Today marks the 50th anniversary of the release of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band in North America (it was released in the UK on May 26, 1967). The LP has been reissued in both vinyl and CD formats including outtakes.
Sgt. Pepper is considered not only the greatest Beatles album ever made, it is often considered the greatest album ever made in the history of rock 'n roll. It is probably the most important album in the history of rock 'n roll as it marked the birth of the concept album. A concept not only in song, but in The Beatles adopting different personas and the iconic figures on the album cover. Until then, rock 'n roll records were viewed as a collection of singles.
But Sgt. Pepper is not my favorite Beatles' album. For me, it's Abbey Road with The White Album coming a close second. In February 2014, to mark the 50th anniversary of The Beatles coming to America, I wrote an article for The American Spectator listing my 50 favorite Beatles songs. Only two songs from Sgt. Pepper made the grade - "A Day in The Life" and "Lovely Rita". But musical favorites can be fungible and I suppose if I were to write the list again I might add "She's Leaving Home." Of course, when I don't hear a Beatles song for any length of time (and I haven't been cause you can't access most of their material on YouTube), I am reminded of just how good they were when I hear them again. This was the case yesterday when I listened to "Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds" on my phone. Ringo's drumming is quite good and their harmonies might very well be at their very finest.
That Sgt. Pepper is still listened to and discussed with such passion 50 years after its release tells us both of the greatness of The Beatles and of the mediocrity of popular music in the early 21st Century.
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