It Was Forty Years Ago Today....

John Lennon wielding his Epiphone Casino during the sessions for "Pepper". Also a favored weapon of choice for Paul and George.

Forty years ago today The Beatles unveiled their "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" LP. A mere three days later Jimi Hendrix performed the title track as part of his set at the Saville Theatre (owned by Beatle manager Brian Epstein) with McCartney and Harrison in attendance, and the "summer of love" spread throughout swinging London like wildfire.

Now retired from touring, the lads spent what was then an inordinate amount of time in the studio laboring on "Pepper"- six months. The first fruits of the sessions saw the light of day with the release of the "Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane" double A sided single that February. Considered to be one of the lads' greatest artistic achievements to date, it was ironically the first Beatle single since "Love Me Do" to not reach number one in Britain (infamously held to the number two position by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me"). The sea change that hard started with the psychedelic stylings of "Revolver" continued with the release of the single. While they had no doubt lost some fans with the increasingly experimental nature of these recordings, they gained a whole new demographic of supporters. Mainly the then burgeoning intellectual college set. When "Sgt. Pepper" was released it became the Bible for this generation of self styled beatniks and flower children, it's hazy, mellow tones heard throughout every campus and dorm room in the Western hemisphere. But it was the cultural base of swinging London where "Pepper's" impact was felt most immediately, achieving mythic status within the scenes of emerging musicians, artists, writers and actors within days of it's release.

"Pepper" was very much McCartney's baby. It was he who was most taken by Brian Wilson's incredible masterpiece "Pet Sounds" (which was originally inspired by The Beatles' own "Rubber Soul" LP) and he sought to create an album equal if not greater to "Pet Sounds" in terms of artistic innovation and excellence. The title itself was inspired by the increasingly madcap band names coming out of the San Francisco psychedelic scene, and it was reportedly Beatle assistant and long time confidante Neil Aspinall's idea for the members of the group to become the characters of "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", although this concept was only taken so far. Nonetheless, the thread that did unite the songs of "Pepper" was the imaginative way in which they were recorded. Guitars were to sound like pianos, pianos to sound like guitars, and it's this spirit of experimentation that "Sgt. Pepper" is best known for. McCartney contributed the title track, the bulk of "With A Little Help From My Friends", "Getting Better", "Fixing A Hole", "When I'm Sixty Four", the bulk of "She's Leaving Home" and "Lovely Rita". Lennon answered with "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", "Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite", "Good Morning, Good Morning" and the bulk of "A Day In The Life". Harrison contributed the Indian flavored "Within You Without You" and was the only Beatle to appear on the track.

Was it the greatest album in rock history? I for one don't even think it was The Beatles' best album, but what certainly can't be denied is "Pepper's" impact. To this day the very term "Sgt. Pepper" is synonymous with ambitious innovation and artistic excellence within the recording studio and it was the right album for the times. As influential as The Beatles were culturally, they were not immune to influence themselves, something that John Lennon once remarked on saying, "Whatever wind was blowing at the time moved The Beatles too. I'm not saying we weren't flags on top of the ship, but the whole boat was moving." They tapped into the freewheeling, altruistic sentiments of 1967 swinging London (and psychedelic San Francisco) and the end result was that "Pepper" helped popularize these very sentiments around the world, during that mythic time that will forever be known as "the summer of love". "Pepper" was at once a portrait of and soundtrack for those times....

The infamous album cover was based on a concept of McCartney's. It was designed by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth in collaboration with the group. The actual photograph was taken by Michael Cooper. Lennon famously wanted cardboard stand-ups of Jesus and Hitler included. Neither made the final cut, but a complete list of all those who did can be viewed here.

One figure that did make the cover was Bob Dylan. At this time I'd like to wish a happy belated birthday to the former Robert Zimmerman who turned 66 last week. Dylan's "going electric" was arguably the single most revolutionary moment in rock history, the widespread reverberations still being felt today, especially in the indie rock underground. Such a thing would probably not even exist if not for Mr. Dylan's decision to don a Fender all those years ago. It was that fateful move, perhaps more than any other, that sparked the beginning of the so-called "rock era". At that very moment rock and roll officially grew up and became a "serious" art form as Dylan combined his sometimes surreal, sometimes political, always poetic lyrical skills with the electric spirit of rock and roll and all it's splendid, transcendent beauty.

Mr. Dylan is still travelling the world on his Never Ending Tour and as some of you may have heard by now he has recently started playing guitar again after a couple years of manning the keys onstage. What's perhaps most exciting about Dylan at this stage of the game is that he remains as vital and willfully unpredictable now, as both a performer and recording artist, as he was in his sixties heyday. Last year's excellent "Modern Times" LP is proof enough of that. Where would we all be without you Robert Zimmerman? It's hard to even fathom an answer to such a question. So here's to the man I like to refer to as His Bobness! And remember kids, "he who isn't busy being born is busy dying.".