Studio sessions
1 February 1967
2 February 1967
3 March 1967
6 March 1967
The beginning of the show, complete with orchestra tuning up (an actual outtake from the tuning for "A Day In The Life"). Paul invites us, for the first and only time, into the Band's party; notice how, in just two minutes(!), Paul gives us the band's history, its pledge of service, its love for the audience, and builds up an intro for Ringo. Who said Paul couldn't write theatrically? George's blazing lead and Paul's chunky bass made this one of the Fabs' heaviest songs, so much so that Hendrix covered it live. The very next day.
Studio sessions
29 March 1967
30 March 1967
31 March 1967
7 April 1967
Original Title: Bad Finger Boogie
Absolutely Ringo's best moment, the summation of all that he is. Not because, as some cynics have stated, the other lads "carried" him musically (an untruth), but because Ringo could finally take the lovable sad-sack persona of his and make us envious of it. Written by Paul and John specifically for him. (And the working title WAS from where Paul got the band name Badfinger.)
Studio sessions
28 February 1967
1 March 1967
2 March 1967
3 March 1967
7 April 1967
1 November 1967
Recorded at various speeds to get that disorienting, true psychedelic feeling, this John number was the first time he was really able to use his Carrollian love of wordplay in a serious vein. The song's NOT about LSD: it was inspired by a documented drawing shown to John by his son Julian. And while John denied the acid implications, the song is dealing with a heightened state of consciousness. And note the emphasis on the word "high". (John would later state that this song was recorded to simply and point to Elton John's 1974 hit version as the way it should've sounded. Your call.)
Studio sessions
9 March 1967
10 March 1967
21 March 1967
23 March 1967
17 April 1967
The absolute best example of John and Paul's synergy. Perhaps no other song in music perfectly balances optimism and pessimism in such a fashion; certainly no other song makes the combination sound so damned appealing. Everything sung by the pair is exactly as written, and the verses ping-ponged between Paul's whimsy ("Me used to be angry young man") and John's grit ("I used to be mean to my woman, I beat her"). Note George's new influence on the band in the tambourra-flavored breakdown!
A wistful little reminiscence by Paul that's not quite up to the standard of what precedes it. Still a great song, with Paul's resolution to keep a stiff uppper lip balanced by the moodiness of the chords. Musically, it's sort of like a psychedelic "Michelle", if you think about it.
Studio sessions
17 March 1967
20 March 1967
17 April 1967
A real high point of Pepper, but one that's unfortunately overlooked all too often, simply because this song's pleasures are more modest than "Lucy" or "ADITL". This could very well be Paul's best "storytelling"; it's emotionally wrenching. And it's worth remembering that while the Generation Gap was widening across the world, only the Fabs were addressing it directly. Not pedantically, but the way a good fiction writer does, finding the cataclysm in the mundane details. Paul was in a hurry and had someone else write the lovely string arrangement instead of George Martin. It suffers ever-so-slightly for it, but that's more than made up for by the lovely John and George backing vocals. Credit John for suggesting the "buy/bye bye" turn of phrase.
Studio sessions
17 February 1967
20 February 1967
28 March 1967
29 March 1967
31 March 1967
7 April 1967
Pepper sags a bit in its middle and this is one of two reasons why. John wrote this to order after viewing an ancient circus poster he'd bought recently - he literally wrote the song at the piano by reading the poster aloud and fashioning rhymes around it. Fits in well with the "show" motif (which by this point was all but gone), but not one of John's better works. He himself hated it. The swirl of sound in the middle was George Martin's genius: he assembled all the calliope sounds he could find (on John's orders), cut them up into pieces, threw them all up in the air and instructed the engineer to pick them up and piece them together in a completely random way.
Studio sessions
15 March 1967
22 March 1967
3 April 1967
4 April 1967
George finally gets carte blanche to explore his Indian mysticism fully, and the results are less than impressive. Dull, even. None of Harrison's Indian tracks were especially true to form; they all had some Western influence to them somewhere. This song is far inferior to "Love You To", although lyrically, it's probably his finest song to that point. Personally, I would have liked to have seen "It's All Too Much" or "Only A Northern Song" here instead.
Studio sessions
6 December 1966
8 December 1966
20 December 1966
21 December 1966
29 December 1966
30 December 1966
2 January 1967
17 April 1967
One of Paul's earliest written songs (which gives the lie to those who think that the Beatles pulled SPLHCB out fo thin air), this dates back to at least 1957. Inspired by Paul's father, a jazz musician in the twenties, this song is still the best of Paul's music-hall tributes. ("Honey Pie" and "Your Mother Should Know" were soon to follow, as well as some solo Paul experiments in the same style.) Another great example of latent musical tendencies that the beatles were brave enough to drag into the pop mainstream.
Studio sessions
23 February 1967
24 February 1967
7 March 1967
21 March 1967
17 April 1967
Not one of the better songs on Pepper, but still a great deal of fun. A bit of naughty, winking flirtation from Paulie, with John adding a lot of strange sounds as the song veers into yet another psychedelic vista. That great upright solo is courtesy of George Martin (and at the right speed this time).
Studio sessions
8 February 1967
16 February 1967
20 February 1967
13 March 1967
28 March 1967
29 March 1967
6 April 1967
19 April 1967
Actually not as bad as John makes it out to be. It's a weak concept, fleshed out wonderfully. John got the title from a Kellogg's commercial for Corn Flakes, believe it or not, and wrote the song from there: it's basically about the joys of just hanging out. The track is so amazingly well-produced, however, it could be studied just like "ADITL" is. Toilet Paper and comb at the beginning, a wall of shiny, muscular saxes, and the incredible breakdown into chaos at the end, achieved when John mentioned he wanted the sounds of animals played in such a succession that each animal would be capable of eating or frightening its predecessor. A walk up the food chain to the higher consciousness of "ADITL"? Who knows. (For the record the actual sequence is Rooster, Cat, Dog, Horses, Sheep, Lions, Elephants, Fox Hunt with Bloodhounds, Cow, Chicken. Oh well. It was a good idea, anyway.)
Studio sessions
1 April 1967
20 April 1967
The concept, show, or what-have-you comes full circle, beautifully, with this reprise. It's a very exciting minute: it masterfully builds tension that seems to be released at the end, except that the epilogue is about to knock us into next week. John can be heard saying "bye" near the beginning.
Studio sessions
19 January 1967
20 January 1967
30 January 1967
3 February 1967
10 February 1967
13 February 1967
22 February 1967
23 February 1967
1 March 1967
Original Title: A Day In The Life Of...
Cryptic, psychedelic, pompous, and frightening, this is one of the Beatles' finest moment.
