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(c) Ian Hammond 1999
All rights reserved

I couldn't agree more. I don't need to work out whether Pepper is better or worse than Revolver or Abbey Road. I can have all three. But, Pepper is different.

Pepper is vividly colorful, full of interesting sounds: audiences, tamboura, stretching tom toms,plucked pianos, harpsichords, mouth organs, harps, a complete circus, George's portrait of India, a woodwind ensemble, a brass band, one small zoo, tissue & combs, mouth pops: a   continuous wash of very trippy sounds across the whole album (Lennon later called Mr Kite a beautiful watercolor). Each intro stands out. Every outro is interesting.

The biggest of all these noises is the amazing climax in A Day In The Life. Somehow it sounds a lot better than 20 musicians just running up their instruments (which is how it would have sounded if anyone else had tried to record it as such). The Beatles could do no wrong in the
studio in 1967. But, they had to imagine these sounds in the first place: they rarely just mucked around looking for a sound.

Pepper has a better mix for me than the White Album or Abbey Road. Listen to the start of each track and count how few  instruments are actually being used. Often just bass, drums and one other instrument. Often less (just an organ or a harp). With few instruments competing for space in a limited audio spectrum there's lots of space for the vocal. You hear ALL the timbre of the lead vocal on almost every track. More space, more message (more echo).

McCartney always added interesting backing harmony to Beatle tracks. What is unique about Pepper is the size and scope of the contribution Lennon makes in this area. He sings his heart out. He dominates the chorus on the title tracks, duets on With A Little Help, adds
countermelodies to Getting Better and Rita, adds instrumental vocal parts to With A Little Help, When I'm 64 and Rita. Their little duet in the chorus and coda of She's Leaving Home is priceless: McCartney and Lennon singing together tenderly. Lennon even sounds relaxed ("bye bye" indeed). Parlour music.

The Summer Of Love
1967 was an amazing year where (one part of) the world felt that it could change everything. Pepper reflects that sentiment with a set of optimistic songs which deal with friendship rather than romantic love. Pepperland is a nice place to be.

Perhaps real magic of 1967 was that it led two very competitive, highly strung and deeply self-protective songwriters to drop their guards long enough to produce the songs that make up Sgt Pepper together. Lennon and McCartney were also swept along by the whiter shades of 1967.

The pair collaborated closely only twice: First to get out three crucial singles (From Me To You, She Loves You and I Want To Hold Your Hand) and second to create this album. Pepper truly is their collective masterpiece (and there are few disputes about who wrote what on this album, because they really worked as a team).

If you want to find Beatle tracks where Lennon or McCartney sang each bits written by the other, the big answer is Pepper:

Two Lennon tracks, Mr Kite and Good Morning, along with Harrison's Within You Without You fill out the album. McCartney plays the guitar solo on both Lennon tracks.

The outcome of these collaborations are clear: two huge peaks of contemporary popularity. The first being the ravages of Beatlemania, the second a decisive moment in Western history when the world went Pepper-crazy. They were dynamite when they really worked together. That's something that colors Pepper from start to end, and repaints the mood of 1967 every time it goes on the turntable: Pepper is a time capsule. Open it to find Peace, Love and Understanding.

So, get out those headphones, darken the room...


Many thanks to Neohippie (Mandy) for permission to reprint her post.