05 June, 2007

40 Years of Sgt. Pepper

I remember vividly, pawing through my parents' CD collection as a young child. It was like searching for lost treasure, and I was never quite sure what I would find.

My very first memory involves the music of Gloria Estefan. The most infectious and soulful sound that I had ever heard in my young life, and that moment was created by my Mom. My Dad has told me about my lullabies, which didn't consist of cheerful rhymes, but often of the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" by the Who. I spent my early life surrounded by music of all kinds, and I was exposed to all of this music by my parents.

So, on that specific day when I was looking for something really different to listen to, I happened upon an odd-looking CD. The band on the cover was surrounded by all kinds of crazy characters, and they were dressed in the most outrageous and awesome costumes (what was up with their haircuts?); how could their music be bad? I remember putting the CD in my boombox, and quickly skipping through the songs to hear which ones sounded like the most fun. Hahah, wow this was weird, but great! I think I must have had the reaction that many music fans had on the 1st of June in 1967, when Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was first released. Even though I didn't know the Beatles' back story, I could hear that this music was still just so different from anything I'd ever heard. Here are the songs that most profoundly affected me when I was young. The choices may surprise you, but they're still some of my favorites.

The opener, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was an immediate rock hit with that garagey sounding guitar. The horns were pretty odd, and the laughter and applause in the background succeeded in making believe that Sgt. Pepper's Hearts Club Band was a real band. Today, I know the Beatles were trying to achieve a break from their usual personas, a completely different kind of band, and in my mind they definitely achieved this goal.

"With a Little Help From My Friends" was a perfect follow-up, being not too weird in my mind. It works cohesively with the rest of the album, but it's definitely more mainstream.

I would personally skip "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds", because it really creeped me out, and it was too slow (plus, what was up with those lyrics? They didn't mean anything to my young mind.)

"Getting Better" rocked with an extremely catchy melody, and I liked those lyrics (although the reference to beating your wife was VERY dated, it really was kind of shocking to me.)

"Fixing A Hole" was nice for days when I was feeling like listening instead of dancing. I've always been a fan of heavy bass songs, and this song is kind of carried by the bass, while the "lead" guitar is recorded as a kind of background noise. I didn't appreciate all of the songcraft, but I could hear that it was a good song.

"She's Leaving Home" was a little melancholy for my childhood tastes, a little slow for my mind to grab onto, plus I kept wondering if this woman was his beaten wife (if so, then why was he so surprised that she was leaving?)

"For the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" was pretty awesome and weird. It made me think of the circus, but with a kite performing all of the acrobatic tricks! The thing is that carnival/circus music is ominous sounding, dark and minor, with that creaky organ in the background. Still, I enjoyed this song because it was pure fantasy.

"Within You Without You" was cool, and exotic sounding. When I was younger I was very open to this sound, because my parents had always listened to world music. Also, my very favorite movie was "A Little Princess" directed by Alfonso Cuaron, and Sara and her father lived in India before her father had to fight in the War. Even though the song was a little slow for my tastes, I appreciated the tone and the world influence.

"When I'm Sixty-Four" was kind of plodding. It reminded me of old men and women, and I obviously didn't relate. I wasn't even thinking about being old, or anyone else being old for that matter.

"Lovely Rita" was a pretty song, even though I thought the lyrics were "Lovely Rita meet her maid" which didn't really make much sense. The piano was especially fun, and I was always a fan of Ringo's percussion on this song.

"Good Morning Good Morning" had a pretty awesome rhythm and it just made me feel good. It would have been a nice way to wake up, but it ended up just being a nice song. The odd sounds at the end were a little weird, but the guitar solo was pretty awesome.

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" a really banging tune that pulled the whole album together. It was very nice.

"A Day In the Life" kind of long and a downer from the rest of the album, but I always connected to this song. It was one song I never really skipped when I was listening to the album, which says quite a bit about the musical craftsmanship. I loved the ending and you really have to listen to the whole song for the ending to mean anything. Today, this is my favorite song on the album.


HAPPY 40TH ANNIVERSARY SGT. PEPPER!!!!

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