Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band, one of the greatest albums of all time.
Martin redidSgt.
Pepperswas a sonically groundbreaking work but many modern listeners hear a subpar version.
Credit: Apple Corps Ltd.
The earlier stuff they designed for mono, they didnt think about panning, Martin says.
You dont, if its only going to come out of one speaker.
The albums 2009 remaster polished the pre-existing stereo mix, but for this one, Martin started from scratch.
Thats what the Beatles demand of me.
They dont want me to sit around on my hands.
But he wasnt on his own with the Herculean task of remixingSgt.
Paul has to be happy, and Ringo has to be happy, says Martin.
I had a huge safety net, and the safety net is them.
And the surviving Beatles helped him when possible.
I sit down with Paul and well go through the mixes, Martin explains.
Even the worlds best band made goofs sometimes
Sure, every note ofSgt.
Peppersis perfect but thats because some weird ideas were cut, Martin reveals.
I was like, Oh my God, were they seriously going to do this?'
Their willingness to try things shows how they got to where they got.
Peppers the Beatles announced their breakup just three years later the pair were still in tandem for these sessions.
You hear them giving each other guidance, Martin says about the outtakes.
The album is the sum of their parts.
Pepperswas George Martins favorite Beatles LP
The late producer and arranger worked on just about every Beatles recording.
And, to him, nothing compared toPeppers.
It was the peak of the happiest time.
Everything changed, Giles recalls.
For my dad, Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields were the catalyst for the making ofSgt.
Peppers, Giles says.
It was a sea change for the way things were recorded.
They wanted to paint pictures with sound and create a world that they couldnt perform live.
My father said he regretted them not being on the album.
Theyre part of that world.
John had lobbied to include Hitler, Ghandi, and Jesus but those ideas were nixed.
It wouldve been a disaster [if Hitler were included], Haworth says.
He was not infallible, our John.
As for the celebrities who were living at the time, the Beatles had to secure their permission.
Mae West said, What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club band?'
Grammarians, take note: Thereisan apostrophe
Its a question long debated by Beatlemaniacs: Is itSgt.
The cover arts bass drum famously omitted an apostrophe, but Haworth is setting the record straight.
It was a mistake.
There should have been an apostrophe.
Pepper is the man and the band belongs to him.
