According to Rolling Stone, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is
the most important rock & roll album ever made." In honor of the
40th anniversary of the album's release Soundcheck looks at its legacy on
May 31.
Is "Sgt. Pepper" overrated or deserving of its reputation? Find out what two prominent critics think. Anthony DeCurtis, contributing editor at Rolling Stone magazine; Allan Kozinn, classical music critic of the New York Times; and Tim Page, chief classical music critic, Washington Post give us their views.
Read the critic's takes here
Side One
1. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" - 2:04
2. "With a Little Help from My Friends" (mistitled on album label
as "A Little Help from My Friends" on early pressings) - 2:46
3. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" - 3:30)
4. "Getting Better" - 2:49
5. "Fixing a Hole" - 2:38
6. "She's Leaving Home" - 3:37
7. "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" - 2:39
Side Two
1. "Within You Without You" (Harrison) - 5:07
2. "When I'm Sixty-Four" - 2:37
3. "Lovely Rita" - 2:44
4. "Good Morning Good Morning" - 2:43
5. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" - 1:20
6. "A Day in the Life" - 5:33
A Pepper TimelineSgt. PepperÂ’s was conceived in a span of 700 hours over five months. The Beatles began recording on Dec. 6, 1966, and finished the album on April 21, 1967. |
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| November 1966 | On a plane from Kenya to London, Paul McCartney came up with the idea of an album by the Beatles in disguise, an alter-ego group that he subsequently dubbed Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. | |
| December 6, 1966 | The Beatles begin recording Sgt. Pepper's at Abbey Road Studios with two takes of McCartney's "When I'm Sixty-Four." | |
| June 1, 1967 | Sgt. Pepper's is released in the UK. It is released in the U.S. a day later. The album goes on to spend 15 weeks at #1 on the Billboard 200 Chart and 27 weeks at #1 on the UK Albums Chart. | |
| 1967 | Sgt. Pepper's won four Grammy Awards, including Album of the Year and Best Album Cover. | |
| Aug 27, 1967 | Long-time Beatles manager and mentor Brian Epstein dies unexpectedly of an accidental drug overdose. | |
| September 1, 1967 | The Beatles announce they are managing themselves from now on and forming their own company, Apple. | |
| 1977 | A musical film, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, is released starring Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees. The all-star supporting cast includes George Burns and Steve Martin. View the trailer. | |
| June 1, 1987 | Worldwide reissue on CD. | |
| 1988 | The Beatles are inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. | |
| 1988 | British magazine New Musical Express released a tribute album called "Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father." It featured cover versions of all the Sgt. Pepper tracks by various artists including Michelle Shocked, Billy Bragg with Cara Tivey, and Sonic Youth. | |
| June 1, 2007 | The 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's. The BBC marks the occasion by organizing rock acts such as Oasis, The Killers and The Zutons to re-record the album. The complete re-recording is aired on BBC Radio 2 on June 2. | |
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