European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 30, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse By Lee Mitgang associated press r Ock musicians from the rolling stones tothe temptations embraced it like mag following some Bright naw Star. Leonar Bernstein Wilh straight face ranked it wit the works of Schubert and Schumann. A turned on generation tirelessly dissected its 39 minutes and iwo seconds for hidden meanings. Teeny Dop pars argued like talmudic scholars Over its real and imagined nuances. 1 was so years ago. On june 1967, thai the beatles released the album sol. Peppers lonely hearts club band. The summer of love had found its an fiem. This alternately melancholy terrifying and exhilarating record captured As no other the Complex textures of its Lime a supercharged Corr sively contradictory summer when hippies grooved at the Monterey pop festival Black emotions exploded in riots in Detroit and Newark and a War grew bloodier in Vietnam. Youthful listeners somehow heard All of this in sgt. Pepper an album whose themes included Eastern culture Sweet and terrifying psychedelic fantasies the widening Gulf Between Young and old and above Al loneliness sgt. Pepper sold 2.5 million records in its first three months and stayed on the charts for a staggering 113 weeks. Capitol records estimates he album s worldwide sales at 15 million since 1367. One record retailer Tower records swi Sells about 100 copies a month a respectable total Lor a contemporary album and extraordinary for a 20-year old one later Rock albums such As the Bee gees saturday night fever and Michael Jackson s thriller eclipsed it in sales and not a single Cul from the up Ever became a top-40 hit. But "sg1. Pepper endures As Rock s True classic because of its musical ambitious Ness what in says Aboul the pain and loneliness of growing up still touches the heart. When in first arrived most critics acclaimed it a masterpiece far beyond what Rock had Ever known the first and finest concept it is a verdict that apparently endures. British pop writer Paul Gambaccini in a new Book critics Choice the top to Rock n Rou albums of All time polled 81 British German and american disc jockeys and critics. Still the Champ after 20 years sol. Capitol records is Belling that the current generation of record buyers still feels thai Way. It is releasing sol Pepper As a compact disc on june 1 to Mark the Alburn s 20th anniversary. The co will contain a two second snatch of laughter and gibberish heretofore contained Only on european versions of the album and a High frequency note at the end of the album audible Only to dogs the inspiration according to Capitol of animal Lover Paul Mccartney. Alter All these years critics and Rock fans continue to debate whether sol. Pepper remains the greatest album Ever or even the bes t beatle album. Some beatle fans and in pics make Strong cases for landmark album that made Rock respect Al rubber soul or Abbey Road Gambaccini picks revolver the album immediate preceding sol others have put Bob Dylan s finest works such As blonde on Brontie in iha1 same Clara. In a new Book was Twenty years ago today by former beatle publicist Derek Taylor Ringo Star is said to prefer Abbey Road. The rolling Stone Fleword guide Lor one takes a dim View of sol. Pepper calling it a somewhat still collection of generally less than great beatles tunes vaguely folded into a whole and also concluded that Abbey Road was better. The mothers of invention Rock s most irreverent group produced a Devala tingly funny parody album in 1968 titled we re Only in h for Money satirizing the pretensions of sgt. Pepper right Down to its Lancy album cover. Of that devilishly Clever album cover. It was the first to contain printed lyrics a declaration of sorts that Here at last were Rock lyrics Worth Reading. And it quickly became a parlor game to name All the pop figures that peopled i. Of course since Mccartney was the Only Beatte pictured backwards on the album cover that meant Paul was Lead right for the cover we came up with a list of our heroes like Oscar Wilde Marlon Brando. Dylan Thomas Aldous Huxley Lenny Mccartney says in Taylor s Book. Everyone had their Choice. It was really o say who we liked in was Aboul time we Lei out the fact that we liked Aldous Huxley that was t he sort of thing we d talked Aboul Bolo re. No one had Ever asked us in an Harrison recently recalled we All wrote Down he people we liked t had a few Indian Yogi s and also Gandhi Lenny Bruce and Carl Jung they were people who meant something to the late John Lennon Tongue in Cheek wanted to include Adoll Hitler on the cover but dropped the idea. Sgt. Pepper Cost a then unheard of 575,000 to produce arid much of il3 technical wizardry was duo to he beatles Long Lime producer George Martin. They spared no expense to capture musically the image of an old carnival with Complex dubbing and mixing of Organ music on Lennon s song or. Kite. It look 341-piece orchestra create the album s unforgettable finale a Day in the life a chilling sad musical voyage inspired by some mundane newspaper items i read the news today of boy ii winds up with an orchestra Crescendo that can Only be described As a cacophonous scale finally concluding with a 40 second Long piano chord. She s leaving Home a tearful Ballad about a Young girl breaking away from her parents was an evocation in the 60s of he deep misunderstandings Between parents and their children that remains no less poignant today 1 we gave her most of our lives sacrificed Moslo our lives fun is Trie one Irvng Piaf Money can there were enough drug references for those looking for them. Some o the plants on the Day la ish jacket cover took suspiciously like marijuana plants though album Ari isl Peter Blake insists in Taylor s Book that they were just plants from a regular there also wore lyrics i d Tove to urn you on and a character named Harry the horse in the song. Or. Kile a veiled reference Many thought to heroin. Not everyone believed Lennon when he swore that Lucy in the sky wish diamonds was simply a song inspired by a childhood drawing by his son Julian. Lucy sky diamonds l-s-0, fight but sgt. Pepper is hardly just acid the Bealles were too tev a to Dale themselves with blatant psychedelia preferring innuendo instead. Lennon ridiculed the seemingly endless search for hidden meanings in a 1969 interview All thai symbolism exists in people s minds. If an intellectual sees intellectual crap in it it s there. And if a drug addict sees drug crap in it it s there but for instance the title. Lucy in the sky with diamonds really was t Ltd. And the other song which an Anthem Tor the summer at Iov the bm0m in 19671 lonely heard club band album Pool Mccartney a a Page 14 the stars and stripes John Lennon left Ringo Starr George Harrison Paul t saturday m
