Beatles/Sgt. Pepper’s Recoding Sessions Vol.2 No.2

Sgt. Pepper’s was released in June 1967. There were already signs of the hippie movement blooming in various fields, but it was none other than The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s that marked the beginning of psychedelic social phenomenon. Not only was it the beginning, but it is still recognized as a masterpiece today, half a century after its release, as a symbol of the era. Perhaps under the influence of drugs, the lyrics are full of metaphors, and the melody is brilliant and fantastical. All of these elements give the impression of a new musicality of The Beatles that was different from what they had done before. The result of giving up all live performances and concentrating on studio work was this concept album that brought together the best of the studio technology of the time. The concept of the album is that a fictional band led by Sergeant Pepper performs a show, starting with the hustle and bustle of the crowd, followed by entertainers appearing one after another, a reluctant ending, and a solemn encore. However, not all songs are necessarily recorded according to this concept, as can be seen by listening to “Lovely Rita”, “When I’m Sixty Four”, “Within You Without You”, etc. Roughly speaking, only the first few songs and the reprise and after are in line with the concept, and the songs in between are unrelated. If there is something that resembles a concept, it would be the melody that permeates the whole album, and the tone that has undergone complex work. This atmosphere can be felt as a lingering scent in the next album, Magical. If I had to say, the concept of this album is a symbol that embodied the psychedelic worldview and established it in the era. The album was released in June 1967, but recording began around December 1966. The last tour was in August, so the recording took place after a three-month break. Considering that “Revolver” was recorded from April to June, we can see how much creative motivation there was during this period, with the tour in between. This work is the title of the recording session for this album “Sgt. Pepper’s”. [A DAY IN THE LIFE] “A Day In The Life” is the song that takes up the most time in this work. It is the biggest highlight of this work, where you can clearly understand the production process of the song that gradually builds up from take 1. Takes 1 to 4 were recorded in the session on January 19, 1967. It is a simple performance with only acoustic guitar and piano, and John’s vocals are simple from another take, but it is surprising that they are already completed. The middle part by Paul is unfinished and there is no vocal, but the melody inserted is unmistakably that of “A Day In The Life”. The ending ends with a series of piano strokes and a count again, and of course there is no orchestra. On January 30th, Paul’s singing in the middle part begins. Since it is still in the rehearsal stage, the lyrics are incomplete, and Paul sometimes laughs and cannot sing. In the session on February 3rd, 1967, Paul seriously re-sang the vocals and chorus were overdubbed. Then, on February 10th, 1967, a large orchestra was recorded. First, the orchestral recording of the part where Paul’s middle part returns to John’s second half again. You can see that the unstable and gradually rising part was recorded over and over again under Paul’s direction. Melody was added, bass was added, cymbals were added, accents were added, and in any case, trial and error was repeated, and many patterns were recorded, and the best one was finally selected. Take 13 also includes the orchestra and Paul’s middle part, and boasts almost the same level of completion as the released version. The only difference is that the ending “Jaaaaan” is not included. It seems they hadn’t decided how to end this song, and a discussion was taking place in the studio. Initially, it was suggested to end it with a humming “Auuuuum”, and you can hear them practicing this “Auuuuum” over and over again. The full version ending with this “Auuuuum” humming is recorded on track 18 of disc 4, but it’s not great. It’s only natural that the humming ending was rejected. The orchestra was called back on February 22nd to record again. They basically worked on overlaying it over John’s vocals, and although it was decided that the humming ending was rejected, the recording including the orchestra was done without deciding on an ending. So when was the ending that is still heard today decided? It was on this day. The last part of disc 4 is just this ending part, the part where the piano and orchestra do the “ready, go, go!”, counted by Paul, from takes 1 to 9. Indeed, this ending was edited as the final piece to complete the song, and it was finally completed. [ONLY A NORTHERN SONG] This song was recorded at the Sgt. Pepper’s recording session and included in Yellow Submarine. It was written by George, and the finished version is a psychedelic and glittering song. Take 3, recorded on February 13th and 14th, 1967, is a very simple song with George singing with only drums and bass in the background, and it is a song that has been completely stripped of all decoration from the original. This is a very different impression from the recording on April 20th, when the organ sound was added. Track 9 on Disc 5 is a vocal version that was scrapped. To be honest, George’s singing voice is dark, and it is an eerie way of singing, as if he is listening to words of curse. It is as if George’s dissatisfaction with the actual Northern Songs is contained as a grudge. Track 10 is another version of the vocal that was scrapped again. The tempo is quite slow, and it’s better than track 9, but the smell of curse still hasn’t been wiped away. It’s dark. The bright and light atmosphere of the released version is completely absent, and the way the song is sung makes such a big difference in the impression. [EXTRA] From here on, we have recorded some audio related to Sgt. Pepper’s. The first recording is from a radio program that appeared around the time of the end of recording on March 20, 1967, in which John and Paul answer Brian Matthew’s interview. It is known that they have left live activities, their appearance has changed, and they are concentrating on recording a new album, and Brian Matthew immediately asks what the next album will be like. Paul answers “folk rock”. Next is a radio program that was recorded and broadcast on May 20, 1967, after the album was released. Kenny Everett is the host, and the Beatles members themselves add their own commentary while listening to the songs on the album. And finally, four deluxe radio spots from the 50th anniversary deluxe edition released in 2017 are included. Before “Sgt. Pepper’s” became “Sgt. Pepper’s”, the members called it “ONE DOWN, SIX TO GO” as a working title. This work is titled after that. It is a big project that includes many first-time recordings, and it covers the entirety of 10 discs. This work is the sequel. It includes studio session recordings from the recording of “Mister Kite”, which can be said to be the depth of the album, to “A Day in the Life”, and “Only a Northern Song” from the same period. This is the ultimate set that includes many first-time recordings that have never been released anywhere before. It is longer than the previous releases, and includes some that are being recorded unedited for the first time. DISC FOUR A DAY IN THE LIFE February 3, 1967 Overdubs 01. New Paul vocal & backings 02. Vocals SI (4 track tape) 03. Take 6 Four Track Remix 04. Control Room Multitrack February 10, 1967 ORCHESTRA 05. Studio Chat 06. Middle Eight 07. Orchestra Recording #1 08. Orchestra Recording #2 09. Orchestra Recording #3 1 0. Orchestra Recording #4 11. Studio Atmosphere 12. Mixdown of 4 track tape 13. Take 7 14. Take 8- Edit piece 15. Take 9- Edit piece 16. Take 10-Edit Piece 17. Take 11-Edit Piece 18. 4 track Tape Remix February 22, 1967 Stereo Remix 19. Final Orchestra Ensemble 20. RS 21 . RS 2 22. RS 3 23. RS 4 24. RS 5 25. RS 6 26. RS 7 27. RS 8 28. RS 9 Piano Edit Piece 29. Take 1 30. Take 2 31. Take 3 32. Take 4 33. Take 5 34. Take 6 35. Takes 7 & Take 8 36. 9 MULTITRACK Separate Pianos 37. John 38. Paul 39. Ringo & Mal Overdub 40. George Martin DISC FIVE A DAY IN THE LIFE February 23, 1967 01. Stereo Remix Take 12 MULTITRACKS 02. GM Control Room #1 03. GM Control Room #2 04. The Record Producers 05. Bass, Maracas, Drums, Tambour ine 06. Instrumental 07. Alternate Mix 2015 missing piano note ONLY A NORTHERN SONG February 13 & 14, 1967 08. Takes 3 & 12 April 20, 1967 MULTITRACK 09. First Vocal 10. Second Vocal + new bass and trumpet 11. Vocal Mix + vocal extras + trumpet 12. Glockenspiel Mix 13 Trumpet + bells November 15, 1967 14. RM6 EXTRA March 20, 1967 EMI STUDIOS, LONDON 15. Paul & John interview with Brian Matthew May 19, 1967 CHAPEL STREET, LONDON (broadcasted May 20, 1967) WHERE IT’S AT with Kenny Everett 16. Introduction with Paul & John 17. Ringo talks 18. John introduces Lucy 19. John talks 20. Sgt Pepper interlude 21. Kenny Talks 22. Paul talks 23. Kenny talks 24. Paul talks 25. Paul ends the program 50th ANNIV RADIO SPOTS 2017 26. Unbroadcasted #1 27. Unbroadcasted #2 28. Unbroadcasted #3 29. Unbroadcasted #4