Sgt. Peppers Lonely Harts Club Band – 42th anniversary

There is another anniversary today, it is the 42th anniversary of the release of one of the most influential album ever released, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Harts Club Band. This was the Beatles 8th album but probably the most talked about and most controversial. It was ranked the greatest album ever by Rolling Stone in 2003 and is on almost every top ten list. The concept of the album was to create a fictitious band with music performed by each member’s alter ego. This explains the drastic change in the fab fours appearance between this album and their previous release. This album is a huge change from their previous R&B, pop, and rock based music that filled their previous 7 albums. By the time they started writing and recording the songs for Sgt. Peppers, all of the guys had radical changes in their musical interest. This is the first album where they used a wide variety of instruments including organs and electric pianos, strings, brass, and of course, George Harrison playing the sitar. Also, there are a several song that use effects like animal and vehicle noises. People also claim there are numerous drug references throughout the album, but the Beatles have always denied that. But keep in mind the era when this was released, I don’t doubt that there are references but they aren't very direct if there are any. Several of the songs were banned from radio and TV at that time, even though some of the reasons were very far fetched!

This album debuted at #1 on every chart and set records for the length of time on the charts! It still if very influential on bands today. Also it was very controversial, who can forget the “Paul is dead” theory! Also, did you know that the original name of the album was Dr. Peppers Lonely Harts Club Band. It wasn’t until the guys found out that there was a trademarked name of an American soft drink call Dr. Pepper whey they decided on Sgt. Peppers.