It Was 20 Years Ago Today...

...Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play




Well, actually it was 40 years ago last week. I'm a little late, I know

Firstly, I just want to say that for an album that is widely considered the greatest rock'n roll album of all time, does anyone else think that there was almost a complete lack of acknowledgement of this? They better do something special in ten years time. I'm talking a big parade through London - that would be cool

I was going to write a huge blog (well, I'm kinda halfway through) where I sat here and went on and on about the album, and then gave my thoughts on each song... but I realised that wouldn't be any fun at all. And I can't be bothered

I guess that's why no one did anything special for it's 40th birthday

First off, I must be honest and say that this is not my favourite album from The Beatles. While I appreciate how much it revolutionised music recording, I still prefer the pop glory of Rubber Soul, the dysfunctional insanity of The Beatles (The White Album), the artistic first steps in Revolver (which really paved the way for Sgt. Pepper's), and the overall brilliance of Abbey Road.

For me, the album just is not consistent; it starts off strong with the title track - a surprisingly rockin' number from Paul, where the driving bass & drum tracks are somehow complimented by odd sounding guitar riffs. Total early punk. Then you get With a Little Help From My Friends, a very catchy song that John & Paul wrote speicifically for Ringo. And that's followed by Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - one of the most imaginative and brilliant songs The Beatles ever recorded. From the phase shifting on John's vocals, to the vast array of instrumentation, this song was ground breaking in every way. And Getting Better is not too bad - a great collaboration between Lennon/McCartney that really showed their contrasting styles and how well they matched each other.

But from there, the rest of the album just turns to a big pile of blah. Fixing a Hole, with it's droning harpsichord and pointless lyrics about fixing a hole is just the typical souless pop Paul McCartney makes on his own. She's Leaving Home, though filled with lush strings arrangements, doesn't quite grab the emotion it's reaching for. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! just sort of comes across as Lennon being terribly stoned and writing a song while reading a circus poster - oh wait, that is what happened! Bah... it's still much better than some of the other songs on the album.

Then we get George's only contribution. And by George, I mean George and a bunch of Indian musicians. None of the other Beatles felt the need to join in for the recording of Within You Without You. But then again, this was one of the few songs he actually played on the record, so I guess it was just a case of role-reversal. More on that later. This was to be the beginning of George's ill-feelings towards Paul, as the only other song he offered, A Northern Song, was completely ignored and that was to be a pattern of things to come. The song would later be used for the Yellow Submarine soundtrack. I'm not sure if it's just the way it was recorded, but it was probably a good decision by Paul.

Oh yeah, Within You Without You; it's long, the lyrics are awesome, and if you like Indian music, then you would like this song. If you like Indian music. I believe it was this song that caused Ravi Shankar to teach George how to actually play the Sitar.

Next up is possibly the worst song by The Beatles on any record! When I'm Sixty-Four is everything I dislike about Paul McCartney's music; stupid childish lyrics with no soul along a predictable melody, and the same boring music structure all the way through. I can' t find anything redeeming in that song - it sounds like it was written by a 10 year-old. Oh wait - he wrote in the 50's, so I wasn't far off.

Again, Paul really isn't the main one to blame there, as I'm sure if George and John had paid more attention to making this album and less on having pot smoking competitions with Bob Dylan then junk like that would not have made the cut.

In fact, I hate (yes, HATE) the song so much that it deserves another John Lennon quote:

"Paul completely. I would never even dream of writing a song like that. There
are some areas I never think about and that is one of them."

Thankfully, after hitting rock-bottom, the album picks up steam again with the delightful Lovely Rita - Paul's quirky lovesong to a "Meter Maid". Did I just say "delightful" and "quirky"? I think all this Paul McCartney sugar-flavoured bubblegum is starting to get to me.

Praise The Lord! Lennnon returns with Good Morning, Good Morning. Inspired by a cornflakes commercial, the song is not quite the lazy work that Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite! is. Actually, it's a pretty darn good song; the lyrics are great, the melodies in the pre-chorus and chorus are fantastic, and the horns really add great character. Ringo's drumming is quite interesting... as are the constant animal noises. Following is Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise), which rounds off the album nicely. This was the last song recorded for the album, and is almost like a quick, poppier version of the opening track.

And of course, we end things with the coup de' grace: A Day in the Life. Quite possibly the greatest rock'n roll song ever recorded - despite teenagers theses days thinking unintellilgent grunge songs like Smells Like Teen Spirit deserve that honour. I'm sorry, but in the context of music, no song comes close to capturing the same thing this song did, except maybe Stairway to Heaven a decade later. This is a genuine one-of-a-kind song and executed to perfection; if Lennon was going through the worst creative time of his life, then this song was his saving grace. I especially love the way it makes such an awkward change into Paul's segment, but yet finds it's way back to John with such power and, well, an almost natural musical progression. This was one of the last real collaborations between Lennon/McCartney, and an absolute testament to how much an amazing songwriting team they were.

So while choc-full of filler, the brilliant songs on this album make it totally listenable. And as much as I bash Paul McCartney, he really was the only major force on this album; George and John were growing so lazy from their constant use of marijuana at the time, that had very little to offer creatively. John managed to pull himself out of bed every so often to provide some of the most magical moments of the album, but George's interest just never seemed too high. maybe he was still bothered by Paul overdubbing his songs on Revolver, George's contributions to the album consist of 1 Indian-spiritual song, playing Indian musical instruments on a few songs, a couple of guitar tracks here and there and some tambourine for good measure. Of course he more than made up for that with the next album & singles, but I often feel that if he and John had pulled it together this album could have been even better.

But hey, it's still the number one album of all time
So it can't be that bad, can it ;-)