Beatlantis: 10} Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967)

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (June, 1967, Timaeus)

< file under Beatles In Atlantis >

~ an approximation of this album, using latest remix, can be heard here on Apple Music ~

With Revolver[s] making such big waves across Atlantean arts, the follow-up album was awaited with great anticipation. It was not, however, received with matching enthusiasm.

Tivowr Dorna was worried about such a reaction, since his own response upon hearing the material was mixed.

Based on title, cover art, early commentary he'd seen from aboveseas press, and the promise of the opening song, Dorna expected a concept to play out across both sides. His expectations were not met. Instead, there was very little connecting the songs beyond the lack of gaps between them. Also, between the stirring opening title track introductory medley with the rousing With a Little Help from My Friends and the astonishing final number, A Day in the Life, much of the material was not, in his mind, quite up to the exceedingly high standards set across 14 songs on previous LP. What followed proved, as ever, that he was the perfect choice to package and pitch the Beatles to his nation: public and critical response widely mirrored his initial reaction. He really did have his webbed fingers on the pulse of Atlantean music tastes. He was so trepidatious about the album's reception he took the unprecedented step of greatly limiting the initial pressing run. 

Though less impressed on a song-by-song basis, as with Revolver[s] Dorna saw Pepper's tracklist as sacrosanct. Leaving song selection alone meant that in the album-only market of Atlantis, most fans would not hear the landmark tracks Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane until well after Sgt. Pepper's arrived, though elsewhere they preceded the album's release by months.

Pepper's was the first and only eligible Beatles LP not to top the Surface Spring!Summer Seven poll of best midyear foreign albums in the influential Atlantis Tide Monthly, the de facto guidebook to popular culture, placing second behind The Velvet Underground & Nico which was widely embraced by Atlanteans who praised its portrayal of surface life which contrasted the rosy vibe of much of the material brought in from the so-called Summer of Love. Still, the number two slot is high placement and the album was widely enjoyed even if it didn't blow the seabreathers' minds the way it rocked the rest of the fabs' audience. 

One less than complementary reviewer took the thin framework of a concept and hung his negative one-line review right on it: "Sgt. Pepper's Old-Time Combo Quartet are all well and good," wrote national treasure and acerbic scribe Zimnfr Syrnq, "but I sorta miss that rock 'n' band they kinda look like."

In the Tide Monthly's own Underwater and Underwhelmed: The Beatles Finally Float To the Surface, a consortium of critics convened to consider this latest long-player similarly exhorted "Bring Back The Beatles" and bemoaned the diminished songwriting input of George Harrison, whose increased contributions and prominence on Revolver[s] — getting the opening track, no less — hinted at increasing parity with John and Paul and had helped elevate that previous album to new heights. Nonetheless, the joint review ended by acknowledging that the album opens with a lot of heart and closes with an undeniable masterpiece, while in between, a splendid time really is guaranteed for. "Sure, it isn't much of a concept, but we don't need one anyway. It's just not Revolver[s], is all; but then, what is?"

Noticing how imports of the mono UK LP were far outpacing previous Beatle imports, apparently spurred on by word of mouth reaching beyond the usual niche import fan circle, and realizing some of the more complementary reviews referenced a preference for the mono mix, Dorna reconsidered his initial reaction and reached for the mono reference tape he'd been sent. He immediately recognized it as more powerful: here, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band still sounded and felt like "that rock 'n' band they kinda look like." But he doubted it would be wise to try to sell his stereo-centric nation on a mono release. A solution sprang to mind. Dorna had recently, per their preserved correspondence, sent George Martin a fully functional prototype of Timaeus' world-first digital audio workstation - an example of Atlantis' highly advanced technology - the 64 track capable Pod Click Train. Dorna contacted Martin and asked that he, in secrecy, transfer the Pepper's multitracks to the Pod Click Train for secure shipping back to Atlantis. Intrigued, and appreciative of Dorna entrusting him with such an electronic wonder, Martin happily obliged. Upon receipt of the digitally duped multis, Dorna set about remixing a stereo version that retained the power and attention to detail evinced by the mono mix, while replicating a couple smoother transitions from the original stereo mix. Turns out his initial limited run strategy paved an avenue for an almost immediate reassessment of the album: as soon as the short run first pressing was gone — a large percentage of which had been allocated to prerelease promo copies for reviewers and others in the media — Atlantean shelves were stocked with this remixed version. Album sales soared, and though still seen as a slight creative dip in comparison to the album's predecessor, the record was a hit. It is speculated that decades later, when Martin's son Giles remixed Pepper's into stereo with an eye and an ear on the revered original mono mix, he was aware, from his father, of this successful Atlantean precedent. 

For an especially limited run, while remixing to stereo Dorna also prepared from the album's multitracks the world's first 5.1 mix, to be played back on a new three-needle surround turntable playback system. The multi-needle carrier proved too finicky for consumer use, and with development of their digital audio tech increasing rapidly, Timaeus abandoned this triple-stylus system. From the single extant review, it seems the 5.1 mix was very similar to Dorna's stereo remix, though spread across five channels.

Owing to Atlantis' short-lived ban on surface photography, the famed front cover was replaced by a painting of the same

Side one

1.     Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band †

2.     With a Little Help from My Friends †

3.     Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds †

4.     Getting Better †

5.     Fixing a Hole †

6.     She's Leaving Home †

7.     Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite †

Side two

1.     Within You Without You †

2.     When I'm Sixty-Four †

3.     Lovely Rita †

4.     Good Morning Good Morning †

5.     Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise) †

6.     A Day in the Life †

All tracks stereo (or surround), Tivowr Dorna's {lost} remixes. 

† Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band stereo (or 5.1) remix {Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band: 50th Anniversary Edition; 2017} 

next: 11} Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

previous: 09} Revolvers (1966)