I had long since come to the feeling that SPLHCB wasn’t actually THAT good. But most have lain dormant at the back of the mind. Its songs are burned into my memory though – a few of them still get played on the radio. Hunting out mod clobber at High Street Kensington market, and fossicking for obscure ‘60s rare cuts - the Beatles became a bit Radio 2, a bit mainstream, for this second-wave mod snob.Īnd so I haven’t listened to SPLHCB for probably 30 years. Photo: WikicommonsĪs the second wave of mod hit the UK, I became a bit of 1960s obsessive. At this stage, I’m not sure how it will play out, but I’m excited to see.The Beatles rocking the garish military look in 1967. In a way, it’s refreshing that the Top 10 is unpredictable. That’s just how the voting worked this time around. It’s not to take away any of its greatness. The album so often regarded as the Greatest Of All Time has been knocked off its perch. This time I feel emotional again, but for different reasons. Last time around, it was the last thing I heard on this list and I felt emotional as a major journey had come to an end. A sound that would annoy dogs, according to Lennon. It ends the record, following the reprise of the title track, with the infamous piano chord that would go beyond the range of human hearing. Bridging the two parts is a massive orchestral crescendo known as “The Dream Sequence.” The song, one of the band’s most harrowing, serves as a wake up call following the band-within-a-band concept, bringing us back to reality. McCartney would provide the songwriting and vocals in the middle eight of the song, while Lennon wrote and sang the rest of the song. Pepper’s’ ends with my favourite Beatles song, ‘A Day In The Life.’ It’s a perfect example of Lennon and McCartney’s different styles coming together in one song. ![]() What a gift for him from Lennon and McCartney. ‘When I’m Sixty Four’ was one of the McCartney songs that Lennon would dismissively refer to as “Granny Music.” Of course, Ringo gets his usual one song, this time in the form of ‘With A Little Help From My Friends,’ one of his best vocal performances with the band. ![]() ![]() ‘She’s Leaving Home’ omits guitar and drums, featuring only strings and harp. An Indian-inspired song led by sitar, Harrison had previously spent 3 months in India studying the instrument. ‘Within You Without You,’ the only George Harrison track on the record, is indicative of where he was spiritually and musically at the time. It was based on an 1843 circus poster that he found in an antique shop. Kite!’ is one of the most crazy songs of all time by a successful pop group. Another Lennon track, ‘Being For The Benefit Of Mr. McCartney wrote more than half the songs on the album, but Lennon did give us one of his later-era Beatles signature songs, ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.’ Rumoured to be about LSD, Lennon always maintained it was based on a drawing that Julian had done. Pepper’s’ is the sound of a band doing what the hell they want, and succeeding. They dictated the terms and created a body of work unlike anything they had done before or after. As the biggest band in the world, The Beatles had a limitless recording budget and no deadline. I had previously mentioned that Brian Wilson was inspired to make The Beach Boys’ seminal album, ‘Pet Sounds’ in response to The Beatles’ ‘Rubber Soul,’ well The Beatles made ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Band was an outlet for the band to experiment with sounds that weren’t necessarily what The Beatles were known for. Paul McCartney conceived of a record by a fictional Edwardian-era military band. Following their permanent retirement from touring and live performance, The Beatles focussed their energy on recording. I suspected it might not retain the #1 spot the way things had been going, but did not expect this. The two-time #1 record on Rolling Stone’s 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time has been reduced to #24. ![]() The biggest drop of the list, not to be surpassed.
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