The Beatles: Sgt. Peppers

The Beatles had always been seen as a British boy band that hit it big in the United States. In 1966, they performed their last tour. It was as if the fans were starting to lose interest in them because they were not coming around as much. However, in 1967 they released Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The Beatles had no idea that this album would be the turning point of their careers. It is, by far, the most controversial album. “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band comes to us accompanied by a thirty-five-year legacy of critical and fanzine commentary of over determined interpretations, of our own memories, of references, allusions, and appropriations in mass media” (Womack 129). Sgt. Pepper definitely changed music by pushing the limits. “Sgt. Pepper not only changed pop music, but transformed how we perceived that music, and in a very little sense, how we perceived ourselves” (Womack 130). The Beatles wanted others to perceive them in a new way by changing their notorious look. “They were presented with a crisis of identity, which the Beatles tried to resolve on Sgt. Pepper through new “readings” of their musical influences, newly developed philosophical ideals, the developing drug culture, and the world they wanted to change” (Womack 131). It was the first concept album, which no one had ever heard anything like it before. Since people at this time where into rebelling, anything out of the norm seemed to fascinate them. Through their timing of the release, the album cover, and the content of the album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was, and still is, one of the most talked about albums with its purpose to change how people think.

When the Beatles first hit the United States, they were not that popular. It was not until the British Invasion that they were recognized for their talent. They were the leaders of the Invasion and had the greatest impact on the direction of music going forward. “The early style of the Beatles represented an amalgam of the range of largely black styles they were interested in emulating (soul, Motown, pop ballad, and rock �n’ roll)” (Moore 13). Music had gone from the delta blues, to Elvis style of rock, to the British Invasion with pop-rock. It was time for a change. Society was in turmoil with all the tragic events that seemed to never end, with Kennedy’s assassination to the Vietnam War. “The Beatles themselves have helped to perpetuate the idea that the summer of 1976 was a unique moment of social unity” (Womack 130). It was time for a more reflective, soul searching, and revolutionary music, and that is exactly what Sgt. Pepper’s is about. The Beatles tested their limits with this album. They wanted people to see them in a new way. “Sgt. Pepper was an attempt to appease McCartney’s and Lennon’s rock sensibilities, but it was also an effort to reconcile social conflicts and unite Beatles and fans in the spectacle while practically distancing them” (Womack 135). Even though this album was about the Beatles uniting and getting people to overlook what was going around them in the world, they, themselves, grew away from their fans. Their fans were not use to this “new look.” However, their psychedelic mood of this album intrigued their fans. This was a time when people were using LSD and marijuana, and many of the songs on the album are known to reference drugs. People during this time were in turmoil, they were confused, and were extremely rebellious. Sgt. Pepper’s quest to unite the society could not have come at a better time.

“’I thought it would be nice to lose our identities, to submerge ourselves in the persona of a fake group. We would make up all the culture around it and collect all our heroes in one place,” says McCartney” (Womack 135). The Beatles did not want to be seen as boys anymore with the “mop top” hair and matching outfits. They were now men and they wanted to be looked as that way. Sgt. Pepper’s album expressed their wanting to change their former image, and allowed them to do so. “Peter Blake’s Sgt. Pepper cover is one of the best known works that pop art ever produced” (Riley 212). The cover was full of detail, images and a message. The Beatles were saying goodbye to their old look. “Their costumes are Victorian band uniforms; the host of immortals they stand with are posing at a grave. The memorial they are all attending is for the Beatles’ former image” (Riley 212). The album has many notorious figures, such as Edgar Allan Poe, Aldous Huxley, Lenny Brue, Mae West, and many more. These people influenced the Beatles and were a part of events that were a huge part of history. They Beatles added these influential people in their album with hopes to have as large as an impact as those surrounding them.