"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song written by

Paul McCartney Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...

(credited to

Lennon–McCartney Lennon–McCartney was the songwriting partnership between English musicians John Lennon (1940–1980) and Paul McCartney (born 1942) of the Beatles. It is the best-known and most successful musical collaboration ever by records sold, with the ...

), released in 1967 on the album of the same name by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

. The song appears twice on the album: as the opening track (segueing into "

With a Little Help from My Friends "With a Little Help from My Friends" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles, from their 1967 album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band''. It was written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and sung by drummer Ringo Starr (as Sgt. Pep ...

"), and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", the penultimate track (segueing into " A Day in the Life"). As the title song, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs on the album. Since its original album release, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" has also been released on various Beatles singles and compilation albums. The song has also been performed by several other artists, including

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

, U2, and a comic interpretation by

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and media personality. He made significant contributions to American and African-American culture, and is well known in the United States for his eccentric ...

, using the opening to

John Philip Sousa John Philip Sousa ( ; November 6, 1854 – March 6, 1932) was an American composer and conductor of the late Romantic era known primarily for American military marches. He is known as "The March King" or the "American March King", to dis ...

's ''

Washington Post March "The Washington Post" (often called "The Washington Post March") is a march composed by John Philip Sousa in 1889. Since then, it has remained as one of his most popular marches throughout the United States and many other countries. History ...

'' as the instrumental bridge.

Authorship and recording

In November 1966, on the flight back to England after a holiday in Kenya, McCartney conceived an idea in which an entire album would be role-played, with each of

assuming an alter-ego in the "Lonely Hearts Club Band", which would then perform a concert in front of an audience. The inspiration is said to have come when roadie

Mal Evans Malcolm Frederick Evans (27 May 1935 – 5 January 1976) was an English road manager and personal assistant employed by the Beatles from 1963 until their break-up in 1970. In the early 1960s, Evans was employed as a telephone engineer, and a ...

innocently asked McCartney what the letters "S" and "P" stood for on the pots on their in-flight meal trays, and McCartney explained it was for salt and pepper. This then led to the ''

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. Released on 26May 1967, ''Sgt. Pepper'' is regarded by musicologists as an early concept album that advanced the roles of sound composi ...

'' concept, as well as the song. The group's road manager, Neil Aspinall, suggested the idea of Sgt. Pepper being the compère, as well as the reprise at the end of the album. According to his diaries, Evans may have also contributed to the song.

John Lennon John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...

attributed the idea for Sgt. Pepper to McCartney, although the song is officially credited to

. The Beatles recorded the track in Abbey Road's studio 2, with

George Martin Sir George Henry Martin (3 January 1926 – 8 March 2016) was an English record producer, arranger, composer, conductor, and musician. He was commonly referred to as the " Fifth Beatle" because of his extensive involvement in each of the ...

producing, and

Geoff Emerick Geoffrey Ernest Emerick (5 December 1945 – 2 October 2018) was an English sound engineer and record producer who worked with the Beatles on their albums ''Revolver'' (1966), ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' (1967) and ''Abbey Road'' ...

engineering. Work on the song started on 1 February 1967, and after three further sessions the recording was completed on 6 March 1967.

Song structure

On the ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' album, the song opens to the sound of a chattering audience, and an orchestra tuning up, which was taken from the 10 February orchestra session for "A Day in the Life". The crowd sounds edited into the song were recorded in the early 1960s by Martin, during a live recording of the stage show '' Beyond the Fringe''. The band is then introduced by name. The song's structure is: #

Introduction Introduction, The Introduction, Intro, or The Intro may refer to: General use * Introduction (music), an opening section of a piece of music * Introduction (writing), a beginning section to a book, article or essay which states its purpose and ...

(instrumental) # Verse #

Bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually someth ...

(instrumental) #

Refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the v ...

#Bridge #Verse #Instrumental bridge and transition into "With a Little Help from My Friends". The song is in G major, with a meter. A horn

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

was used to fill out the instrumental sections.

Reprise

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is a modified

repeat Repeat may refer to: * Rerun, a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program * Repeated sequence (DNA), a pattern of nucleic acid (DNA or RNA) that occurs in multiple copies throughout the genome ** CRISPR * The smallest rectangle th ...

of the opening song at a faster tempo and with heavier instrumentation. The track opens with McCartney's count-in; between 2 and 3, Lennon jokingly interjects "Bye!"

Ringo Starr Sir Richard Starkey (born 7 July 1940), known professionally as Ringo Starr, is an English musician, singer, songwriter and actor who achieved international fame as the drummer for the Beatles. Starr occasionally sang lead vocals with the ...

starts the song proper by playing the drum part unaccompanied for four bars, at the end of which a brief bass glissando from McCartney cues the full ensemble of two distorted electric guitars (played by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician and singer-songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Indian c ...

and Lennon), bass, drums and overdubbed percussion. In addition, McCartney overdubbed a

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

part onto the track. While the first version of the song had stayed largely in the key of G major (except for transient modulation to F and perhaps C in the bridges), the reprise starts in F and features a

modulation In electronics and telecommunications, modulation is the process of varying one or more properties of a periodic waveform, called the '' carrier signal'', with a separate signal called the ''modulation signal'' that typically contains informat ...

, to G. The mono and stereo mixes of the song differ slightly: the former has a fractionally different transition from the previous song, and includes crowd noise and laughter in the opening bars that are absent from the stereo mix. The idea for a reprise was Aspinall's, who thought that, as there was a "welcome song", there should also be a "goodbye song". The song contains broadly the same melody as the opening version, but with different lyrics and omitting the ''"It's wonderful to be here"'' section. At 1:18, it is one of the Beatles' shorter songs (the shortest is " Her Majesty" at 0:23). The reprise was recorded on 1 April 1967, two months after the version that opens the album. At the end of the track, Martin's applause sample segues into the final track of the album, "A Day in the Life".

Releases

It was originally released in the UK on 26 May 1967, and in the US on 2 June 1967 on the ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' LP. When the Beatles' recording contract with EMI expired in 1976, EMI were free to re-release music from the Beatles' catalogue, and in 1978 issued "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"/"With a Little Help from My Friends" as the

A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

of a single, with "A Day in the Life" as the

B-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record compan ...

. The single was released on

Capitol A capitol, named after the Capitoline Hill in Rome, is usually a legislative building where a legislature meets and makes laws for its respective political entity. Specific capitols include: * United States Capitol in Washington, D.C. * Numerous ...

in the US on 14 August (closely following the release there of the ''

'' film), reaching number 71 on 30 September 1978 where it stayed for two weeks. The single was issued on

Parlophone Parlophone Records Limited (also known as Parlophone Records and Parlophone) is a German–British record label founded in Germany in 1896 by the Carl Lindström Company as Parlophon. The British branch of the label was founded on 8 August 192 ...

in the UK in September. The original recording of the song is included on the Beatles compilation albums ''

1967–1970 ''1967–1970'', also known as the Blue Album, is a compilation album of songs by the English rock band the Beatles, spanning the years indicated in the title. A double LP, it was released with ''1962–1966'' (the "Red Album") in April 1973. ...

'' (1973) and ''

Yellow Submarine Songtrack ''Yellow Submarine Songtrack'' is a compilation/soundtrack album by the English rock band the Beatles, released in 1999 to coincide with a re-release of the 1968 animated film '' Yellow Submarine'' that same year. The film was re-released on ...

'' (1999). A run-through of the reprise is included on the outtakes album ''

Anthology 2 ''Anthology 2'' is a compilation album by the Beatles, released on 18 March 1996 by Apple Records as part of ''The Beatles Anthology'' series. It features rarities, outtakes and live performances from the 1965 sessions for ''Help!'' to the sessi ...

'' (1996). In 2006, the reprise was re-released on the album ''

Love Love encompasses a range of strong and positive emotional and mental states, from the most sublime virtue or good habit, the deepest Interpersonal relationship, interpersonal affection, to the simplest pleasure. An example of this range of ...

'', which was a theatrical production by

Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, ; "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company and the largest contemporary circus producer in the world. Located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 16 ...

. The updated version is a remix featuring samples of other Beatles' songs and fades out before the cross-fade into "A Day in the Life". The notebook used by McCartney containing the lyrics for "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and other songs was put up for sale in 1998.

McCartney live performances and cover versions

In 1967,

played the song live at the Saville Theatre in Shaftesbury Avenue, which was leased by

Brian Epstein Brian Samuel Epstein (; 19 September 1934 – 27 August 1967) was a British music entrepreneur who managed the Beatles from 1962 until his death in 1967. Epstein was born into a family of successful retailers in Liverpool, who put him i ...

, only three days after it had been released on record, with McCartney and Harrison in the audience. Another live version by Hendrix recorded at the

Isle of Wight Festival The Isle of Wight Festival is a British music festival which takes place annually in Newport on the Isle of Wight, England. It was originally a counterculture event held from 1968 to 1970. The 1970 event was by far the largest of these early ...

was included on a posthumous live album, '' Blue Wild Angel: Live at the Isle of Wight''. "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" was never performed live by the Beatles. It was performed by three of the former band members (McCartney, Harrison and Starr) plus

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list o ...

on 19 May 1979, at Clapton's wedding party. Paul McCartney played the song live on the 1989–90 Paul McCartney World Tour. On subsequent tours he would play the reprise version and use that as a segue into " The End". When the performance is released, it usually is listed as "Sgt. Pepper's/The End", shortening the name of the song. When McCartney performs it, he usually adds the count-in ''after'' the drum part begins, as opposed to McCartney's count-in preceding the drum opening. In 1988,

hair metal Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and fi ...

band

Zinatra Zinatra was a Dutch hard rock band. The band released their debut album in 1988, which contained the single "Love or Loneliness", a song that was successful in the national music chart, peaking at #18. The following singles were " Somewhere" and ...

played the song at an arena tour in

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

where they opened for then-former

Van Halen Van Halen ( ) was an American rock band formed in Pasadena, California, in 1972. Credited with "restoring hard rock to the forefront of the music scene", Van Halen was known for its energetic live shows and for the virtuosity of its lead gu ...

frontman

David Lee Roth David Lee Roth (born October 10, 1954) is an American rock singer. Best known for his wild, energetic stage persona, he was the original lead vocalist of the hard rock band Van Halen across three stints, from 1974 to 1985, in 1996 and again fro ...

. Zinatra also covered part of the song under the title "Peppermania" on the band's 2004 version of their self-titled debut album. McCartney and U2 played the song at the start of the

Live 8 Live 8 was a string of benefit concerts that took place on 2 July 2005, in the G8 states and in South Africa. They were timed to precede the G8 conference and summit held at the Gleneagles Hotel in Auchterarder, Scotland, from 6–8 July 200 ...

concert in London's Hyde Park on 2 July 2005. The song, starting with ''"It was twenty years ago, today"'', was chosen among others to commemorate that Live 8 took place approximately twenty years after

Live Aid Live Aid was a multi-venue benefit concert held on Saturday 13 July 1985, as well as a music-based fundraising initiative. The original event was organised by Bob Geldof and Midge Ure to raise further funds for relief of the 1983–1985 fami ...

. The single was released for charity on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mu ...

, hitting number 48 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 and number 1 on the UK Downloads chart, setting a world record for the fastest-selling online song of all time. In 2007,

Bryan Adams Bryan Guy Adams (born 5 November 1959) is a Canadian musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and photographer. He has been cited as one of the best-selling music artists of all time, and is estimated to have sold between 75 million and mor ...

and Stereophonics recorded the album's two versions of the song for ''It Was 40 Years Ago Today'', a television film with contemporary acts recording the album's songs using the same studio, technicians and recording techniques as the original. On 4 April 2009, McCartney performed the song during a benefit concert at New York's

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue and theater at 1260 Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City. Nicknamed "The Showplace of the Nation", it is the headquarters for ...

and segued it into "With a Little Help From My Friends", sung by Starr. In 2009,

Cheap Trick Cheap Trick is an American rock band from Rockford, Illinois, formed in 1973 by guitarist Rick Nielsen, bassist Tom Petersson, lead vocalist Robin Zander and drummer Bun E. Carlos. The current lineup of the band consists of Zander, Nielsen a ...

released a

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records c ...

and DVD called ''

Sgt. Pepper Live ''Sgt. Pepper Live'' is a performance by the American rock band Cheap Trick with a full orchestra, released on August 25, 2009, in commemoration of the 42nd anniversary of the release of the historic album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Ban ...

'', which is a live performance of the entire original album, including the title song and reprise. In 2011,

Robbie Williams Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...

performed the song on

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

's Progress tour, replacing "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" with "Robbie Williams and the Take That Band", and "Mr Martin told the Band to play" – a reference to Take That's manager in the 1990s,

Nigel Martin-Smith Nigel Martin-Smith is a Manchester-based English musical band manager. He helped form the 1990s British boy band Take That. Biography Early career Martin-Smith entered the entertainment industry in the early 1980s working as a casting agent fro ...

. In 2013, the song was performed by

Ryder Lynn Ryder Lynn is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. The character is portrayed by actor Blake Jenner, and has appeared in ''Glee'' since its fifth episode of the fourth season, "The Role You Were Born to Pla ...

(

Blake Jenner Blake Alexander Jenner (born August 27, 1992) is an American actor. Jenner won the second season of Oxygen's ''The Glee Project'' and, as a result, portrayed Ryder Lynn on the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee''. He has since had starrin ...

Marley Rose Marley Rose is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series ''Glee''. The character is portrayed by actress Melissa Benoist, and has appeared in ''Glee'' since the premiere of the fourth season, "The New Rachel", first broadcas ...

(

Melissa Benoist Melissa Marie Benoist ( ; born October 4, 1988) is an American actress, singer and producer. Her first major role was Marley Rose on the Fox musical comedy drama '' Glee'' (2012–2014), where she was a series regular during the fifth season. ...

Jake Puckerman '' Glee'' is a musical comedy-drama television series that aired on Fox in the United States for six seasons from 2009 to 2015. It focuses on the high school glee club New Directions competing in the show choir competition circuit, while its me ...

(

Jacob Artist Jacob Artist (born October 17, 1992) is an American actor, singer, and dancer. He is best known for his roles as Jake Puckerman on the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee'' and as Brandon Fletcher on the ABC drama-thriller series '' Quanti ...

), and

Wade "Unique" Adams Unique Adams is a fictional character from the Fox musical comedy-drama series '' Glee'' who first appeared in "Saturday Night Glee-ver", the sixteenth episode of the show's third season. Portrayed by actor Alex Newell, Unique is notable for b ...

(

Alex Newell Alex Eugene Newell (born August 20, 1992) is an American actor and singer. They are known for their role as Unique Adams on the Fox musical series '' Glee'' and Mo on '' Zoey's Extraordinary Playlist''. Newell also starred as Asaka in the Broadw ...

) in the '' Glee'' episode "

Tina in the Sky with Diamonds "Tina in the Sky with Diamonds" is the second episode of the fifth season of the American musical television series ''Glee'', and the ninetieth episode overall. The episode was written and directed by series co-creator Ian Brennan and first air ...

". On 9 February 2014, during a tribute show commemorating the Beatles' first appearance on ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'', 50 years earlier, McCartney again sang "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" and Starr sang "

The Flaming Lips The Flaming Lips are an American psychedelic rock band formed in 1983 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The band currently consists of Wayne Coyne (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Steven Drozd (guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, vocals), Derek Brown (k ...

recorded the song on their track-for-track tribute album ''

With a Little Help from My Fwends ''With a Little Help from My Fwends'' is the second main album of the "Fwends" series by American rock band the Flaming Lips. It is a track-for-track tribute to the Beatles album ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'', with guest performers ...

'', released on 27 October 2014.

Glim Spanky is a Japanese rock band from Nagano Prefecture, consisting of vocalist and rhythm guitarist Remi Matsuo and lead guitarist Hiroki Kamemoto. Originally formed in 2007 as a quartet, the group became a duo in February 2010. Their name comes from ...

recorded a cover of the song for ''Hello Goodbye'', a 2016 tribute album to the Beatles.

Personnel

According to

Ian MacDonald Ian MacCormick (known by the pseudonym Ian MacDonald; 3 October 1948 – 20 August 2003) was a British music critic and author, best known for both '' Revolution in the Head'', his critical history of the Beatles which borrowed techniques from ...

Mark Lewisohn Mark Lewisohn (born 16 June 1958) is an English historian and biographer. Since the 1980s, he has written many reference books about the Beatles and has worked for EMI, MPL Communications and Apple Corps.

, Olivier Julien and Kevin Howlett, the line-up on the two Beatles recordings was as follows: Full version *

– lead vocal, bass guitar, lead guitar *

– harmony vocal, rhythm guitar *

– harmony vocal, lead/rhythm guitar *

– harmony vocal, drums *

– organ *

Neill Sanders Neill Joseph Sanders (24 November 1923 – 19 April 1992) was a British horn player, principal horn of the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the BBC Symphony Orchestra, and for 29 years a member of the Melos Ensemble. He was a professor at West ...

–

French horn The French horn (since the 1930s known simply as the horn in professional music circles) is a brass instrument made of tubing wrapped into a coil with a flared bell. The double horn in F/B (technically a variety of German horn) is the horn most ...

*James W. Buck – French horn *Tony Randell – French horn *John Burden – French horn Reprise *

– lead vocal, bass,

– lead vocal, rhythm guitar *

– lead vocal, lead guitar *

– lead vocal, drums, tambourine,

maraca A maraca (), sometimes called shaker or chac-chac, is a rattle which appears in many genres of Caribbean and Latin music. It is shaken by a handle and usually played as part of a pair. Maracas (from Guaraní ), also known as tamaracas, were ...

Certifications

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{Authority control The Beatles songs 1967 songs 1978 singles 2005 singles Bee Gees songs British hard rock songs British psychedelic rock songs Capitol Records singles Charity singles Live 8 Live singles Parlophone singles Paul McCartney songs Song recordings produced by George Martin Songs about fictional male characters Songs published by Northern Songs Songs written by Lennon–McCartney