Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)

In November 1966 , returning to England from vacation, McCartney came up with the idea of ​​a song in which the whole idea of ​​the album will be displayed - each Beatle is a kind of actor playing a specific role in the "Sergeant Pepper Club of Lonely Hearts Club Orchestra", the whole album will be a kind of show: a concert in front of the audience. Inspiration came to Paul when their travel manager Mel Evans asked what the letters “S” and “P” mean on the cutlery on the plane, to which McCartney replied: salt (English Salt) and pepper (English Pepper) . This case contributed to the emergence of the concept of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band .

John Lennon attributed the idea of ​​the song to Paul McCartney , but officially the song belongs to the authorial duo Lennon / McCartney .

The song was recorded at Abby Road Studios with producer George Martin and engineer Jeff Emerick . The recording of the song began on February 1, 1967 , on March 6, after three sessions, the work was completed.

The sound of applause is superimposed on the final ovation, due to which the next one smoothly follows from the composition - “ With a Little Help from My Friends ”

Dubly the first (instrumental version) and ninth with dialogue is available in the anniversary re-release of the album.

• John Lennon - vocals , backing vocals , rhythm guitar
• Paul McCartney - vocals , bass
• George Harrison - backing vocals , guitar
• Ringo Starr - Drums

Unrecognized session musicians who played horn participated in the recording of the song.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) - reprise of the song “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ”differs from the original at a faster pace, lack of wind instruments and length (this is one of the shortest songs that hit The Beatles albums). The idea to put at the end of the album a reprise of the title track belonged to the band’s personal assistant Neil Aspinall, who thought that if there was a welcome song, then there should be a farewell. At the very beginning of the song, McCartney counts “One, two, three, four!” Between “Two” and “Three” one can clearly hear the word “Bye” spoken by Lennon ^[4] .

Record Song

Recording began on April 1, 1967 ^[5] .

Nine takes were recorded; an unused take of five was included in Anthology 2 in 1996, as well as take eight with dialogue in the anniversary re-release of the album.

Each Beatle played his usual instrument as a band - perhaps this is the only such case on the album. Paul McCartney sang the lead vocals, and George Martin joined them on the organ. Paul McCartney, John Lennon and George Harrison cast their votes on the third track of the ninth double, and maracas and a tambourine were added to the fourth track.

Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) was the only song on Sgt Pepper for which no intermediate mix was made; four tracks were filled with the original instruments, added overlays, then she was ready to note for the album.

During this session, nine mono mixes of the ninth take were made, the last of which was used on the album. Artificial double-tracking was applied to the vocals and a bit of crowd noise was added on March 6, 1967.

At the end of the song, the sound of applause, previously recorded by George Martin, is sounded, thanks to which the next - “ A Day in the Life ” smoothly follows directly from this composition.

Record Members

• John Lennon backing vocals
• Paul McCartney - vocals , bass
• George Harrison - backing vocals , guitar
• Ringo Starr - vocals , drums , maracas , tambourine