The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

$

35

The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

Studio album by The Beatles

Released: 1 June 1967

Recorded: 24 November 1966 – 21 April 1967

Studio: EMI Studios and Regent Sound Studio, London

Genre: Rock, pop, psychedelia, art rock, baroque pop, proto-progressive

Length: 39:52

Label: Capitol Records SMAS 2653

Format: 12” Vinyl 33 RPM Stereo Gatefold album

Produced in England by George Martin

Cover by MC Productions and The Apple staged by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth

Photographed by Michael Cooper

Wax figures by Madame Tussauds

A splendid time is guaranteed for all

All rights for the United States, Canada, Mexico and the Philippines controlled by Maclen Music, Inc.

Song lyrics are included on the back cover

Manufactured by Capitol Records, Inc., a subsidiary of Capitol Industries-EMI, Inc., Hollywood and Vine Streets, Hollywood, Calif., U.S.A.

Factories: Scranton, PA, Los Angeles, Calif., Jacksonville, Ill.

© 1967 NEMS – NEMS Enterprises Limited

Capitol Marca Reg.

All rights reserved

Includes the Sgt. Pepper Cut-Outs

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:

“The Beatles were an English rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960.  With members John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr, they became widely regarded as the foremost and most influential act of the rock era.  Rooted in skiffle, beat, and 1950s rock and roll, the Beatles later experimented with several musical styles, ranging from pop ballads and Indian music to psychedelia and hard rock, often incorporating classical elements and unconventional recording techniques in innovative ways.  In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as the group's music grew in sophistication, led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, they came to be perceived as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the counterculture of the 1960s.

The Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960, with Stuart Sutcliffe initially serving as bass player.  The core of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison went through a succession of drummers, including Pete Best, before asking Starr to join them.  Manager Brian Epstein molded them into a professional act, and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their popularity in the United Kingdom after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962.  They acquired the nickname "the Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain the next year, and by early 1964 became international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market.  From 1965 onwards, the Beatles produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (commonly known as the White Album, 1968) and Abbey Road (1969).  After their break-up in 1970, they each enjoyed successful musical careers of varying lengths.  McCartney and Starr, the surviving members, remain musically active.  Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001.

The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with estimated sales of over 600 million records worldwide. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act.  According to the RIAA, the Beatles are also the best-selling music artists in the United States, with 178 million certified units.  In 2008, the group topped Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful "Hot 100" artists; as of 2016, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with twenty.  They have received ten Grammy Awards, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards.  The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four were inducted individually from 1994 to 2015.  They were also collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the twentieth century's 100 most influential people.

“Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles.  Released on 1 June 1967, it was an immediate commercial and critical success, spending 27 weeks at the top of the albums chart in the United Kingdom and 15 weeks at number one in the United States.  Time magazine declared it "a historic departure in the progress of music" and the New Statesman praised its elevation of pop to the level of fine art.  It won four Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honor.

In August 1966, the Beatles permanently retired from touring and began a three-month holiday from recording.  During a return flight to London in November, Paul McCartney had an idea for a song involving an Edwardian era military band that would eventually form the impetus of the Sgt. Pepper concept.  Sessions for what was to become the Beatles' eighth studio album began on 24 November in Abbey Road Studio Two with two compositions inspired from their youth, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", but after pressure from EMI, the songs were released as a double A-side single and were not included on the album.

In February 1967, after recording the "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" song, McCartney suggested that the Beatles should release an entire album that would represent a performance by the fictional Sgt. Pepper band.  This alter ego group would give them the freedom to experiment musically.  During the recording sessions, the band endeavored to improve upon the production quality of their prior releases.  Knowing they would not have to perform the tracks live, they adopted an experimental approach to composition, writing songs such as "With a Little Help from My Friends", "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life".  Producer George Martin and engineer Geoff Emerick's innovative recording of the album included the liberal application of sound shaping signal processing and the use of a 40-piece orchestra performing aleatoric crescendos.  Recording was completed on 21 April 1967.  The cover, depicting the band posing in front of a tableau of celebrities and historical figures, was designed by the British pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth.

Sgt. Pepper is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the use of extended form in popular music while continuing the artistic maturation seen on the Beatles' preceding releases.  It has been described as one of the first art rock LPs, aiding the development of progressive rock, and credited with marking the beginning of the Album Era.  An important work of British psychedelia, the album incorporates a range of stylistic influences, including vaudeville, circus, music hall, avant-garde, and Western and Indian classical music.  In 2003, the Library of Congress placed Sgt. Pepper in the National Recording Registry, honoring the work as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".  That same year, Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number one in its list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time".  As of 2011, it has sold more than 32 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling albums in history.  Professor Kevin J. Dettmar, writing in the Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature, described it as "the most important and influential rock and roll album ever recorded".

This record comes from an estate and I have no first-hand knowledge of the history of purchase or care or maintenance of this record. I am not a collector and I do not have the knowledge or training to assign a grade to this record.  The estate’s records that I sell are not rated based on sound, but only on visual qualities.  I have not played this record so the quality of the recording is not guaranteed.  However, for whatever it is worth, I knew the previous owner for 45 years and all throughout that time, the previous owner was quite meticulous in the care and maintenance of all of his possessions, particularly his music collection.  As an example, the turntable that was found in the owner’s possession following his death was a Thorens TD 240 turntable with a Grado 78C Stylus which, in my understanding, is top-of-the-line stereo equipment.  Please ask questions or express concerns before placing a bid or buying this item.

The vinyl, the record labels, and the record cover all visually appear to be in very good condition.  This gatefold album remains bound by the shrink wrap, but the shrink wrap was slit to allow the record to be removed.  Other than the slit to allow the record to be removed, the shrink wrap is intact and includes a sticker stating: “The Original Classic SMAS-2653, Printed in U.S.A.” 

I have described this record to the best of my ability.  Other than wiping this record with a soft dust-free cloth, I have not attempted to clean or otherwise maintain this record prior to sale.

The tracks on this record consist of the following:

Side 1

1.  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (1:59)

2.  With a Little Help From My Friends (2:46)

3.  Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (3:25)

4.  Getting Better (2:47)

5.  Fixing a Hole (2:33)

6.  She’s Leaving Home (3:24)

7.  Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite (2:36)

Side 2

1.  Within You Without You (5:03)

2. When I’m Sixty-Four (2:38)

3.  Lovely Rita (2:43)

4.  Good Morning Good Morning (2:35)

5.  Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (1:20)

6.  A Day in the Life (5:03)