Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)
| "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | ||||
| Released | 1 June 1967 | |||
| Recorded | 1 February 1967 1 April 1967 (Reprise) |
|||
| Genre | Rock | |||
| Length | 2:02 1:18 (Reprise) |
|||
| Label | Parlophone, Capitol, EMI | |||
| Writer | Lennon/McCartney | |||
| Producer | George Martin | |||
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band track listing | ||||
|
||||
| "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"/"With a Little Help from My Friends" | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single by The Beatles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| B-side | "A Day in the Life" | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Released | 14 August 1978 (US) 30 September 1978 (UK) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recorded | February–March 1967 EMI Studios, London |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Genre | Rock | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Length | 4:46 | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Label | Capitol 4612 (US) Parlophone R6022 (UK) |
|||||||||||||||||||||
| Writer(s) | Lennon/McCartney | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Producer | George Martin | |||||||||||||||||||||
| The Beatles singles chronology | ||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song credited to Lennon/McCartney, and first recorded and released in 1967, on the The Beatles' album of the same name. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track (segueing into "With A Little Help From My Friends"), and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track (segueing into "A Day in the Life"). As the title track, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs in the album.
Since its original album release, the song has also been released on singles, on compilation albums, and has been performed by several other artists including Jimi Hendrix, U2, and a comic interpretation by Bill Cosby.
Contents |
Authorship and recording
In November 1966, on the flight back to England after a holiday, McCartney conceived an idea in which an entire album would be role-played, with each of The Beatles assuming an alter-ego in the "Lonely Hearts Club Band", which would then perform a concert in front of an audience. The inspiration is said to have come when roadie Mal Evans innocently asked McCartney what the letters “S” and “P” stood for on the pots on their in-flight meal trays, and McCartney explained it was for salt and pepper. This then led to the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band concept, as well as the song.[1][2] According to producer George Martin, the song was recorded before the album, but he also said that it started the idea of a concept album based around the main Sgt. Pepper character.[3]
The group's road manager Neil Aspinall suggested the idea of Sergeant Pepper being the compère, as well as the reprise at the end of the album.[4] According to his diaries, Evans may have also contributed to the song. John Lennon attributed the idea for Sgt. Pepper to McCartney, although the song is officially credited to Lennon/McCartney.[5] The song was recorded in Abbey Road's number 2 studio, with Martin producing, and Geoff Emerick engineering. Work on the song started on 1 February 1967, and after three further sessions the recording was complete on 6 March 1967.[6] listen
Song structure
On the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the song opens to the sound of a chattering audience, and an orchestra tuning up, which was taken from the 10 February orchestra session for "A Day in the Life".[7] The crowd sounds edited into the song were recorded in the early '60s by Martin, during a live recording of the stage show Beyond the Fringe. When the song itself begins, the band introduces its members.[8] The song's structure is:
- Introduction (instrumental)
- Verse
- Bridge (instrumental)
- Refrain
- Bridge
- Verse
- Instrumental bridge and transition into "With a Little Help from My Friends".[6]
The song is in G major, with a 4/4 meter. A horn quartet was used to fill out the instrumental sections.[6]
Reprise
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is a repeat of the song's refrain at a faster tempo with heavier instrumentation. While the opening track stays largely in the key of G major (except for transient modulation to F and perhaps C in the bridges), the reprise starts in F and modulates back to G. The track opens with a distorted guitar strumming a "Hendrix chord" (dominant 7th sharp 9). McCartney counts 1-2-3-4, and between 2 and 3, Lennon jokingly adds "bye!".[9]
The idea for a reprise was Aspinall's, who thought that as there was a "welcome song", there should be a "goodbye song".[10][11] The song contains the same melody as the opening version, but with different lyrics. At 1:18, it is one of the Beatles' shorter songs (the shortest is "Her Majesty" at 0:23). The reprise was recorded on 1 April 1967, two months after the version that opens the album.[12][13] At the end of the track, Martin's pre-recorded applause sample segues into the real final track of the album, "A Day in the Life".
Releases
It was originally released in the UK on 1 June 1967, and in the US on 2 June 1967 on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LP.[6]
When the Beatles' recording contract with EMI expired in 1976, EMI was free to re-release music from the Beatle catalogue, and in 1978 – 11 years after the original album release – released "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"/"With a Little Help from My Friends" as the A-side of a single with "A Day in the Life" as the B-side. The single was released on Capitol in the US on 14 August (closely following the US release of the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band film), and on Parlophone in the UK in September.[14][15]
| Country | Chart | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| UK | Music Week | 63[16] |
| US | Billboard Hot 100 | 71[17] |
| US | Cash Box | 92[18] |
| US | Record World | 103[19] |
The original recording of the song is included on the following Beatles compilation albums: 1967-1970 (1973), Yellow Submarine Songtrack (1999). A run-through of the reprise is included on the outtakes album Anthology 2 (1996). In 2006, the reprise was re-released on the album Love, which was a theatrical production by Cirque du Soleil. The updated version is a remix featuring samples of other Beatles songs.
The notebook used by McCartney containing the lyrics for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and other songs was put up for sale in 1998.[20]
Personnel
Full version:
- Paul McCartney – vocal, bass, lead guitar
- John Lennon – harmony vocal, rhythm guitar
- George Harrison – harmony vocal, guitar
- Ringo Starr – drums
- Session musicians – French horns
Reprise:
- Paul McCartney – vocal, organ, bass
- John Lennon – vocal, rhythm guitar
- George Harrison – vocal, lead guitar
- Ringo Starr – vocal, drums, tambourine, maracas
- Personnel per Ian MacDonald[21]
Live performances
In 1967, Jimi Hendrix played the song live at the Saville Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, which was leased by Brian Epstein, only three days after it had been released on record, with McCartney and George Harrison in the audience.[22][23] Another live version by Hendrix recorded at the Isle of Wight Festival was included on a posthumous live album, Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight.
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was never performed live by The Beatles. It was performed by three of the Beatles (Paul, George and Ringo) plus Eric Clapton on 19 May 1979 at Clapton's wedding party. Paul McCartney played it live on his world tour that began in September 1989."[24] On subsequent tours he would play the reprise version and use that as a segue into "The End. "[25]
McCartney and U2 played the song at the start of a Live 8 concert in Hyde Park, London on 2 July 2005.[26] The song, starting with "It was twenty years ago" was chosen amongst others to commemorate that Live 8 took place approximately twenty years after Live Aid.[27] The single was released for charity on iTunes, and set a world record for the fastest-selling online song of all time.[28]
In 2007, Bryan Adams and Stereophonics recorded the album's two versions of the song for It Was 40 Years Ago Today, a television film with contemporary acts recording the album's songs using the same studio, technicians and recording techniques as the original.[29]
On 4 April 2009, McCartney performed the song during a benefit concert at New York's Radio City Music Hall and segued it into "With A Little Help From My Friends", sung by Ringo. [30]
In 2009, Cheap Trick released a live album and DVD called Sgt. Pepper Live, which is a live performance of the entire original album, including the title song and reprise.
Cover versions
The Rutles' song "Major Happy's Up-And-Coming Once Upon A Good Time Band" is based on this song.
Notes
- ↑ Miles 1997, pp. 303–304.
- ↑ The Beatles 2003, Episode 6, 0:41:54.
- ↑ The Beatles 2003, Episode 6, 0:43:13.
- ↑ The Beatles 2003, Episode 6, 0:43:21.
- ↑ The Beatles Interview Database 2008.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 Pollack 1995.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 101.
- ↑ Scotsman.com 2007.
- ↑ Anomalies List 2007.
- ↑ The Beatles 2003, Episode 6, 0:43:42.
- ↑ Miles 1997, p. 306.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 95.
- ↑ Lewisohn 1988, p. 107.
- ↑ IMDb 2007.
- ↑ Haber 2007.
- ↑ Harry 2000, p. 261.
- ↑ Wallgren 1982, p. 123.
- ↑ Harry 2000, p. 271.
- ↑ Harry 2000, p. 273.
- ↑ BBC News 1998.
- ↑ MacDonald 2005, pp. 232, 248.
- ↑ The Beatles 2003, Episode 6, 0:59:39.
- ↑ NME 2007.
- ↑ Epstein 2007.
- ↑ amazon.com 2010.
- ↑ BBC News 2005.
- ↑ Ansaldo 2005.
- ↑ Softpedia 2007.
- ↑ BBC News 2007.
- ↑ "Paul McCartney and Friends: Change Begins Within". Radio City Music Hall. New York, NY: Madison Square Garden. http://www.radiocity.com/events/change-begins-within-409.html. Retrieved 27 March 2010.
References
- The Beatles. (2003) (DVD). The Beatles Anthology. Apple Records. ASIN: B00008GKEG.
- Ansaldo, Michael (3 July 2005). "McCartney, U2 Rock Live 8". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/artists/barenakedladies/articles/story/7467460/mccartney_u2_rock_live_8. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
- "The Beatles Anomalies List". 2007. http://www.pootle.demon.co.uk/common/anomaly-s.htm. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- Davies, Hunter (2004). The Beatles. W. W. Norton & Company. ISBN 978-0393315714.
- "Dubbed applause and music-hall overtones". Scotsman.com. 25 May 2007. http://living.scotsman.com/music.cfm?id=810132007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- Epstein, Dan (2007). "Review of Tripping the Live Fantastic". Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000002UWY. Retrieved 12 December 2007.
- Haber, Dave (2007). "The Beatles Singles and EP Discography". The Internet Beatles Album. http://www.beatletracks.com/bt45s.html. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
- Harry, Bill (2000). The Beatles Encyclopedia. Virgin Publishing. ISBN 0-7535-0481-2.
- Lewisohn, Mark (1988). The Beatles Recording Sessions. New York: Harmony Books. ISBN 0-517-57066-1.
- "London Live 8 performances rated". BBC News. 3 July 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4645039.stm. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- MacDonald, Ian (2005). Revolution in the Head: The Beatles' Records and the Sixties (Second Revised ed.). London: Pimlico (Rand). ISBN 1-844-13828-3.
- Martin, George; Hornsby, Jeremy (1994). All You Need Is Ears. New York: St. Martin's Griffen. ISBN 0-312-11482-6.
- Miles, Barry (1997). Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now. New York: Henry Holt & Company. ISBN 0-8050-5249-6.
- "The night Jimi Hendrix played tribute to The Beatles". NME. 2007. http://www.nme.com/news/jimi-hendrix/28660. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
- "Notebook of lyrics for sale". BBC News. 7 August 1998. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/147112.stm. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- "Paul McCartney in the 'Guinness Book of Records'". Softpedia. 2007. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Paul-McCartney-In-The-Guinness-Book-of-Records-5167.shtml. Retrieved 3 March 2007.
- Pollack, Alan W (21 November 1995). "Notes on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Notes on ... Series. http://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/splhcb.shtml.
- "Review of Back In The US". Amazon.com. 2010. http://www.amazon.com/Back-U-S-Live-2002-McCartney/dp/B00006LSOG/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1229410649&sr=1-2.
- "Sergeant Pepper's 40th Anniversary". BBC News. 2007. http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio2/events/60sseason/documentaries/sgtpeppers.shtml. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
- "Sgt Pepper". The Beatles Interview Database. 2008. http://www.beatlesinterviews.org/dba08sgt.html. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978)". IMDb. 2007. http://imdb.com/title/tt0078239/. Retrieved 5 March 2007.
- Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 1-84513-160-6.
- Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Book
Category
Portal
WikiProject
|
|||||||||||||||||
