Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition

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Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition
Compilation album by
the Beatles
Released26 May 2017 (2017-05-26)
Recorded24 November 1966 – 21 April 1967
StudioEMI and Regent Sound, London
Length99:59
LabelApple
ProducerGeorge Martin (Original recordings)
Giles Martin (Remix)
The Beatles chronology
Live at the Hollywood Bowl
(2016) 		Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition
(2017) 		The Christmas Records
(2017)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition is an expanded reissue of the 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by the English rock band the Beatles. It was released on 26 May 2017, the album's 50th anniversary. It includes a new stereo remix of the album by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin.

The release was accompanied by the Apple Corps documentary Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution, televised on the BBC, PBS and Arte. Promotion included billboards posted in major cities around the world. The reissue garnered critical acclaim and topped the UK Albums Chart.

Background and content[edit]

The first CD contains a new stereo remix of Sgt. Pepper produced by Giles Martin, the son of Beatles producer George Martin. He said that he began working on the mix in December 2016 with engineer Sam Okell, who had similarly been involved in other Beatles legacy-related projects.[1] Created using modern and vintage technology, the 2017 mix retains more of the idiosyncrasies that were unique to the original mono version of Sgt. Pepper. Unlike the original album, first-generation tapes were used rather than their subsequent mixdowns, resulting in a clearer and more spacious sound.[2]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition is available as a two-disc set and as a six-disc box set. The first of these offers alternate takes of the album's songs and of the non-album single tracks "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane". The six-disc Super Deluxe Edition includes four CDs and adds further studio outtakes, monaural mixes, a documentary, and 5.1 surround sound mixes of the album in both DVD and Blu-ray form.[3] Among these features is George Martin's 1992 TV documentary The Making of Sgt. Pepper. Also included in the Super Deluxe version is a book containing liner notes for the recordings, and essays discussing subjects such as psychedelic culture, 1960s politics, and the atmosphere in the Beatles following their decision to retire from live performance in late 1966 and focus on the recording studio.[4]

Preview and promotion[edit]

Sgt. Pepper 50th anniversary billboard in London

The Beatles' company Apple Corps and Universal Music hosted a preview of the new stereo mix on 10 April 2017. The event was held in Studio 2 at Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Studios), the room where the Beatles recorded most of Sgt. Pepper, and was attended by around 100 journalists.[5]

Apple also produced a documentary to accompany the release, titled Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution. Written and presented by Howard Goodall, it was televised on the BBC, PBS and Arte to commemorate the anniversary.[6] The occasion was also celebrated with posters, billboards and other decorations at notable locations around the world, including a billboard in New York's Times Square.[7]

Coinciding with the 50th anniversary, Geoff Edgers of The Washington Post interviewed Richard Goldstein, who, in his initial review of Sgt. Pepper for The New York Times, had been one of the few dissenters when the album received unprecedented critical acclaim in 1967. Edgers revealed that the left-hand speaker that Goldstein had originally heard the record through was broken. After listening to the album again, Goldstein acknowledged that the faulty speaker would have affected his listening experience 50 years before, but he stood by his general assessment of the album.[8] The NME celebrated the 2017 reissue with a poll that asked its readers to name their favourite Beatle. George Harrison was voted in first place, ahead of John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.[9]

Reception[edit]

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic100/100[10]
Review scores
SourceRating
Classic Rock[11]
The Daily Telegraph[12]
The Guardian[13]
The Independent[14]
Mojo[15]
Paste10/10[16]
Q[17]
Record Collector[18]
Rolling Stone[19]
Uncut10/10[20]

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition topped the UK Albums Chart,[21] and albums charts in Scotland and Belgium. In the United States, it peaked at number 3 on the Billboard 200.[22] On Metacritic, the reissue holds a score of 100 out of 100, based on thirteen professional reviews, indicating "universal acclaim".[10]

Several critics praised Martin's new stereo mix. Neil McCormick of The Daily Telegraph commented: "It is like seeing a favourite movie again in high definition. It doesn't replace the original, it enhances it."[12] Rolling Stone's Mikal Gilmore described the effect as a "long overdue epiphany", since "Popular music's most elaborate and intricate creation – and one that helped end the mono era – wasn't made to be heard in stereo."[19] Danny Eccleston of Mojo also approved of Martin's work, especially the presence afforded Ringo Starr's drums. He added: "The voices feel 'properly' balanced and positioned. And in general, where there was whimsy (the bête noire of most Pepper agnostics) the power of solid drums and central voices irons it out."[15]

In his review for Uncut, Michael Bonner said that "The Beatles never worked with such unified purpose again, but what this Pepper boxset captures is the fun, intense, playful ferment; the triumph, in other words."[20] David Quantick, reviewing for Classic Rock, wrote: "Purists may balk at some of the perceived liberties Giles Martin has taken (splitting and panning drum parts or backing vocals for starters), but he's by no means claiming this is the definitive version of the album, and has clearly acted in the interests of the material."[11]

Track listings[edit]

All songs written by Lennon–McCartney, except "Within You Without You" by George Harrison. Track lengths per Kevin Howlett.[23]

Super Deluxe Edition[edit]

Disc one – 2017 stereo remix of original album

Side one
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
1."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"McCartney2:00
2."With a Little Help from My Friends"Starr2:42
3."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"Lennon3:28
4."Getting Better"McCartney with Lennon2:48
5."Fixing a Hole"McCartney2:36
6."She's Leaving Home"McCartney with Lennon3:25
7."Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"Lennon2:37
Total length:19:34
Side two
No.TitleLead vocalsLength
8."Within You Without You"Harrison5:05
9."When I'm Sixty-Four"McCartney2:37
10."Lovely Rita"McCartney2:42
11."Good Morning Good Morning"Lennon2:42
12."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr1:18
13."A Day in the Life"Lennon with McCartney5:38
Total length:20:02

Disc two – session highlights, sequenced in chronological order of their first recording dates, plus stereo mixes of "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane"

No.TitleLength
1."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Take 1)2:39
2."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Take 4)3:00
3."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Take 7)3:16
4."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Take 26)3:18
5."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Stereo Mix – 2015)4:09
6."When I'm Sixty-Four" (Take 2)3:00
7."Penny Lane" (Take 6 – Instrumental)2:56
8."Penny Lane" (Vocal Overdubs and Speech)1:47
9."Penny Lane" (Stereo Mix – 2017)3:00
10."A Day in the Life" (Take 1)4:41
11."A Day in the Life" (Take 2)4:49
12."A Day in the Life" (Orchestra Overdub)0:55
13."A Day in the Life" (Hummed Last Chord) (Takes 8, 9, 10 and 11)1:54
14."A Day in the Life" (The Last Chord)2:53
15."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Take 1 – Instrumental)2:34
16."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (Take 9 and Speech)2:36
17."Good Morning Good Morning" (Take 1 – Instrumental, Breakdown)1:04
18."Good Morning Good Morning" (Take 8)2:47
Total length:51:18

Disc three – as above

No.TitleLength
1."Fixing a Hole" (Take 1)2:59
2."Fixing a Hole" (Speech and Take 3)3:28
3."Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (Speech from Before Take 1 / Take 4 and Speech at the End)3:08
4."Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" (Take 7)2:35
5."Lovely Rita" (Speech and Take 9)3:05
6."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Take 1 and Speech at the End))3:40
7."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Speech, False Start and Take 5)4:08
8."Getting Better" (Take 1 – Instrumental and Speech at the End)2:19
9."Getting Better" (Take 12)2:45
10."Within You Without You" (Take 1 – Indian Instruments Only)5:33
11."Within You Without You" (George Coaching the Musicians)3:56
12."She's Leaving Home" (Take 1 – Instrumental)3:49
13."She's Leaving Home" (Take 6 – Instrumental)3:48
14."With a Little Help from My Friends" (Take 1 – False Start and Take 2 – Instrumental)3:15
15."Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" (Speech and Take 8)1:59
Total length:50:27

Disc four – 1967 mono mix of original album, with six bonus tracks:

No.TitleLength
14."Strawberry Fields Forever" (Original Mono Mix)4:08
15."Penny Lane" (Original Mono Mix)3:02
16."A Day In the Life" (Unreleased First Mono Mix)4:43
17."Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Unreleased Mono Mix – No. 11)3:49
18."She's Leaving Home" (Unreleased First Mono Mix)3:42
19."Penny Lane" (Capitol Records US Promo Single – Mono Mix)3:01

Personnel[edit]

  • Giles Martin – mixing supervisor
  • Sam Okell – mixing co-engineer
  • Kevin Howlett – liner notes, research

Charts[edit]

2017 weekly chart performance for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition
Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[24] 5
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[25] 3
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[26] 2
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[27] 1
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[28] 7
Czech Albums (ČNS IFPI)[29] 6
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[30] 3
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[31] 2
Finnish Albums (Suomen virallinen lista)[32] 23
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[33] 5
Irish Albums (IRMA)[34] 2
Italian Albums (FIMI)[35] 6
Japanese Albums (Oricon)[36] 5
Mexican Albums (AMPROFON)[37] 18
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[38] 4
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[39] 9
Polish Albums (ZPAV)[40] 28
Portuguese Albums Chart[41] 3
Scottish Albums (OCC)[42] 1
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[43] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[44] 2
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[45] 2
UK Albums (OCC)[46] 1
US Billboard 200[22] 3

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Marinucci, Steve (18 May 2017). "Giles Martin on Making Paul & Ringo Happy with 'Sgt. Pepper' 50th-Anniversary Remix and Bringing the Album 'To a New Generation'". Billboard. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. ^ Titlow, John Paul (19 May 2017). "How the Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper' Was Retooled to Sound Fresh 50 Years Later". Fast Company. Archived from the original on 20 May 2017. Retrieved 20 May 2017.
  3. ^ Deriso, Nick (4 April 2017). "Release Date and Formats Revealed for Beatles Expanded 'Sgt. Pepper' Reissue". Ultimate Classic Rock. Archived from the original on 21 May 2017. Retrieved 18 May 2017.
  4. ^ Collette, Doug (27 May 2017). "The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band 50th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition". All About Jazz. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  5. ^ Sinclair, Paul (11 April 2017). "The Beatles / Remixed Sgt. Pepper unveiled at Abbey Road Studios". Super Deluxe Edition. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  6. ^ "Sgt. Pepper's Musical Revolution". PBS. Archived from the original on 14 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  7. ^ Sesto, Gino. "50th Anniversary of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Celebrated World Wide". Dash Two. Archived from the original on 21 September 2017. Retrieved 21 September 2017.
  8. ^ Edgers, Geoff (16 May 2017). "'Sgt. Pepper': Getting better all the time". The Washington Post. Retrieved 1 April 2021 – via pressofatlanticcity.com.
  9. ^ Morgan Britton, Luke (1 June 2017). "NME readers reveal who they think is the best Beatle". NME. Retrieved 1 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Edition Deluxe Version]". Metacritic. Retrieved 8 June 2020.
  11. ^ a b Quantick, David (24 May 2017). "The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's ... 50th Anniversary Edition album review". loudersound.com. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  12. ^ a b McCormick, Neil (2 June 2017). "From Alt-J to the Amazons: The best albums of the year 2017". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  13. ^ Petridis, Alexis (26 May 2017). "The Beatles: Sgt Pepper 50th Anniversary Edition review – peace, love and rock star ennui". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  14. ^ Gill, Andy (1 June 2017). "Album reviews: The Beatles – Sgt Pepper's 50th Anniversary, Alt J – Relaxer, Dan Auerbach – Waiting on a Song". The Independent. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  15. ^ a b Eccleston, Danny (26 May 2017). "The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band [50th Anniversary Stereo Edition]". Mojo. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  16. ^ Ham, Robert (26 May 2017). "Paste Review of the Day: The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: Anniversary Edition". Paste. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  17. ^ "The Beatles Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition". Q. July 2017. p. 116.
  18. ^ Atkins, Jamie (25 May 2017). "The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Record Collector. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  19. ^ a b Gilmore, Mikal (26 May 2017). "Review: The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's' Anniversary Editions Reveal Wonders". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
  20. ^ a b Bonner, Michael (July 2017). "The Beatles Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Super Deluxe Edition". Uncut. p. 42.
  21. ^ Ghoshal, Somak (21 June 2017). "On World Music Day, a Salute to These Guys Who Made History 50 Years Ago". HuffPost. Archived from the original on 27 September 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2018.
  22. ^ a b Caulfield, Keith (4 June 2017). "Bryson Tiller Notches His First No. 1 Album on Billboard 200 Chart With 'True to Self'". Billboard. Archived from the original on 4 June 2017. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  23. ^ Howlett, Kevin (2017). Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (50th Anniversary Deluxe Version) (book). The Beatles. Apple Records.
  24. ^ "Australiancharts.com – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  25. ^ "Austriancharts.at – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  26. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  27. ^ "Ultratop.be – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  28. ^ "On The Charts: June 5, 2017". FYIMusicNews. Retrieved 5 June 2017.
  29. ^ "Czech Albums – Top 100". ČNS IFPI. Note: On the chart page, select 22.Týden 2017 on the field besides the words "CZ – ALBUMS – TOP 100" to retrieve the correct chart. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  30. ^ "Danishcharts.dk – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  31. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  32. ^ "The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  33. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  34. ^ "Irish Albums Chart: 3 June 2017". Irish Recorded Music Association. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  35. ^ "Album – Classifica settimanale WK 22 (dal 2017-05-26 al 2017-06-01)" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Archived from the original on 25 January 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2017.
  36. ^ "Oricon Top 50 Albums: 2017-06-12" (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  37. ^ "Top Album – Semanal (del 09 de Junio al 15 de Junio)" (in Spanish). Asociación Mexicana de Productores de Fonogramas y Videogramas. Archived from the original on 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  38. ^ "NZ Top 40 Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. 5 June 2017. Archived from the original on 14 June 2017. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
  39. ^ "VG-lista – Topp 40 Album uke 22, 2017". VG-lista. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  40. ^ "Oficjalna lista sprzedaży :: OLiS - Official Retail Sales Chart". OLiS. Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  41. ^ "Portuguese Charts: Albums – 22/2017". Hung Medien. Archived from the original on 1 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  42. ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
  43. ^ "Top 100 Albumes – Semana 22: del 26.05.2017 al 01.06.2017" (in Spanish). Productores de Música de España. Archived from the original on 24 August 2017. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
  44. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  45. ^ "Swisscharts.com – The Beatles – Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Hung Medien. Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  46. ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 3 June 2017.
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