The Story of Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band

After releasing nearly two albums every year since 1963 and touring with the frustration of not being able to hear themselves play due to bad PAs and the insanely loud screaming of the audience, The Beatles decided to step away from touring and took a much-needed break in 1966.

Ringo went back to family life, George came to India, John attended art galleries in London eventually meeting Yoko and Paul set out to Kenya with Jane Asher, returning with the concept for their next album.

Perhaps as a response to the band's immense success and to distance themselves from the pressures of stardom, he decided to form a fictional band.

“I was coming back on a plane, and I was with our roadie Mal [Evans]. He said, ‘Well, pass the salt and pepper’. And I thought he said, ‘Sgt Pepper’. I said, ‘That’s great! Wait a minute, hold that right there.’ So, that was the idea planted.” Said Paul McCartney.

Unlike their debut album, "Please Please Me," which was recorded in around 10 hours, The Beatles spent 129 days in the studio working on this masterpiece that would forever revolutionize pop music.

Producer George Martin, together with the band explored unconventional territory for pop records. Surprisingly, with just two four-track recording machines using the "bouncing down" technique, where multiple tracks were combined onto a single track to make room for additional recordings.

What also contributed to making the album so iconic was the artwork designed by Pop artists Jann Haworth and Peter Blake. The concept was to have the band posing for a photograph and the crowd behind them could be anyone dead or alive! John and Paul came up with a list, George only listed Indian gurus, and Ringo was good with anything.

The cover features iconic figures from Bob Dylan, Marilyn Monroe, Karl Marx, James Joyce to Carl Jung, Sri Mahavatar Babaji and dozens of others. However, names like Adolf Hitler, Mohandas Gandhi were excluded from the cover to avoid controversies.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was released 56 years ago today, establishing itself as one of the most important pieces in music history. What's your favourite song from the album?

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is Available Now - The Revolver Club

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Also read: Did Yoko Ono Really Break The Beatles?