Episode 12 – Beatles ’67 pt2

Is the world ready for the "new" Beatles?" After the successful, but comparatively disappointing commercial debut of their new sound courtesy of the Penny Lane/Strawberry Fields Forever single, the band put readied their final touches on the LP considered at the time to be their masterpiece. Well, at least Paul McCartney and producer George Martin thought so...the other three Beatles had mixed feelings themselves about the new direction. Drugs and drink gripped their talons into John Lennon (only 26 at the time) who considered Sgt. Pepper to be a solid, but workman-like exercise. George Harrison's mind was still in India and away from the guitar - the instrument that had so inspired him as a child - as he found two out of his three new keyboard-penned compositions rejected for the new album. Ringo famously learned to play chess on the record, with days, weeks and sometimes months in between overdub sessions. Regardless, the launch of "Pepper" was about to make The Beatles a whole new kind of creative force in the world of pop art, and once again guide the culture of the world into uncharted territory...