259: Sgt. Pepper Olympiad

Comments

11 responses to “259: Sgt. Pepper Olympiad”

1. May 2, 2023

   Aaron Cates

   “Selling poppies from a tray…feels as though she’s in a play” – I always assumed this was a slight reference to Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”. The character starts out selling poppies in the street when she meets Henry Higgins. Given Paul’s love of musicals, I’d say there’s likely a connection there.

   Reply
2. May 3, 2023

   paul62

   Have a listen to this, Robert – “She’s Leaving Home” with George Martin’s alternate arrangement:
   https://soundcloud.com/user-435176804/shes-leaving-home-2023-alternate-version-by-paul62-v2

   Reply
3. May 3, 2023

   Tony

   1. Strawberry fields forever 2. A day in the life 3. Getting Better I think the first two have the most epic musical Codas of any Beatles song. Strawberry fields is my favorite song ever

   Reply
4. May 4, 2023

   mike

   Great episode — I think A Day In the Life is not just a homerun but a walk-off extra inning playoff grandslam that launched the ball out of the stadium and into orbit and broke pop science. It’s a majestic epic, like the suite in Abby Road. I think this advantage — along with the cool intro and reprise creating an ultimate sequencing — is why Peppers will always be my best (even over an album like Revolver that might have a higher average standard per individual song). If you were to add the two singles to it, then that would be just cruel. Thanks guys!

   Reply
5. May 5, 2023

   Matt

   Who performed the hard rock/metal version of Strawberry Fields Forever?

   Reply
   1. May 9, 2023

      Us

      These guys: https://youtu.be/bFHJYnVOlW0

      Reply
6. May 5, 2023

   Charles_I

   I was surprised that Robert took on Pepper as an Olympiad discussion given that he never wastes a chance to say how much he dislikes (hates?) this album for some reason – except that maybe he was too young to experience and appreciate it when it came out (which he has acknowledged).

   I have loved Sgt. Pepper since the first day I heard it on a massive stereo system in June of 1967.

   I never had any problem with She’s Leaving Home, or the harp or the rest of the arrangement and it certainly never stood out as being so totally out of place as it does to Robert. Furthermore, I had no idea it was not produced by George Martin until about 30 years after the album came out. (Why is it OK for the Beatles to include every instrument to embellish their records – except for the harp?)

   As far as his selection of songs to pull from Pepper to create a single in order to add Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields, I was shocked to hear him say that Mr. Kite doesn’t belong with the theme of the album because it’s too retro. And Gary agreed! What are the Beatles wearing on the cover? Modern military attire? To me, it is the song that most perfectly matches the theme of Sgt. Pepper’s – a brilliant mix of retro lyrics from the poster, and a psychedelic musical arrangement.

   And oddly enough, he says that When I’m 64 does go with the theme of Pepper, when there is nothing psychedelic about it – lyrically or musically.

   As they say in Penny Lane – very strange.

   Reply
7. May 7, 2023

   Brian

   I always thought the phrase Let me take you
   Down was a friendly invite thing.something like Hey, come on down to my place. The song as a whole does invoke darkness to me. Especially the
   Ending. That scared the crap out of me
   In the 80s when I first heard it. I was 8 years old at the time. Blue Album.

   Reply
8. May 9, 2023

   Jakob

   https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-63499325
   In this article you see prime minister Rishi Sunak selling poppies on a tray on Remembrance Day.
   He must feel like in a play (apparently by Harold Pinter; see Paul’s Lyrics book).
   The custum, to support the armed forces, started after WWI.
   The poppy ist used as as symbol for remembrance.
   After losing a comrade in Ypres 1915, the Canadian Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae (a doctor) war inspired by the sight of poppüies growing on the battlefield to write his poem “In Flanders Field”.

   Reply
9. May 30, 2023

   Alan Linfield

   While I agree that Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane would have enhanced Sgt. Pepper significantly, I’ve always had trouble understanding people who think that two other tracks from the Pepper sessions should have been on the single. Yes, I know the Beatles hadn’t released anything since Revolver (after releasing two albums per year in the UK from 1963 to 1965) and that Strawberry… and Penny… were amongst the first three tracks recorded, so in terms meeting the record company’s demands these were the two most logical candidates for the next big single. But what if the Beatles had pushed back and said, “Wait till we’ve finished everything. Then we’ll decide what goes on the single and what goes on the album.” Consider which songs were chosen for singles from other album sessions. I Feel Fine/She’s A Woman, Day Tripper/We Can Work It Out, Paperback Writer/Rain, Hey Jude/Revolution. Remember, they usually kept the singles and the album tracks separate. Suppose they had selected Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds and Lovely Rita for the single. Then many of us, myself included, would be complaining that Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane would have made a much better single, especially since they both reflect a nostalgia for the Liverpool of the Beatles’ youth. As it stands, it is the Beatles greatest single and certainly one of the greatest pairings of songs to ever grace a single.

   Reply
10. July 1, 2023

    Julie B

    I ☺️ your podcast & hats off as a Liverpudlian Beatles anorak even I don’t have 260+ episodes worth in me but your knowledge is second to none. I’ve just listened to 259 – The Sgt Pepper Olympiad & I am so annoyed. Penny Lane & Strawberry Fields are shoehorned in & yes they are of the era but they are not on Sgt Pepper. Because they are masterpieces of course they’re top 3. But you spend the podcast dismissing & criticising Fixing a Hole, Getting Better, She’s Leaving Home, Fixing a Hole, Rita, For the Benefit of Mr Kite, When I’m 64, Good Morning…. ie the actual album Sgt Pepper! The wonder that is Sgt Pepper tossed aside. Some of the takes were off too all the people didn’t turn away from the British army winning the war because they were afraid surely knowing the Beatles it was a commentary on the transience of public opinion & apathy to yesterday’s news.

    Reply