - forty-one-piece orchestra
Credits
Producer: George Martin
Engineers: Geoff Emerick, Malcolm Addey, Adrian Ibbetson, Peter Vince, Ken Townsend
Second engineers: Graham Kirkby, Richard Lush, Phil McDonald, Keith Slaughter
Photography: Michael Cooper
Score: Mike Leander
Design: Peter Blake, Jann Haworth, MC Productions & The Apple
Art Direction, Liner Notes: Peter Blake

George Harrison: Vocals, Guitar, Harmonica, Sitar, Tamboura, Tambourine
John Lennon: Percussion, Vocals, Guitar, Hammond Organ, Marimbas, Rhythm Guitar
Paul McCartney: Conductor, Vocals, Bass Guitar, Guitar, Hammond Organ, Harpsichord, Piano
Ringo Starr: Drums, Vocals, Bongos, Harmonica

George Martin: Hammond Organ, Horn, Organ, Piano, Arranger, Producer
Neil Aspinall: Harmonica, Tamboura
Mal Evans: Harmonica, Piano, Tambourine

Michael Barnes: Tuba
Sheila Bromberg: Harp
Tristan Fry: Percussion
Roger Lord: Oboe
Marijke: Tambourine

Flutes: David Sandeman, Clifford Seville
Violins: Trevor Williams, Donald Weekes, Ernest Scott, Sidney Sax, Lionel Bently, Dean Bradley, Henry Datyner, Jose Garcia, Hans Geiger, Erich Gruenberg, Jurgen Hess, Derek Jacobs, Granville Jones, David McCallum, Bill Monroe
Violas: John Underwood, Stephen Shingles, John Meeks, Bernard Davis, Gwen Edwards
Horns: Neil Sanders, Tony Randall, James W. Buck, John Burden, Alan Civil
Clarinets: Basil Tschaikov, Frank Reidy, Henry MacKenzie, Jack Brymer, Robert Burns
Cellos: Dennis Vigay, Alex Nifosi, Francisco Gabarro, Alan Dalziel
Trumpet: Monty Montgomery, Harold Jackson, David Mason, Dave Mason
Saxophones: Alan Holmes, David Glyde, Barrie Cameron
Trombones: T. Moore, Raymond Premru, John Lee, Ray Brown
Bassoon: Alfred Waters, N. Fawcett
Double Bass: Gordon Pearce, Cyril Macarthur
Releases
1967, June 2 Capitol SMAS-2653 (US)
Reviews & comments
R. Quint (2013, April 19)
I was ten years when Sgt. Peppers came out in the US. Growing up in Southern California, The Beach boys were king of the hill. When this album came out it changed the R & R landscape forever. Sgt. Peppers is in no doubt, the best Rock album produced, in what I call the golden era, ( 1957-1973). It influenced countless bands after its' release, Even the half assed attempt by the rolling stones. Their Satanic Majesties Request was such a poorly conceived attempt to outdo Sgt.Peppers It couldn't even fool a Ten year old. If you don't think this is one of THE best albums of the late 20th century,then you don't like the Beatles.
Bruce Reid (2013, March 12)
I know some people argue weather Sgt. Pepper is a masterpiece. The album is a true landmark in the respect of the influence this album had on the industry. IT CHANGED EVERYTHING! Recording techniques to packaging. Something I did was to burn a new version of Pepper according to where George Martin said he was going to place, "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields" in the album. In the "Making of Sgt. Pepper", Sir George said he was originally going to place "Penny Lane at the end of side one, and was going to place "Fields" between "Within You, Without You" and "When I'm 64". He said they did not place them on the album because both songs were pulled as a single before the album. Too bad, both of those songs on the album would have strengthen Sgt. Pepper all the more. This is my favorite album of the Beatles. Even if you don't agree, one must not forget the importance of Pepper. By the way check out the website, elvisbeatlesmovie.com
All Music Guide (2002, April 28)
With Revolver, the Beatles made the Great Leap Forward, reaching a previously unheard-of level of sophistication and fearless experimentation. Sgt. Pepper, in many ways, refines that breakthrough, as the Beatles consciously synthesized such disparate influences as psychedelia, art-song, classical music, rock & roll, and music hall, often in the course of one song. Not once does the diversity 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 self-conscious art gives the impression that Paul McCartney is the leader of the Lonely Hearts Club Band. He dominates the album in terms of compositions, setting the tone for the album with his unabashed melodicism and deviously clever arrangements. In comparison, Lennon's contributions seem fewer, and a couple of them are a little slight but his major statements are stunning. "With a Little Help from My Friends" is the ideal Ringo tune, a rolling, friendly pop song that hides genuine Lennon anguish, ala "Help!;" "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" remains one of the touchstones of British psychedelia; and he's the mastermind behind the bulk of "A Day in the Life," a haunting number that skillfuly blends Lennon's verse and chorus with McCartney's bridge. It's possibly to argue that there are better Beatles albums, yet no album is 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

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