It Was Forty Years Ago Today

Yes, forty years ago today, The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was thrust upon an unsuspecting world of music listeners, and would thereafter be referred often (rightly or wrongly) as The Best Album Ever Made.

All my life, I've heard the hype about this album. If the stories are to be believed, nothing like it had ever been made before, and everything made since hasn't lived up to it. I've listened to the album so many times, trying to figure out just WHY people love this album so much. I think understanding its impact is a case of "You just had to be there." However, that said, what can't be denied is that this is indeed a wonderful album stuffed to the top with unexpected surprises. Here are some of my favorite songs, moments, etc. from Sgt. Pepper:

• The first two opening songs, the Title Track and "With A Little Help From My Friends." This combination is right up there with Queen's "We Will Rock You/We Are The Champions" in the category of one-two punches in music. The title song gives you a feeling of settling into your seat, waiting for the show to start, and then being blown away by the rock force of Paul McCartney. "With A Little Help From My Friends," on the other hand, is the payoff. It's one of the best songs Ringo ever sang, and the lyrics are known around the world. The call-and-response parts are fun, and Ringo's slightly-drunk-or-bored performance is killer.

• The diversity of the album. I think this is one of the reasons why the album is so loved by nearly everyone and made such an impact. You have rock, vaudeville, raga, a ballad, and some tracks that can't be properly defined ("Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds").
  

• The above-mentioned song, "Lucy." This song will constantly be debated due to the popular rumor that the title itself is a drug reference. I've never done acid, but I'd imagine this song is an aural equivalent. It's dreamy, trippy, haunting and contains a great chorus, perfect for screaming and singing.

• "Getting Better," the whole song. Especially, though, the harmony vocals. I suspect this song was influenced by the Beach Boys, although I've never read as much. You also have to love the "Can't Get No Worse" parts sung by John. A little sugar helps that negative sentiment go down smoothly. The guitar and tamboura make this song rock like nothing else. Also, I admit, I first heard the song in a commercial and loved it even when I didn't know it was a Beatles song.

• The sentimentality of "She's Leaving Home." Yes, the string section is gorgeous (echoes of "Eleanor Rigby"), but it's Paul's vocal performance that puts it over the top. "How could she do this to me?" is one especially heartbreaking line.

• The fact that John Lennon got inspired to write "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!" by reading an old circus poster.
  

• The fact that most of the songs on here were inspired by real life situations - newspaper reports, the above-mentioned circus poster, and basic, everyday life. There are very few love songs here, and the best of them is about a meter maid!

• "Within You, Without You." I don't care what anyone says, this is a wonderful song. The lyrics are insightful and, when sung, put you in a hypnotic trance. This song blew me away when I first heard it, and I'm sure it did the same to listeners forty years ago.

• The title track reprise near the end. It's very cool that they took what was mostly a rock song to begin with and made it rock even harder. I always say that this is the first remix ever made.

• The weirdness of "A Day In The Life." Where to start with this one? First, this is John's best vocal on the album. He really sounds affected by the stories he's reading. Then you get the orchestra freakout followed by a thumping bass chord and Paul's little bridge. I love the way he pronounces "smoke," as if to nod and wink to the various interpretations of what he could be smoking. That is followed by another John verse, another orchestra freakout, a final crashing piano chord on FOUR pianos, and finally a bit of backward nonsense looping at the very end after a silence. The Beatles took the weirdness of "Tomorrow Never Knows" and put it into a really good song!

• The samples all over the place, especially the animal noises in "Good Morning, Good Morning" and the various circus sounds in "Mr. Kite." I'm sure other artists put sound samples in their songs before, but no one did it better than The Beatles.

• Last but not least, the cover! What we have here is the most iconic album cover of all time (yes, even better than Abbey Road) and one that is instantly recognizable. There are dozens and dozens of things to look at, and the costumes are incredible! No one put more thought into covers than The Beatles.

Looking back at what I just wrote, I realize that most of the songs on Sgt. Pepper are at least very good. There are a few that I could take or leave ("Fixing A Hole," for example), but they all have a part to play in the album. Why is this such a great album? Because, even more than on Revolver, The Beatles threw out all the rules and did just what they wanted. It's too bad more artists didn't or couldn't follow their lead.