Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Article from 1967
The 41-piece orchestra, as it turned out, consisted mostly of members of
the New Philharmonia, who had trouble following the recipe
Unaccustomed to
ad-libbing, they had to be cajoled by John and Paul, who threaded among the
musicians, urging them to play at different tempos and to please try not to stay
together. Partly as a result of filling that "gap," the Sgt. Pepper album cost
three months of work and $56,000--which is about as much as it costs to record
five albums for London's New Philharmonia Orchestra.
Sound Pictures. Such recording practices are early steps in a brand-new field.
George Martin, the producer whose technical midwifery is helping to make the
steps possible, likens them to the shift from representational painting to
abstractionism. "Until recently," he says, "the aim has been to reproduce sounds
as realistically as possible. Now we are working with pure sound. We are
building sound pictures."
In fact, some observers predict that "sound pictures" may prove to be the medium
through which the Beatles--and the more adventurous rock groups in their
wake--can merge with "classical" contemporary music. Already, says Robert Tusler,
who teaches 20th century music at U.C.L.A., "the Beatles have taken over many of
the electronic concepts in music that have been worked on by the German
composers of the Cologne group. They've made an enormous contribution to
electronic music."
Whatever else it comes to, the Beatles' approach to recording Sgt. Pepper will
serve as a model for future sessions. And the boys themselves will be commanding
more and more of the technical operations. "We haven't pushed George Martin out
of the engineers' booth," says McCartney, "but we've become equals. The music
has more to do with electronics now than ever before. To do those things a few
years ago was a bit immoral. But electronics is no longer immoral."
In their other enterprises too, the Beatles are reaching out for total artistic
autonomy. They are talking about directing their next film themselves. Last week
they careened through the southwest English countryside filming Magical Mystery
Tour, an hour-long TV special, for worldwide broadcast during the Christmas
season. They are not only providing music but writing, directing, producing and
financing as well. When it is wrapped up to their satisfaction, they will offer
it to the highest bidder. And they have already written songs--later this year
they may do a full score--for a forthcoming feature-length animated cartoon
based on Yellow Submarine.
Filling the Gap. Unlike the occasional celebrity who grows to believe his own
publicity and uses it as a license, the Beatles have maintained their good humor
and, apart from toying with drugs, their exemplary behavior. But fame and
instant millions also have a way of inflicting private agonies on public
personalities. The Beatles' current solution is spiritualism, specifically
"transcendental meditation," as propounded by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, 56, a tiny,
cherubic seer with shoulderlength locks. The yogi, unfortunately, is somewhat
less than lucid when it comes to describing his insights. Two 30-minute sessions
of transcendental meditation a day, he says, enable a person to perceive the
divinity within himself. "It is the direct, simple and natural way of coming to
That." What's That? Replies Maharishi: "I am That, you are That, all this is
That."
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