Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: The Album, the Beatles, and the World in 1967

"The Beatles saved the world from boredom." George Harrison."Maybe calling it the summer of love was a bit too easy; but it was a golden summer." Paul McCartney."You could just pick up the vibes, man." George Harrison.With the 50th Anniversary of "Sgt. Pepper's" and the multi-disc reissue of that album, you would expect there will be books published about that album. One of the first is this book written by Brian Southall who was an EMI press officer and who has written about the Beatles previously. The four "stars" breaks down into three "stars" for the book and a fourth "star" for nostalgia's sake. I just got sucked in, so to each his own.The book is divided into parts "A" and "B". Part "A" is basically a rehash of the Beatles life as a band. But as a Beatles fan I still enjoy reading about the early days leading up to and including the making of "Sgt. Pepper's", but there's nothing really new here. Included are succinct one page essays on each of the Beatles plus Brian Epstein and George Martin. The album itself is dissected song by song which, while having nothing truly new, is still fun to read. Southall does a good job in breaking down the songs without getting technical. This section of the book (as in the entire book) is full of photos--some you've seen, some not regularly seen--that help define the text. There's a short chapter on the making of the album cover which is pretty interesting including photos of artist Peter Blake at work, and a picture of the gnomes used on the cover which are pretty cool, plus a photo of artist Jann Haworth who created the dolls used on the cover. A chapter on how the album was received by the public and how advanced copies of the album took many by surprise covers that part of the story.The "B" side of the book looks at the era of 1967 in general, beginning with 1966 and how it influenced 1967. From fashion, to sports, to politics, to the rise of psychedelia, to music, this section of the book gives a good grounding on how the world was when this album exploded. The year is broken down month by month with side-bars focusing on the Rolling Stones, the Monkees, the single "Strawberry Fields Forever"/"Penny Lane", to Elvis, the movie "Blow-Up", and other interesting topics. But it's the photos in this section that really bring home some of what it was like back then. All in all this section of the book is like a mini history lesson that hits many of the high points, musical and otherwise, of 1967.This is a book especially for those who weren't around in '67 and want to get some understanding of the album's impact, and what life was like half a century ago. I was at a good age during this era and remember most of the things covered in the book. But it's still fun to "go back" and relive that period when everything (including music) seemed to be in flux and so new and exciting. It's a good combination of information on the "Sgt. Pepper's" album and that whole period that can never be repeated. Deep Beatles fans may not find this to be essential (but it's still pretty cool to read), but people who weren't around then may get a better idea of life through both the breakdown of the album's songs, the Beatles themselves, and the section dealing with events in 1967. I was all set not to like this book because of the rehash of information. But I found myself getting sucked in anyway. After all--it is the Beatles and the "Sgt. Pepper's" album--and '67 was a pretty wild year. Not a totally essential book but nice to have on the shelf of Beatles' books."It was a nice year with the weather and the music. There were fun gatherings in the parks where people got together for a smoke and a good time."

The book behind the making of the album arrived about three weeks before the new release of the Pepper album did which was more than enough time for this Beatlesholic (spelling?) to read, re-read and re-re-read this terrifically written behind the music look at any and every aspect of the making of the world's best rock music album of all time. Yeah, I was fifteen years old when I slid the shrink wrap off the most amazing record cover I think I had ever seen only to discover the music on the album inside left everything else behind so I hope I can be forgiven for the stridency of my assertion about the album. An old fan says thanks! ;-)

great product. fast shipping would buy from them again. THANKS!!!

Exactly as described and delivered in a timely fashion.

Music love it

Holding up my shelf.

Because it is the Beatles!

Excellent book.

At nearly 200 pages, This book is packed with info. The first 35 pages are a brief history of the band. The next 50 pages are about the recording on Sargent Pepper and the next 100 pages are all about what happened around the world in the year the album was recorded which includes music that was in the charts so you can get an idea of the world in which the album was released. If you're a Beatles fan and have read a book or two about them, you may find you already know a lot of the stuff. A detailed account of the recording already exists in Mark Lewisohn's Abbey Road Recording Sessions which you might find better value. Having said that, This is well written and presented. It's not worth the origional price of £20, especially when compared to what you get in Lewisohn's book but it's defiantly worth getting cheap.

Excellnet hard to find. Arrived on time and as described

Good

Fab

Nothing new!