SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
REDIRECT: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
If the dates on Nuggets: Original Artyfacts from the First Psychedelic Era, 1965-1968 strike you odd – thinking, wait a minute, the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band didn't come out until the summer of 1967 – well, that is true; but psychedelia had been around a long time before that mainstream hit.
(January 2011)
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Many other artists in the 1960s also took a whack at psychedelia. Kenny Rogers' first band the First Edition had an early hit song with "Just Dropped in (to See What Condition My Condition was In)"; though the lyrics kind of miss the boat, they are still charmingly corny. "Hurdy Gurdy Man" is one of many great psychedelic songs Donovan came up with. The Beatles had Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the Rolling Stones had Their Satanic Majesties' Request. Even Motown got into the act: The Supremes hit with "Reflections", while the Temptations had several psychedelic songs – "Psychedelic Shack", "Ball of Confusion (That's What the World is Today)", "Runaway Child, Runnin' Wild", and others. Many were on their 1970 album Psychedelic Shack; one of the biggest hits by the B-52's, "Love Shack" was in part an homage to this record.
(March 2011)
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I have a confession to make though. When I first heard the "Stars on 45 Medley" (Beatles medley), there were several songs that I was actually not familiar with. I don't think that I have ever told anyone this before now; I wonder how many other Beatles fans were similarly chagrined. My own experience with the band is being caught up in the excitement in late 1963 and early 1964, but I quit buying Beatles albums sometime in 1965, though I still bought a lot of their 45's. Naturally, I bought Sgt.Pepper right away, and it wasn't long before I figured out how good the preceding album Revolver was. However, I didn't buy Rubber Soul until I got the box set, The Beatles / The Collection. Basically, between "Yesterday" and Sgt. Pepper, if it wasn't on the radio, I hadn't heard it. Thus, for this music fan at least, Stars on 45 reawakened my interest in the Beatles, and I definitely took to heart their exhortation: "Don't, don't, don't, don't, don't forget!"
(September 2012)
