Scary how this site was such a big part of my life for so long and even scarier how many of you are ...
Scary how this site was such a big part of my life for so long and even scarier how many of you are still here and still think Ciao is full of real people. I'm off to bigger and better pastures.
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I have many Beatles albums in the house and "Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band" is one that holds many fond memories. When I was younger, my parents had an eight track cassette in the car, and this was one of the albums that was played a lot, during our family holidays and days out.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released in 1967, and the cover of the album is instantly recognisable. The four members of The Beatles are dressed in band costume, standing behind a large drum with the title of the album written on it. Alongside and behind the band stand waxworks of many famous people, including The Beatles themselves and Diana Dors. The artwork for this cost $100,00 which back in 1967, was an incredible amount of money. However, this was the first album in history to contain the lyrics to the songs within its packaging.
The difference between this and other Beatle’s albums, is on this offering the band were not “The Beatles”, but were “Sergeant Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” and the band is almost a tribute show.
The album is available for £16.99 from HMV or for only £8.99 from CD Wow!
The album begins by the sound of an orchestra or band, tuning up their instruments, and in the background the sounds of people’s voices can be heard. The album then opens with “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Heart’s Club Band” which tells the story of the Band, and introduces all of the members to the audience. The track is accompanied by the sound of audiences laughing and shouting.
“With
a little help from my friends” carries straight on from the first track with no break. It begins with the whole group singing “Billy Shears” followed by drums and guitars. The song explains that anything is possible if you have friends and a lot of the song consists of Ringo singing a question and the rest of the group replying with the answer or the other way round. A feel good track, showing that if friends play an important part in your life, anything is possible.
I’m sure everyone has heard the rumours about “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” supposedly representing the drug LSD. The lyrics certainly seem to substantiate the rumours, seeming to describe the results of a hallucination. However, there is evidence to suggest that the track was actually written, after John’s son Julian drew a picture. The song starts of with an almost sitar like instrument and sounds quite Eastern. John sings this track, and after the first verse, the tempo quickens, with the introduction of the drums and guitars.
“Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies”
“Getting Better” starts with the urgent playing of guitar, before the introduction of crashing drums, interspersed with some great cymbal playing. A happy song, which tells of a bad period in a life, that has now been overcome. This is probably my least favourite track on the album, as the song seems to be a bit of a mish mash, with practically no tune.
“Fixin a Hole” is a catchy track and has an oriental feel at the beginning, before the drums and the echoing guitars make their appearance. The song is sung by Paul McCartney and although slightly nonsensical, does give the clear message of contentment.
“She’s leaving home” tells the story of a mother and father who wake one morning to discover that their daughter has left home. Whenever I hear the words “Daddy our baby’s gone” it always sends a shiver through my body, despite having heard this song countless times throughout my life. The song starts off very quietly with Paul’s voice sounding quite melancholy, and a harp in the background. The harp is the only instrument played, through the entirety of the track, which only adds to the sad, distressing feel to the song. “Standing alone at the top of the stairs She breaks down and cries to her husband Daddy our baby's gone”
“A Day in the Life” is a song about a typical day in the life of many people. After the first part of the song, which is backed by a wonderful orchestral sound, and sung by John the mood changes completely, and the second half sounds as though they’ve all had a joint, before carrying on. There is a huge crash and the music changes completely. It is almost as if the song is in two halves, each written by different people, although it somehow all comes together and actually works. This is a great track and I have to say my favourite on the album. It begins with just the piano for accompaniment before the introduction of the guitars and drums.
“Woke up, fell out of bed Dragged a comb across my head”
“When I’m sixty four” is a thought provoking song, asking if when we all get old and grey, will our partners still feel the same way about us as they did when the relationship first started. The beginning of the song starts with clarinets and sounds like a children’s show theme tune with Paul McCartney taking the lead vocals. The track also has a music hall feel about it, and one can quite imagine this being sung along to in the Thirties! It’s strange to think that when this track was written and sung by Mr. McCartney, that he was then a fresh faced love god. Now he is approaching that 64 milestone in his life, and is just about to have his first baby with his wife, Heather Mills.
“I could be handy, mending a fuse When your lights have gone.”
“Lovely Rita” is a nonsensical song about a traffic warden and a man’s attempts to woo her. For it’s day, I would imagine that the song was quite daring, in that it described a fumbled attempt at foreplay. It’s a catchy, quirky track, that will leave you singing along. It starts of with John singing “aaahh” and then kicks in with the drums and guitars.
There are so many different style of song on the album. “For the Benefit of Mr. Kite” focuses on an entertainer and a circus type act, and has a carnival air about it. Close your eyes and you are transported to “The Big Top” and half expect clowns on unicycles to be in the room when you open them. The cymbals are played but deadened in the track, whereas “Within you Without You” has George Harrison as the lead vocalist and has a very Eastern feel to it and uses a sitar as the main instrument.
From the quirky, to the downright wacky, to the corny, this album has stood the test of time and still sells well today, probably due to the huge difference in the tracks contained on it. My original copy was on vinyl, then tape and now on CD. I never get bored with listening to it and The Beatles sound as fresh today, as they did all those years ago.
The Beatles at their very best.
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BeforeSgt. Pepper's, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all ... more
changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which rema...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
BeforeSgt. Pepper's, no one seriously thought of rock music as actual art. That all ... more
changed in 1967, though, when John, Paul, George and Ringo (with "A Little Help" from their friend, producer George Martin) created an undeniable work of art which rema...
Postage & Packaging: £1.21 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Oct 6th, 2003
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