Some people say there is a secret, mysterious meaning behind 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band'. This album holds behind it a haunting tale of death. However this album revolutionized rock n' roll.

The year was 1967. The Beatles had just stopped touring and had been working nine months on one of the greatest albums of all time. The Beatles were beyond money, they were at a point where they could do no wrong. So the question was what do you do?

Experiment.

And experiment they did. The mastered arrangements of this album speak for themselves.

Brian Epstein, the Beatles' manager, knew the dark side of Beatlemania. Brian had noticed that the Beatles were growing farther away from him.
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Epstein soon began to do more and more drugs. One night Epstein became very upset, and over dosed on drugs. Sgt.Pepper's was haunted by death. When Epstein's body was found so was a note, a reminder. It read, Tell John to release Sgt. Pepper's in brown paper bags. as if it were something so horrible that it was not to be seen until you got home.

Sgt. Pepper's was released and this is what you would and will see today buying the album:

What you see here is the grave of the Beatles (a name which none of them really liked anyways) and standing over it is the Beatles reincarnated into a twenties marching band. In the back of them are who they call they're "friends". The grave is covered with belongings and upon it a patch of marijuana!
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If the album cover is horrifying, the lyrics are even more so. They're friends are mostly people who ended up dying horrible deaths. On the side is a doll covered in blood reading:

"Welcome the Rolling Stones"

The lyrics are even stranger. In Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" (the song), the Beatles actually ask us to go to the grave with them. Then the Beatles welcome Billy Shears, the British grave digger in "With a Little Help from my Friends".

"Pepper" finishes off with a bang. "A Day in the Life" is true genius by John Lennon. At the height of the war, this song sums it up with the "Oh Boy!"
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Little known facts about the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's:

•In the list of people John would include in the cover, were Ghandi, Jesus and Adolf Hitler. Jesus was not included because of the US furor about John's words in a tabloid: The Beatles are bigger than Jesus.
•Sgt. Pepper's was the first album to include printed lyrics.
•Leo Gorcey and Ghandi were painted out of Sgt. Pepper's cover after the photograph had been taken. The first requested a fee, and the last by request of EMI.
•'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' was taken from an antique circus poster.
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Other Sgt Pepper covers include:

Recording of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The recording of Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band spanned 129 days, perhaps the most creative 129 days in the history of rock music.

Here, in the order in which the recordings were tackled, is a guide to the way the album was made.

   * When I'm Sixty-Four. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on December 6 1966. Album version mixed from take four.  Writer: Paul.  Lead vocal: Paul. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Phil McDonald.

   * A Day in the Life. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on January 19 1967. Working title 'In the Life Of...'. Album version mixed from takes six and seven. Writers: John, with Paul. Lead vocal: John, with Paul. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineers: Richard Lush, Phil McDonald.
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   * Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on February 1 1967. Album version mixed from take ten. Writer: Paul. Lead vocal : Paul. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Good Morning Good Morning. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on February 8 1967. Album version mixed from take 11. Writer: John. Lead vocal: John. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Being for the benefit of Mr. Kite!. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on February 17 1967. Album version mixed from take nine. Writer: John.Lead vocal: John. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Fixing a Hole. Recording commenced at Regent Sound Studio, Tottenham Court Road, London, on February 21 1967 and later completed at Abbey Road. Album version mixed from take three. Writer: Paul. Lead vocal: Paul. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineers: Adrian Ibbetson (Regent Sound), Geoff Emerick (Abbey Road). Second engineer: Richard Lush.
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   * Lovely Rita. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on February 23 1967. Album version mixed from take 11. Writer: Paul. Lead vocal: Paul. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 1 1967. Album version mixed from take eight. Writer: John. Lead vocal: John. Producer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Getting Better. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 9 1967. Album version mixed from take 15. Writer: Paul. Lead vocal: Paul. Producer George Martin. Recording engineers Malcolm Addey, Ken Townsend, Geoff Emerick, Peter Vince. Second engineers: Graham Kirkby, Richard Lush, Keith Slaughter.
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   * She's Leaving Home. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 17 1967. Album version mixed from take nine. Writer: Paul, with John. Lead vocal: Paul. Producer: George Martin. Score: Mike Leander. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineers: Richard Lush, Keith Slaughter.

   * Within You Without You. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 22 1967. Album version mixed from take two. Writer: George. Lead vocal: George. Producer; George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * With a Little Help From My Friends. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on March 29 1967. Working title 'Bad Finger Boogie'. Album version mixed from take 11. Writers: John and Paul. Lead vocal: Ringo. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.

   * Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise). Recording commenced in studio one at Abbey Road on April 1 1967. Album version mixed from take nine. Writer: Paul. Lead vocal: John, Paul and George. Producer: George Martin. Recording engineer: Geoff Emerick. Second engineer: Richard Lush.
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Three other songs were recorded during the sessions. The first two were taken for release as a single, the third didn't surface until the Yellow Submarine film soundtrack album. 

'Strawberry Fields Forever'. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on November 24 1966.

'Penny Lane'. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on December 29 1966.

'It's Only a Northern Song'. Recording commenced in studio two at Abbey Road on February 13 1967.
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The sequence of songs on Pepper is famous in itself, being - on the vinyl version - two continuous sides of music, without pauses between songs, or 'banding', to use recording parlance. But the line-up of side one, as first conceived, was different to how it finally evolved, and was as follows:

'Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'; 'With a Little Help From My Friends'; 'Being for the Benefit of Mr Kite!'; 'Fixing a Hole'; 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds'; 'Getting Better'; 'She's Leaving Home'.

Extracted from The Beatles at Abbey Road, by Mark Lewisohn, 1987.
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