No Subject

[Neil Calton <nbc@vd.rl.ac.uk>]

>[From Rossi:]

> Now on Sgt. Pepper's commentary.  I am having trouble seeing what
> Sgt. Pepper has really acomplished which has had such an impact on
> modern pop/rock.  It was a good album by an OK English band.
  			                      ****************

This is a wind-up isn't it. Tell me your only extracting the Michael.
OK English band? Yea, and Kate is an average songstress, Dylan an
out-of-tune folksinger, Presley a stand-up balladeer, Chuck Berry a
bar-room crooner, Otis Redding had no soul, Buddy Holly couldn't write
a decent tune, and the Rolling Stones were a bunch of choirboys. OK
some of the Beatles music now appears dated to those who graduated on
the Sex Pistols but they (and a few others) changed what was
acceptable in the music business. In terms of the amount of thought
and effort that went into producing every part of Sgt.  Pepper from
music to sleeve design it was a revolution and it came at a time when
people were crying out for something different from their staid
everyday life.

The Beatles and producer George Martin constructed a record which
influenced millions of people - some of whom became musicians later
and who were "turned-on" by the sounds and images they discovered on
Sgt.  Pepper. The Beatles may not have been the best group ever or
Sgt. Pepper the greatest album of all time (though one could argue on
both these claims) but it was undoubtedly a huge influence on a
generation. In a recent documentary people like Ginsberg, Leary,
McGuinn, Abbie Hoffman, et al. spoke about the impact that Sgt. Pepper
had on their lives.

> What people fail to see is that there were a lot of things going on
> in '67 which could have equally been direct [...]

Sure a lot of things happened in 1967 but they did not take place in
isolation.  The Beatles were exchanging ideas with all kinds of people
like The Byrds, Dylan The Stones, Hendrix etc. Prior to Sgt Pepper the
Revolver album and the Strawberry Fields single had already pioneered
new ground in recording techniques and were making people look towards
the Beatles for inspiration.

> oops the line is going

It's an act of God - (s)he couldn't put up with your heresy 8-)

Be seeing you.