Why was Sgt. Peppers such a huge album?

[ernstinen]

Quote: Did you know that the Sgt. Pepper album was done with a 4 track recorder? CaseyYup!

[booker]

Yep, and Paul was a "ghost writer" on that project.

[ernstinen]

Yes, George Martin thought "Please Please Me" didn't work, but it was really a tempo (and arrangement) issue. It really wasn't a re-write, but an attitude change.The Beatles were playing it like a "dirge," as Martin put it. It was very much in the mold of a Roy Orbison ballad. Imagine "Please Please Me" being played at the tempo of "Blue Bayou." That's what it was like. (Sing it at that tempo with Orbison's vibrato, and you'll get the idea ).John & Paul were trying SO HARD to write good songs, but really the band was simply a kick-ass rock band at that time. If you've heard the "Hamburg Tapes," they were probably the best unknown rock-n-roll band in the world.So Martin wanted them to let loose this incredible energy, and that's what drove "Please Please Me" to the top of the charts. It's still the most EXCITING record they ever made, IMHO!Ern

[ernstinen]

Sgt. Pepper LIVES! Amazing after all this time ----Ern

[booker]

Erns... you're an absolute freak, man! That's why I like ya! I just went to the store and bought the Beatles hits from 67-70. I didn't realize how much I like "Back in the USSR". After that, I purchased McCartney's "All my best". You can't get 'em on itunes.

[ernstinen]

Sgt. Pepper!I've met the occasional person who doesn't think much of Ringo, but check out this opinion:On Friday, February 3, 1967, the Beatles spent the evening overdubbing bass and drums on "A Day In The Life."Ringo taped his contribution on tomtoms, giving the song a distinctive percussion sound. "That was entirely his own idea," says George Martin. "Ringo has a tremendous feel for a song and he always helped us hit the right tempo first time. He was rock solid and this made the recording of all the Beatles' songs so much easier."Ringeaux

[booker]

... and we are on page 35 now....;)I read that Apple Inc, and Apple Corps have reached an agreement finally. Too late for me, I already bought all the songs on CD and put them on my ipod.

[ernstinen]

"Ringo NEVER wavered from the time during recording the Beatles, as far as I know. He was the groove, the clock."George Martin/Geoff EmerickErn

[ernstinen]

Sgt. Pepper Time!The mono mixes of "When I'm Sixty Four" did not satisfy Paul, so on December 30, 1966 he suggested they scrap all the previous mixes and start again. Paul wanted his vocal to sound more "boy-ish," so they sped up the mix and raised it by as much as a semitone, a big difference.When the stereo mix of the song was done on April 17, 1967, George Martin was incredulous at how much the mono mix had been speeded up. He kept saying "Surely it can't have been THAT fast?"Ernie Pepper

[ernstinen]

MORE SGT. PEPPER!John Lennon on "Lovely Rita" and Paul's style of writing:"He makes them up like a novelist. You hear lots of McCartney influenced songs on the radio --- these stories about boring people doing boring things: being postmen and secretaries and writing home. I'm not interested in writing third-party songs. I like to write about me, because I know me."Sgt. Ern