The album responsible for the "rock" album, the "concept" album, and breaking the rule that stated that every song on an LP must be separated by three seconds of silence, has turned 40 years old this week.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, release the first week of June 1967, was revolutionary for its time, and turned artistic expression for pop/rock artists on its ear (so to speak). Not only were the sounds on the disc incredible (technically speaking), so was the sleeve. Sgt. Pepper is best known perhaps for the collage of (in)famous folk standing behind the festively costumed (and heavily moustached) Fab Four. These people - from Bob Dylan to Lenny Bruce, Laurel and Hardy to W.C. Fields, Edgar Allen Poe to Aldous Huxley - were people The Beatles (and sleeve designer Peter Blake) admired. (Interestingly, three of John Lennon's choices - Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler and Mahatmas Gandhi - never made it onto the sleeve for fear of upsetting people. Gandhi came close - he was airbrushed out and replaced by a palm tree - just behind Diana Dors and beside Lawrence of Arabia.)
So, tell me... if you were designing this cover, who would you have on the sleeve and why? I'd love to know! Drop me an e-mail and I'll add your answers to the Jumbled Encephalon Noodle Salad blog.
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, release the first week of June 1967, was revolutionary for its time, and turned artistic expression for pop/rock artists on its ear (so to speak). Not only were the sounds on the disc incredible (technically speaking), so was the sleeve. Sgt. Pepper is best known perhaps for the collage of (in)famous folk standing behind the festively costumed (and heavily moustached) Fab Four. These people - from Bob Dylan to Lenny Bruce, Laurel and Hardy to W.C. Fields, Edgar Allen Poe to Aldous Huxley - were people The Beatles (and sleeve designer Peter Blake) admired. (Interestingly, three of John Lennon's choices - Jesus Christ, Adolf Hitler and Mahatmas Gandhi - never made it onto the sleeve for fear of upsetting people. Gandhi came close - he was airbrushed out and replaced by a palm tree - just behind Diana Dors and beside Lawrence of Arabia.)
So, tell me... if you were designing this cover, who would you have on the sleeve and why? I'd love to know! Drop me an e-mail and I'll add your answers to the Jumbled Encephalon Noodle Salad blog.
1 comment:
Hey, you're older than St. Peppers?
WOW!!!!!!!!
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