Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (song)

"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Song by the Beatles
from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Published	Northern Songs
Released	26 May 1967 (1967-05-26)
Recorded	1 February – 6 March 1967
Studio	EMI, London
Genre	Psychedelic rock, hard rock
Length	1:59 (opening track) 1:20 (Reprise)
Label	Parlophone, Capitol, EMI
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin

"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
Song by the Beatles
from the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
Released	26 May 1967
Recorded	1 April 1967 EMI Studios, London
Genre	Rock
Length	1:18
Label	Parlophone, Capitol, EMI
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Producer(s)	George Martin

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Song by the Beatles
B-side	"A Day in the Life"
Released	14 August 1978 (US) 30 September 1978 (UK)
Recorded	February–March 1967
Length	4:46
Label	Capitol 4612 (US) Parlophone R6022 (UK)
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
The Beatles UK singles chronology
"Back in the U.S.S.R." (1976) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1978) "The Beatles Movie Medley" (1982)
The Beatles US singles chronology
"Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" (1976) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" / "With a Little Help from My Friends" (1978) "The Beatles Movie Medley" (1982)

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
Song by Paul McCartney and U2
Released	2005
Recorded	2005
Label	iTunes
Songwriter(s)	Lennon–McCartney
Paul McCartney singles chronology
"Tropic Island Hum" / "We All Stand Together" (2004) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (2005) "Fine Line" (2005)
U2 singles chronology
"City of Blinding Lights" (2005) "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (2005) "One" (2005)

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" is a song credited to Lennon/McCartney, and released in 1967, on The Beatles' album of the same name. The song appears twice on the album: as the first song (transitioning into "With a Little Help from My Friends"), and as "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)", (which transitions into "A Day in the Life"). As the title track, the lyrics introduce the fictional band that performs in the album.

Since its original album release, the song has also been released on singles, on compilation albums, and has been performed by several other artists including Jimi Hendrix (such as at the Isle of Wight Festival 1970), U2, and a comic interpretation by Bill Cosby.

Song structure

On the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, the song opens to the sound of a loud audience, and an orchestra tuning up, which was taken from the February 10 orchestra session for "A Day in the Life". The crowd sounds edited into the song were recorded in the early '60s by Martin, during a live recording of the stage show Beyond the Fringe. When the song itself begins, the band introduces its members. The song is in G major, with a 4/4 meter. A horn quartet was used to fill out the instrumental sections.

Reprise

"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)" is a repeat of the song at a faster tempo with heavier instruments. While the first track stays largely in the key of G major (except for transient modulation to F and perhaps C in the bridges), the reprise starts in F and modulates back to G. The track opens with a distorted guitar strumming a "Hendrix chord" (dominant 7th sharp 9). McCartney counts 1-2-3-4, and between 2 and 3, Lennon says "bye!".

The idea for a reprise was Aspinall's, who thought that as there was a "welcome song", there should be a "goodbye song". The song contains the same melody as the opening version, but with different lyrics. At 1:18, it is one of the Beatles' shorter songs (the shortest is "Her Majesty" at 0:23). The reprise was recorded on 1 April 1967, two months after the version that opens the album. At the end of the track, Martin's pre-recorded applause sample segues into the real final track of the album, "A Day in the Life".

Personnel

Full version:

• Paul McCartney – vocal, bass, lead guitar
• John Lennon – harmony vocal, rhythm guitar
• George Harrison – harmony vocal, guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Session musicians – French horns

Reprise:

• Paul McCartney – vocal, organ, bass
• John Lennon – vocal, rhythm guitar
• George Harrison – vocal, lead guitar
• Ringo Starr – vocal, drums, tambourine, maracas

Personnel per Ian MacDonald

Other websites

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• Pollack, Alan W (21 November 1995). "Notes on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". Notes on ... Series.
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• "Sergeant Pepper's 40th Anniversary". BBC News. 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2007.
• "Sgt Pepper". The Beatles Interview Database. 2008. Retrieved 13 January 2008.
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• Spitz, Bob (2005). The Beatles: The Biography. New York: Little, Brown and Company. ISBN 1-84513-160-6.
• Wallgren, Mark (1982). The Beatles on Record. New York: Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0-671-45682-2.