| IT WAS 60 YEARS
AGO TODAY
Like me you probably noticed the fuss about the
recent 40th anniversary of the release of The Beatles’ Sergeant
Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band; an iconic record voted as the greatest
album ever made by Rolling Stone magazine & many others, holding
that reputation amongst the general public as well, almost like
shared folkloric musical wisdom. To be honest, I listened to it
so much as a young Beatlemaniac that I can’t actually remember
the last time I listened to it in it’s entirety in recent
years, certainly not in this century. I’ve simply taken that
sentimental journey too many times. So I thought that I should get
it out & play it to see how it sounds to 21st century ears.
Of course at the time anticipation & curiosity
were on a real high as to what the album was going to sound like,
they no longer played live, it was the longest wait for a new Beatle
record, perhaps due to the previously unheard of 3 months it took
to record, but we had a few clues that it was definitely going to
be different. The photos that had appeared in the press showed them
as no longer the 4 lovable moptops; instead facial hair, granny
glasses & psychedelic high- fashion retro- finery were their
style. We had perhaps their greatest single, apparently recorded
at the same sessions as the album, the first to not get to Number
One (thanks to Englebert Humperdink!), the double A- side single,
“Strawberry Fields Forever”, John’s worthy psychedelic
successor to “Tomorrow Never Knows” that sounded like
nothing that they or anyone else had ever done before & Penny
Lane, another nostalgic McCartney pop ballad but this time dominated
by a tapestry of keyboards & trumpet that lifted it to another
level but sounded as if he were the only member of the band on it
.A real split single. And if you lived in Melbourne you also got
to hear The Twilights playing songs from the album live weeks before
it’s local release, being signed to EMI the band had access
to a pre- release copy of the album. So we were primed for it.
And then when we finally got our hands on the
vinyl record itself, the first thing that impressed was the unprecedented
lavish quality gatefold sleeve, the front cover Peter Blake collage
of famous faces, (In pre- internet days a test of cool was how many
you could identify), the lyrics for the first time on any record
on the back cover, although superfluous for a band that were renowned
for their enunciation & the relatively simple words of the songs
themselves, some pretty silly cardboard cutouts inside ,whilst the
inner sleeve was a washed- out psychedelic paper bag that housed
the disc itself .Quite a spectacular package.
So 40 years later how does the album sound?
Well, in spite of being recorded on 4 track tape,
a format that these days would be scoffed at by your average home
recorder, it does sound remarkably clear & vivid, especially
compared to other recordings of the era .The technical innovations
of multi- tracking, reverberation, backwards tape, wah- wah, fuzz,
direct- input bass, close- miked drums, vari- speed, flanging, phasing
& sound effects are all abundantly on show, so much so that
you hunger for a pure vocal or instrumental sound, all that‘s
missing is the Abbey Road Studios’ kitchen sink! Whatever
drug the band were on at the time they were certainly drunk on technology.
Instrumentally, various keyboards, organ, piano, harpsichord &
the newly invented mellotron dominate; as well as strings, brass,
woodwinds & orchestra, so much so that that the guitar- based
sound of the original foursome is only occasionally glimpsed, little
wonder that George apparently was so often absent, he had nothing
to do!
The album starts promisingly with heavily Hendrix-
influenced guitar, Jimi thought so too including it in his stage
show at the time, but then Paul’s music- hall persona starts
singing about a band who played in 1947! Then a real surprise; Ringo
whose tracks had previously been buried in the middle or end of
albums takes centre stage as Billy Shears on “With a Little
Help From My Friends”, but thanks to the vocal- effects it
sounds strangely deadpan, hollow & friendless, rather than his
previous Thomas The Tank Engine charm. Then “ Lucy In The
Sky With Diamonds” effects- laden lugubriousness moves to
centre stage, but all the twinkle & glitter renders it more
a Lewis Carroll children’s cartoon than the effects of the
drug hinted at in it’s title. Then Paul takes over the side
with 2 throwaway mid- tempo chugs & then the syrupy sentimental
“She’s Leaving Home” before John closes the side
with “Being For The Benefit Of Mr Kite” where the lyrical
inspiration of an old circus poster makes him sound like he’s
capitulated to Paul’s love of nostalgic novelty, although
the tape- looped backing, pre- dating sampling by a couple of decades
still sounds remarkable innovative.
Side 2 starts with George’s entrancing “Within
Without You “ that still stands as the best meld of traditional
Indian music & pop ever, the lyrical wisdom from such a young
man astounding, even if does sound like it comes from a different
album altogether. Then Paul returns with his addiction to ditties
& pub singalongs evident on the twee “When I’m 64”(what
24- year- old fantasizes about being 40 years older?) & one
of his weakest Beatle era off- the- cuff limericks “Lovely
Rita” before John’s guitar heavy “Good Morning
Good Morning” intones the same drug- induced indolence as
his “I’m Only Sleeping” & the future “I’m
So Tired” but is unfortunately marred by the heavy- handed
clichéd use of sound effects, nowhere near as effective as
Brian Wilson’s subtle use on The Beach Boys’ “Pet
Sounds” album released earlier in the year. And just when
we’d forgotten all about the supposed Sergeant Peppers “concept”
altogether, it’s reprised for 2 minutes before the thrilling
& strangely chilling “A Day In The Life “ the only
track on the album featuring Paul & John’s strengths together
in one epic song.
So, the greatest album ever made? No way, not
even The Beatles’ greatest album, The White Album or Abbey
Road can lay claim to that, but a simply a timepiece that has not
stood the test of time.
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