(thing) by Mercuryblues Thu Jan 30 2003 at 8:25:23

Here, I will focus on the instrumentation and other technical details of The Beatles' eighth album (Britsh Release):

Overall: Recorded between December 6, 1966 and April 3, 1967, with the gibberish at the end recorded on April 21. Released on June 1, 1967. This was the first album recorded since the Beatles retired from touring, and it shows that their efforts are entirely devoted to the studio. It was also the first one not to be butchered by US record companies. It was recorded with the idea of mimicking a live performance to some extent, and the space between tracks on the album were smaller than any before it. It took more than 700 hours and $75,000 to complete Sgt. Pepper. To give a radically new feel, all vocals and instruments were recorded with at least some sort of studio manipulation, and the studio was a laboratory of sorts for sound experimentation.

  1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band...Recorded on February 1, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubs on February 2 and March 3 and 6. This marked the first time a bass drum was tampered with in order to produce an effect with any musical value of its own. This is common practice nowadays. Audience sounds were dubbed in to simulate live performance.
  2. With a Little Help From My Friends...Recorded on March 29, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubs March 30.
    • McCARTNEY: bass, piano, backing vocal
    • LENNON: backing vocal
    • HARRISON: tambourine
    • STARR: drums, lead vocal
  3. Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds...Recorded on March 1, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubs added March 2.
    • McCARTNEY: bass, Hammond organ, harmony vocal
    • LENNON: lead guitar, lead vocal
    • HARRISON: sitar, harmony vocal
    • STARR: drums
  4. Getting Better...Recorded on March 9, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubbing March 10, 21, and 23.
    • McCARTNEY: bass, lead and backing vocal
    • LENNON: lead guitar, backing vocal
    • HARRISON: lead guitar, tamboura, backing vocal
    • STARR: drums, bongos
    • George Martin: piano (striking the strings instead of the keys)
  5. Fixing a Hole...Recorded on February 9, 1967 at Regent Sound Studio, and overdubbed on February 21 at Abbey Road.
    • McCARTNEY: bass, lead guitar, harpsichord, lead vocal
    • LENNON: maracas, backing vocal
    • HARRISON: lead guitar and solo (double-tracked)(Sonic Blue Fender Stratocaster, tremolo model), backing vocal
    • STARR: drums
  6. She's Leaving Home...Recorded on March 17, 1967 at Abbey Road, with vocals overdubbed March 30. the Beatles play no instruments on the track, and the vocals are double-tracked so that they sound like a quartet.
    • McCARTNEY: lead and backing vocal
    • LENNON: lead and backing vocal
    • Session musicians: strings, harp
  7. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!...Recorded on February 17, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubbing February 20 and March 28, 29, and 31. Martin got some tapes of old Victorian organs, asked the engineer to cut them up in sections and put them together randomly for the background music. The last half of McCartney's guitar solo was on an acoustic with its tone altered.
  8. Within You Without You...Recorded on March 15, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubbing March 22 and April 3.
  9. When I'm Sixty-Four...Recorded on December 6, 1966 at Abbey Road, with overdubs added December 8, 20, and 21
    • McCARTNEY: bass, piano, lead and backing vocal
    • LENNON: lead guitar (Sunburst Epiphone Casino), backing vocal
    • HARRISON: backing vocal
    • STARR: drums
    • Session musicians: bass clarinet, two clarinets,
  10. Lovely Rita...Recorded on February 23, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubs on February 24 and March 7 and 21. The funny noises are toilet paper through metal combs.
    • McCARTNEY: bass, piano, comb and paper, lead and backing vocal
    • LENNON: acoustic guitar, comb and paper, backing vocal
    • HARRISON: acoustic guitar, comb and paper, backing vocal
    • STARR: drums
    • George Martin: honky-tonk piano
  11. Good Morning, Good Morning...Recorded on February 8, 1967 at Abbey Road, with overdubbing on February 16 and March 13, 28, and 29. The animal sounds come from a sound-effects disc. the chicken clucking sound was used by Martin to segue into the Sgt. Pepper reprise.
  12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) See above "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band".
    • McCARTNEY: bass, lead vocal
    • LENNON: lead guitar, maracas, lead vocal
    • HARRISON: lead guitar, lead vocal
    • STARR: drums
  13. A Day in the Life...Recorded on January 19, 1967(basic track -- Lennon and McCartney on guitar and piano) and on Febeuary 10, 1967 (orchestral track) at Abbey Road, with the one-chord ending overdubbed February 22. Lennon's voice is recorded with tape echo. During the middle McCartney part, Mal Evans' voice can be heard counting keeping time by counting off the bars as he stood by the piano. He set an alarm clock to go off after twenty-four bars, and that can be heard too. McCartney wanted an orchestra to "freak out" during the connecting bars, and Lennon wanted the sound to rise up and "sound like the end of the world". The result was a forty-one piece orchestra. The score Martin wrote called for each instrument to go from its highest to lowest note possible in twenty-for bars. McCartney instructed the musicians to play as out of tune and out of time as possible, and repeated tries were needed to get the desired chaos. The final piano chord needed to last as long as possible, and the recording equipment was turned up so high about twenty-four seconds into it, that the studio's air conditioners were audible. The chord was played on three pianos which were struck as hard as possible simultaneously. The Mellotron, a keyboard that electronically produces programmed taped sounds, was used for the first time ever , and would later be standard for rock bands.
    • McCARTNEY: lead vocals on the middle section, piano on basic track, bass, three pianos at the end of orchestral track, conducts the 41-piece orchestra
    • LENNON: lead vocals, Gibson J-160E acoustic guitar on basic track, lead guitar at the beginning of orchestral track, three pianos at the end of orchestral track
    • HARRISON: bongos, three pianos at the end of orchestral track
    • STARR: maracas, tympani, three pianos at the end of orchestral track
    • George Martin: harmonium
    • Mal Evans: alarm clock, three pianos at the end of orchestral track

Other singles from this period:

My sources are Beatlesongs by William J. Dowlding (©1989) and The Beatles Anthology, by "The Beatles" (©2000).

I like it! 1 C!