pitzonka@daemen.UUCP (Bill Parmenter Esq.) (09/23/85)
All my life, I have been informed that the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY
HEART CLUB BAND is the first real concept album. My question is: WHAT'S
THE CONCEPT? I could never figure it out (if there was one). If anyone
can help me please reply via the net.
Adopt, adapt, improve,
Bill Pitzonkanessus@mit-eddie.UUCP (Doug Alan) (09/24/85)
Whoever said it is a concept album? I guess it could be if you consider hallucinogenic drugs to be a "concept".... "I fixing a hole where the rain gets in And stops my mind from wandering" Doug
showard@udenva.UUCP (showard) (09/26/85)
> All my life, I have been informed that the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY > HEART CLUB BAND is the first real concept album. My question is: WHAT'S > THE CONCEPT? I could never figure it out (if there was one). If anyone > can help me please reply via the net. > > Adopt, adapt, improve, > > Bill Pitzonka Not agreeing or disagreeing with the thesis (Sgt. Pepper is a concept album) let me give one idea that I've read: The concept (which wasn't really used) was to have the album be a concert by a band called, well you know. They would be sort of a carnival-festival band--hence the songs: SP's LHCB (and reprise), A Little Help from my Friends, When I'm 64, and Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!. George Harrison's Within You Without You might fit in as sort of the Indian mystic at the carnival. Then the abrupt return from the carnival/circus and back to the real world with A Day in the Life. I think Paul McCartney has said that the original concept was to do an album about the Beatles' respective childhoods. They recorded Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever, and When I'm 64 (for Paul's dad). BUT, EMI records wanted a single right away, so the first two songs were released (with videos). Then, Paul saw an old circus poster of John's which had essentially the lyrics of "...Mr. Kite" and the Sgt. Pepper idea was born. --Mr. Blore, the DJ who would not die! -- udenva!showard "A splendid time is guaranteed for all"
wfi@rti-sel.UUCP (William Ingogly) (09/26/85)
In article <1198@daemen.UUCP> pitzonka@daemen.UUCP (Bill Parmenter Esq.) writes: >All my life, I have been informed that the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY >HEART CLUB BAND is the first real concept album. My question is: WHAT'S >THE CONCEPT? I could never figure it out (if there was one). If anyone >can help me please reply via the net. I always thought it was very loosely based on the theme of love and friendship as antidotes to 20th-century alienation (hence, 'lonely hearts club'). With A Little Help From My Friends is obviously about the power of friendship. A Day In The Life seems to be about the stress and alienation of everyday life. When I'm 64 suggests that love and continuity in a family context can be antidotes to the stress and alienation. Lovely Rita Meter Maid may be about someone's lonely fantasies about a woman he sees on the street but whom he really doesn't have the courage to go up and talk to. -- Cheers, Bill Ingogly
mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (Marcel F. Simon) (09/28/85)
> All my life, I have been informed that the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY > HEART CLUB BAND is the first real concept album. My question is: WHAT'S > THE CONCEPT? > > Bill Pitzonka I am not sure there was a specific, album-unifying concept. Sgt Pepper, however, was the first full-length LP to be connected from song to song: the intro and outro "live" versions of the title tune, the laughter at the end of "Within You Without You", the background noises in "Good Morning", the various references to drugs that were heard by many (the Fab Four always insisted that there was no such intent) There is also the powerful strain of loneliness and alienation that runs throughout: the non-communicating parents and child of "She's leaving home", the desperation of "With a Little help from my Friends" and the out and out despair of "A Day in the Life" This was not the first time a group had attempted to link songs together. The Who's "A Quick One (while he's away)" is one major example. SGT PEPPER, however, was the first LP to be so linked from beginning to end. Hope this helps Marcel Simon
rlr@pyuxd.UUCP (Rich Rosen) (10/01/85)
> I am not sure there was a specific, album-unifying concept. Sgt Pepper, > however, was the first full-length LP to be connected from song to song: > the intro and outro "live" versions of the title tune, the laughter > at the end of "Within You Without You", the background noises in "Good > Morning", the various references to drugs that were heard by many (the Fab > Four always insisted that there was no such intent) > > This was not the first time a group had attempted to link songs together. > The Who's "A Quick One (while he's away)" is one major example. SGT PEPPER, > however, was the first LP to be so linked from beginning to end. > Marcel Simon It was indeed intended to be such (if by connected you mean musically running one into the next), and in fact "Sgt. Pepper" itself goes into "A Little Help", as well as "Good Morning" into "[REPRISE]" into "A Day in the Life", but the rest of the album contained physically disjoint songs. EMI/Capitol wouldn't let them create a completely contiguous album. -- "to be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best night and day to make you like everybody else means to fight the hardest battle any human being can fight and never stop fighting." - e. e. cummings Rich Rosen ihnp4!pyuxd!rlr
andrew@grkermi.UUCP (Andrew W. Rogers) (10/03/85)
In article <441@mhuxr.UUCP> mfs@mhuxr.UUCP (Marcel F. Simon) writes: >> All my life, I have been informed that the Beatles' SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY >> HEARTS CLUB BAND is the first real concept album. My question is: WHAT'S >> THE CONCEPT? Actually, I thought the first "concept album" was "The Colorful Ventures"! :-) >I am not sure there was a specific, album-unifying concept. Sgt Pepper, >however, was the first full-length LP to be connected from song to song... True. Other firsts: SPLHCB was the first LP to include lyrics, and the first single LP in a gatefold package. (Those trivia books which list it as the first single LP with a color photo on the back are wrong, though; the first Love album featured such a photo nearly a year before SP.) >...There is also the powerful strain of loneliness and alienation that runs >throughout: the non-communicating parents and child of "She's leaving home", >the desperation of "With a Little help from my Friends" and the out and out >despair of "A Day in the Life" You could say the same thing about "Pet Sounds" (at least if you ditch "Sloop John B", included at Capitol's insistance). >This was not the first time a group had attempted to link songs together. >The Who's "A Quick One (while he's away)" is one major example. SGT PEPPER, >however, was the first LP to be so linked from beginning to end. Paul McCartney admitted that "A Quick One" inspired the Beatles to make SP appear unified. >Marcel Simon AWR