As a rock 'n roll obsessive and longtime Beatles fan, I feel obliged to comment on the 40th anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but in truth I don't have much to add to what has already been written. I was only 7 when the album was released, and the "Summer of Love" meant nothing to me as it was happening (all I remember about that summer is that we moved to a new house, one that had no air conditioning, and that it was really, really hot). At the time, my favorite Beatles-related medium was the cartoon show; I still remember the skeletons dancing to "I'm Looking Through You" very clearly. I do remember getting into a ridiculous argument with one of my friends in 3rd grade, over whether the band that made Sgt. Pepper was actually The Beatles or a real (and different) band called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." During the argument, I remember uttering the immortal phrase, "Are you STUPID or something!? Doesn't that look like John Lennon to you?"Truth be told, it's not my favorite Beatles album; I've always preferred Rubber Soul, Abbey Road, A Hard Day's Night, and Revolver (and maybe even The White Album). There's no question that it's an excellent album, that the production was ground-breaking, and that the cultural impact it had was a high water mark of the rock era. But since I can't buy the argument that it's the best Beatles album, I've always had some difficulty accepting the conventional wisdom that it's the best rock album of all time. But since this is a time for celebration, I won't quibble. Because it's certainly among the most notable albums of all time.
4 comments:
I'm with you, Jeff. "Sgt. Pepper," in its conceptual ambition and mind-blowing use of multitracking, inspires me to genuflect. But on any given day, I'd much rather slide "Revolver" or "Rubber Soul" into the slot.
UBM, I think there's a "you had to be there" quality that has contributed to the album's legend over the years. It's always struck me how, when discussing Sgt. Pepper, the various "greatest albums of all time" books (Rolling Stone's, Paul Gambaccini's, and others) spend so much time discussing its cultural impact and production values, but much less time actually talking about the songs (with the obvious exceptions of "Day in the Life" and "Lucy in the Sky"). There's a Langdon Winner quote that Gambaccini uses in his book that says it all:
"The closest Western Civilization has come to unity since the Congress of Vienna in 1815 was the week the "Sgt. Pepper" album was released. For a brief while, the irreparably fragmented consciousness of the West was unified, at least in the minds of the young."
Yeah, not to knock the songs... there are great songs on it. "A Little Help from My Friends" and "She's Leaving Home" are bona fide pop standards. And I happen to really dig "Getting Better."
But like you say... the "right place, right time" thing is in effect when it comes to putting this album on the critical mountaintop.
undercover black man I/m with you. Rubber Soul blows my mind. Sgt. Pepper's was perhaps the best or the best from the Boys from Liverpool.
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