Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles - Research Paper Example

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band by the Beatles The Beatles was a band formed in the year1960 which consisted of four Liverpool boys called John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They started off small but soon had their own growing fan base especially after their first hit song “Love Me Do” that came out in the late 1962. It was only a matter of time before they became completely successful. The Beatles had been popular since their early years but it was after the release of their album Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band that they truly won over the hearts of the people with songs inspired by the current events of their time and the experimentation with the singing brought out by the psychedelic drugs and, of course, their own ever increasing talents. This was the band’s eight album that was released in 1967. By that time, the group had become quite frustrated with all that they did and all that was expected from them. According to McCartney, they “were fed up with being the Beatles” (Frontani 127). Despite their talent and newfound experience, they were still thought of as boys instead of men. Not being taken seriously annoyed them, they were “artists rather than just performers” and being asked to repeat the same type of performances in every concert was also not conducive for the learning of more skills (Frontani 127). It is because of this that Paul McCartney brought forward a proposal on which Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is based on. The idea was for the four men to invent fake identities, think of themselves as someone else and then write and sing songs as that fake individual. It is this work of theirs that has known to have sparked off the idea of a concept album even though there are still mixed views whether it is actually one or not. A concept album is basically one which has songs that follow a certain theme, there is a connection between them all, a telling of a story. According to Bill Martin, “Sergeant Pepper’s do not qualify according to this criterion (…) only a relative handful can truly be considered concept albums in the thematic sense” (Martin Jr. 41). However, it is also said that it “has been recognized almost universally as the first concept album” with “music, words, and visual art (…) all combined to convey a specific concept or program” (Letts 9 - 10) . Either way, it was this album that introduced the idea of a concept album into the minds of the people which continues to be followed by some of the singers today. A random thought that occurred during a flight led to the beginning of something new. The album cover itself had not only the four band members but also cardboard cutouts of around sixty well known personalities that the Beatles had been inspired by at various points of their lives. These included theorists such as Jung and Freud, actors like Marlon Brando. There were also certain writers such as Oscar Wilde and Edgar Allan Poe, and Indian gurus whom Harrison followed. They did not forget other musicians either; a figure of Bob Dylan can also be seen amongst the cutouts. The text in the packaging refers to the Beatles as gurus. This was, of course, Harrison’s request seeing that he was greatly influenced and inspired by Yogananda and other Indian yogis who had been introduced into his world by the musician Ravi Shankar with whom he had been taking lessons. All these people had had a certain impact on the Beatles which made them the way they were and gave a further insight to the thoughts of the four men and even an explanation to the lyrics that they penned, the songs they sung. The expenses of making this cover art were shockingly high compared to how cheaply it could have been done if it had been just a picture of the Beatles in their respective outfits. But this new piece was unique and diverse; it brought forward the idea that rock stars did not have to follow a particular pattern, they could do whatever they wished. The band consisted of four different identities and all of them thought differently, it just so happened to be that at times they were in great sync with each other which resulted in some really great songs. As stated earlier, the Indian yogis had an influence on Harrison and, in effect, on the rest of the band and, thus, their music. The four visited India where they learned the music particular to the country. Harrison, for one, focused on the sitar amongst other instruments. This newfound music was then weaved into some of the songs released by the Beatles. “Within You, Without You” is the one song which incorporates the most of the Indian culture. In a similar way, the band introduced many other types of instruments and ways which were new and unique in the world of music and which encouraged the other artists to let their creativity go lose and experiment as well. Musicians had been adding different animal sounds to their recordings but it was the Beatles who started using “real animal sounds” in their songs (Brumm). In this album, there are sounds added in the song “Good Morning, Good Morning”. It said that “the sources of the Beatles’ animal samples are as diverse as their musical functions” (Brumm). The Beatles are also quite well known for publically announcing their usage of drugs. These are toxic substances and so, of course, using these was frowned down upon. However, it was the use of psychedelic substances that allowed their minds to expand and reach places they could not possibly go to in normal circumstances. It is true that drugs are bad for your health but it is also true that they can be used for recreational purposes as well as was the case with many musicians including the Beatles. It allowed their creativity to go a step further and it is clearly shown in their works, particularly in this album. They were introduced to different kind of drugs in the early 1960s and released many songs with references to them. One of the songs of this album “With A Little Help From My Friends” that was written by McCartney and Lennon, and sung by Starr has a line where he sings about “get(ting) high” (The Beatles, With A Little Help From My Friends). Similarly, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” has become famous for having the initials of the drug LSD although McCartney and Lennon insisted to it being inspired by a drawing made by Lennon’s son in which he drew his friend called Lucy. Lewis Caroll’s most popular creation of Alice’s character influenced the lyrics as well. Despite their adamant statements of there being no talk of the drug in the song, the BBC banned it. “A Day in the Life” is another McCartney-Lennon song with seemingly innocent lyrics but the one where they say “I’d love to turn you on” which is thought to be referring to a drug (The Beatles, A Day in the Life). Again, this song was banned by the BBC because it was thought to encourage the use of drugs amongst the public. That was a time period when the youth was becoming more and more open to the idea of taking drugs which was not approved off by the government and songs like these only seemed to spur these people on. The idea was that if a band as famous as the Beatles was taking drugs and producing such great work, then surely the general public could do the same. These songs were like an endorsement of the Beatles for the drugs. It was during the same time period when the Vietnam War was taking place and America, of course, was greatly involved. The conflict had been stretched out for several years and the people were losing hope of the war ever ending. During this period, “popular music artists began to record songs that reflected this disapproval and ultimately became a new method of protest” (Hopkins). Doing their part, the Beatles wrote certain songs that were meant to encourage the people to not lose hope, to wait for the bad times to end and to look forward to a great future. On being asked their stance on the Vietnam War, McCartney plainly stated that “We just don’t like it. We don’t like war” (Beatle Press Conference: New York City 8/22/1966). After “a healthy dose of eastern mysticism” that they got during the time spent in India, “the Beatles were ready to promote any kind of revolution – as it brought peace” (Care, Fitzgibbons and Popowich 2). Though the song “Strawberry Fields Forever” was not officially a part of this album but it was produced in the same time frame. It is Lennon’s work in which he is reminiscing about his childhood but it can also be taken in another way. The American youth was confused and not fully informed of why there was a war raging against Vietnam. They were young adults who wanted to make something of themselves, wanted to prove themselves to the world and so they enlisted to fight in the war not really knowing what exactly it was that they were up against. In the song, strawberry fields is a metaphor for Vietnam where “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see” (The Beatles, Strawberry Fields Forever) . The red color of the strawberry fields symbolizes all the death and mayhem that was caused by the war. A devastatingly high number of lives were lost on both sides, there was bloodshed everywhere. The war seemed to be going on forever, thus the “Strawberry Fields Forever”. As summarized so succinctly by the Rolling Stone, “In its iridescent instrumentation, lyric fantasias and eye-popping packaging, Sgt. Pepper defined the opulent revolutionary optimism of psychedelia and instantly spread the gospel of love, acid, Eastern spirituality and electric guitars around the globe” (500 Greatest Albums of all Time: The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band). This album may not be the best work of the Beatles but it does happen to be the one which brought a turning point in their careers as well as had a great impact on the fans and the world as well. It was the push they needed to the right direction and also an example to the other musicians of what they could be. Bibliography "500 Greatest Albums of all Time: The Beatles, Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band." 31 May 2012. Rolling Stone. 17 March 2014 . "Beatle Press Conference: New York City 8/22/1966." 22 August 1966. The Beatles Ultimate Experience. 17 March 2014 . Brumm, Henrik. "Biomusic and Popular Culture: The Use of Animal Sounds in the Music of the Beatles." Journal of Popular Music Studies 24.1 (2012): 25–38. Care, Alexandra, et al. "Rock and Roll Rebellion." YA Hotline (2007). Frontani, Michael R. The Beatles: Image and the Media. University Press of Mississippi, 2007. Hopkins, Alexander E. "Protest and Rock n Roll During the Vietnam War." Student Pulse 4.11 (2012). Letts, Marianne Tatom. Radiohead and the Resistant Concept Album: How to Disappear Completely. n.d. Martin Jr., Bill. Listening to the Future: The Time of Progressive Rock, 1968-1978. Open Court, 1998. The Beatles. "A Day in the Life." The Beatles Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club. 1967. The Beatles. "Strawberry Fields Forever." 1967. The Beatles. "With A Little Help From My Friends." Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. 1967. Read More