Music of the Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
She's Leaving Home
- 100% orchestral accompaniment (no rock instruments) - Orchestral arrangement by Mike Leander ( Martin was busy with other projects for a couple of days, and Paul couldn't wait) - Paul sings to the music (unstable, his voice range goes high and low) --> very asymmetrical - Song has irregular phrase lengths - The comments from the parents were contributed by John - Similar Paul songwriting feature as "I've Just Seen a Face" and "Eleanor Rigby"
"Truck Driver" Modulation
- A type of direct modulation that changes the key "upwards", like a trucker downshifting/revving up the engine for speed - Very common in commercial/pop music for the uplifting psychological effect) .
Fun Fact about Sgt. Pepper's
- Album ends with a joke: dog-whistle tone (15 kHz), meant to be audible only by younger fans and pets (not for older people) - There's a mish-mash of what sounds like gibberish that was pressed into the record's run-out groove, which is concentrical (doesn't end) - John wanted to put something that would "snap" the audience out of it, and force them to get up and stop the record player
Lovely Rita
- Another drug reference: "wanna take some tea with me" - Piano solo played by G. Martin
Pivot Chords
- Are chords that are common between the two keys and can act as a gateway from one to the other
A Day in the Life
- Banned from airplay because of "I'd love to turn you on" drug line (on the official banned list in the UK) - Two different songs (John/Paul) were spliced together - 40 orchestral players were present, they recorded the section four times --> the four takes were then mixed together onto a single track - Final chord was played by Paul, John, Mal, Ringo on three grand pianos and George Martin on harmonium - Geoff Emerick "rode" the control room faders to capture as much of the sound as possible, then used audio compression to boost the signal up - John played his voice to the echo which was recorded live --> the echo was fed back to John's headphones - Paul is on piano - George is on maracas
What event was Sgt. Pepper's compared to in terms of unifying the West?
- Congress of Vienna
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Album Cover
- Cost £3000 pounds to make - Designed by Peter Black
What does John say at the end of the second coda in Strawberry Fields Forever?
- Cranberry Sauce
Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane (Released as a Double A-Side)
- Earliest songs recorded in the Sgt. Pepper's sessions - Released upon pressure from EMI in February 1967 - These tracks were NOT included on the finished album - Didn't make it to #1
Album Cover: Some Celebrities Included
- Edgar Allen Poe --> influenced John - Karlheinz Stockahusen --> inspired Paul's taste in music - Fun Fact: There are 3 Shirley Temples on the cover
How did Ringo get a deeper, more "boomy" drum sound on Strawberry Fields Forever?
- Had slack-tuned drum skins - He dampened the drums with towels/sweaters
How did John feel about the Sgt. Pepper's album?
- He felt that his songs were almost "done to order" - He was reportedly dissatisfied with the arrangements, and dismissive of some (admittedly great) songs, though he softened his stance later (Playboy interview, 1980)
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
- Inspired by a drawing done by (little) Julian -Iconic psychedelic/experimental track - Surreal, nursery rhyme lyrics (almost Lewis Carroll-like) --> becomes a new John trademark (see "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!") - Double tracked vocals (John) - Very active McCartney bass line - George plays tamboura at the end of the verses --> notice the tamboura drone - Guitar is fed through leslie cabinet (pre-chorus) - Lowrey Organ (intro melody)
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
- Inspired by a vintage circus poster John found in an antique shop - Tape splicing and aleatoric techniques (Hello John Cage!) to create the psychedelic circus part --> John said he wanted to "smell the sawdust on the floor" Henry the Horse was NOT a secret code for heroin, despite what people said. Notice the beautiful strangeness of the lyrics, most of them are simply lifted/rearranged from the original poster with very few changes.
Good Morning Good Morning
- Inspired by breakfast cereal commercial - Shifting meters throughout - Notice the sequence of barnyard animals at the end (noise/collage) - Chicken clucking leads into the guitar intro in the reprise of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Strawberry Fields Forever: Early Version
- John worked on the demo for "Strawberry Fields Forever" in September of 1966 (while in Spain on the set of Richard Lester's movie, How I Won the War) - Earliest version was acoustic guitar driven - Melancholy song refers to an orphanage (with extensive gardens) where John and Paul would hangout when skipping class - The first studio version introduces the Mellotron, a primitive sampler, on which pressing a key results in a short playback of a single pre-recorded sound (in this case it was a flute sound) - George is also playing the slide guitars
When/why did Ringo learn to play chess?
- Learned how to play chess during the recording sessions because he was so bored
Album Cover: Celebrities Not Included
- Leo Gorcey - Gandhi - Jesus Christ - Adolf Hitler - Timothy Carey
What made Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds musically adventurous?
- Lots of Modulations: notice the meter modulation --> 3 beats in the verse = 2 beats in the chorus - Harmonies: verse, pre-chorus, and chorus are in three different keys - Meter Changes: verse/pre-chours are in triple meter and the chorus is in four
What jokes were included in Penny Lane?
- Musical Joke: "Banker sitting" accompanied by a very low contrabass (double bass) note - Dirty joke: "four of fish and finger pie"
What was Paul's first truly psychedelic piece?
- Penny Lane
Fixing a Hole
- Psychedelic elements - harpsichord and gnarly guitar solo/fills - Solo done by George
How long did it take to record Strawberry Fields Forever?
- Recording the song took over 55 hrs of studio time
Penny Lane
- Refers to a childhood place (together with filthy Liverpool jokes) - Complex harmonic structure, use of pivot chords to modulate between different keys for verse and chorus (and back) - Very lavish orchestration, including a famously different piccolo trumpet solo performed by David Manson - Severely processed/distorted piano sound, overdubbed several times and played back through - Feedback loop at the end of the song - Low bass note at "bankers sitting down" - Before the very last chorus repeat, Paul employs a so-called "truck driver" modulation
When was Sgt. Pepper's released?
- Released June 1, 1967 (about a year to release) - Their first album to be released simultaneously all over the world
Who is Billy Shears?
- Ringo Starr
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Side 1
- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (P) - With a Little Help from My Friends (P) - Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds (J) - Getting Better (P) - Fixing a Hole (P) - She's Leaving Home (P) - Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! (J)
Facts about the Sgt. Pepper's album
- Starts as a live performance - Incredibly the most expensive album to make --> production cost about £25,000 - Sgt. Pepper was Paul's brainchild - Marks the beginning of Paul's creative dominance in the band - Sgt. Pepper's recording sessions lasted from November 1966 - April 1967 - John was also deeply into acid at the time of the sessions, kind of withdrawn, non-combative --> so he let Paul have his way
Strawberry Fields Forever: Final Version
- Starts with an intro and leads straight into the chorus - The opening is taken from the first studio version with the Mellotron and slide guitar - The second part was a later orchestration by Martin (on John's request) and included cellos, brass instruments, and a Swarmandel (indian zither), in addition to the band - Backwards tape on the cymbal on verses 2 and 3 (swooshing sound) - Amazing ending: first coda fades out, then you get a second coda of seemingly unrelated jamming (with some backwards tape effects)
What were Paul's two main styles that were represented in the song pair (Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help from My Friends)?
- The Rocker - The Broadway tune
How was the final version of Strawberry Fields Forever produced?
- The final version was produced by splicing together two different takes
Sgt. Pepper's Firsts
- The first Beatles album without an altered tracklist bewteen the US and UK version - Charted: #1 for 22 weeks in the UK and 15 weeks in the US - One of first "concept" albums --> loose concept of a fictitious band performing a concert - First record liner that was not plain white - First record without "banding" (continuously running tracks) --> the tracks on the LP are NOT separated by extended silences, giving the impression of a single performance
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
- The reprise ends with clapping which leads into "A Day In The Life"
Why did Martin and Emerick have to fix the two takes that were spliced together in Strawberry Fields Forever?
- The two takes were recorded several days apart and were in different keys and tempos
In the "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! what was the process of creating the circus interlude and the circus music outro part?
- They cut up a bunch of organ and calliope tape recordings in random places, through the pieces in the air, pieced it back together, and then had it played backwards - It was a random/aleatoric process, like in some contemporary avant-garde music
How did Martin and Emerick fix the two takes from Strawberry Fields Forever?
- They fixed it by speeding up one tape and slowing down the other (only because the pitch and speed were at proportional distances)
How did they link the two songs together for A Day In The Life?
- They originally recorded 24 measures of empty space at the 3rd verse - Paul's idea, orchestrated by Martin and conducted by both - Created an orchestral crescendo and kept time with Mal counting out measure numbers --> they set an alarm clock to mark the end of the section - It was arranged by George Martin so that each player was free to play at their own pace from the lowest note they had to the highest note that would fit into an E Major chord (the first chord of Paul's section)
Who wrote the trumpet solo in Penny Lane?
- This famously difficult solo was written by Paul and transcribed by George Martin
How was the circus interlude and the circus music outro part in the "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! created?
- Through tape splicing
How long did it take to record A Day In The Life?
- Total amount of recording time was 34 hours
Getting Better
- Tribute to Jimmie Nicol: the title was a Nicol saying - Optimistic/sarcastic mix of lyrics (Paul/John) --> the third verse explicitly refers to John's abusive history - "Trademark" piano and bass line by Paul, very active/melodic Tamboura again for sustained effect on third verse
Sgt. Pepper's, Lonely Hearts Club Band: Side 2
- Within You, Without You (G) - When I'm Sixty-Four (P) - Lovely Rita (P) - Good Morning Good Morning (J) - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) (P) - A Day in the Life (J/P)
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band/With a Little Help from My Friends
- Written by Paul - "Fake live show" concept—audience noise at the beginning, tuning, cheering, acting as an MC of their own album (introducing "Billy Shears"): it's an experience as much as a record - "With a Little Help" jokingly refers to Ringo's singing troubles; lampooning his own limited singing range - Obvious drug reference ("I get high with a little help from my friends"), also juvenile penis joke - Paul plays plays guitar solo on "Sgt. Pepper" - George only sings back-up on that track (an early sign of George's alienation - Drums and piano/guitar were done first and then the rest was overdubbed on top
When I'm Sixty-Four
- Written for his dad's 64th birthday - Arrangement by Martin (clarinet trio), emphasizes Paul's "music hall" style at its finest
Within You, Without You
- Written, sung, and recorded by George without any of the other band members -Uncredited Indian session musicians - The most noticeable instruments are the dilruba (bowed sitar), tamboura (was overdubbed), and tabla - Notice the deep, detailed recorded tabla sound - George also plays a nice sitar solo - Backwards cello/guitar - Martin wrote a string arrangement imitating Indian instruments - George felt the song was too serious and asked Martin to add the laughter at the end
What two songs were recorded without the three other band members present?
- Yesterday done by Paul - Within You, Without You done by George