The Beatles Celebrate 50th Anniversary of 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'

It was 50 years ago, this June 1st, when The Beatles' John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr astonished and delighted the world, ushering in the Summer of Love with Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a ground-breaking masterwork that became popular music's most universally acclaimed album. To salute the occasion, The Beatles have released a suite of lavishly presented 'Sgt. Pepper' Anniversary Edition packages (Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/USM). The album is newly mixed by Giles Martin and Sam Okell in stereo and 5.1 surround audio and expanded with early takes from the studio sessions, including no fewer than 34 previously unreleased recordings.

The Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary releases include Sgt. Pepper presented with new mixes in Stereo

"It's crazy to think that 50 years later we are looking back on this project with such fondness and a little bit of amazement at how four guys, a great producer and his engineers could make such a lasting piece of art," says Paul McCartney in his newly-penned introduction for the 'Sgt. Pepper' Anniversary Edition.

"'Sgt. Pepper' seemed to capture the mood of that year, and it also allowed a lot of other people to kick off from there and to really go for it," Ringo Starr recalls in the Anniversary Edition's book.

For Record Store Day (April 22), Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe released an exclusive, limited edition seven-inch vinyl single of The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", among the first songs recorded during the 'Sgt. Pepper' sessions which began in November 1966. Rather than being held for inclusion on the album, the two songs were released as a double A-sided single in February 1967. Amidst intense media speculation about the band's next move, the single bridged what was then considered a long gap between the Revolver album, released in August 1966, and 'Sgt. Pepper,' which followed 10 months later.

This is the first time Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band has been remixed and presented with additional session recordings, and it is the first Beatles album to be remixed and expanded since the 2003 release of Let It Be... Naked. To create the new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes for 'Sgt. Pepper,' producer Giles Martin and mix engineer, Sam Okell, worked with an expert team of engineers and audio restoration specialists at Abbey Road Studios in London. All of the Anniversary Edition releases include Martin's new stereo mix of the album, which was sourced directly from the original four-track session tapes and guided by the original, Beatles-preferred mono mix produced by his father, George Martin.

The releases are distributed locally by Universal Music South Africa.

he Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary releases include:

A CD featuring the new 'Sgt. Pepper' stereo mix, complete with the original U.K. album's "Edit for LP End" run-out groove.

Deluxe: Expanded 2CD and digital package features the new stereo album mix on the first CD and adds a second CD of 18 tracks, including previously unreleased complete takes of the album's 13 songs, newly mixed in stereo and sequenced in the same order as the album. The second CD also includes a new stereo mix and a previously unreleased instrumental take of "Penny Lane" and the 2015 stereo mix and two previously unreleased complete takes of "Strawberry Fields Forever."

Deluxe Vinyl: Expanded 180-gram 2LP vinyl package features the new stereo album mix on the first LP and adds a second LP with previously unreleased complete takes of the album's 13 songs, newly mixed in stereo and sequenced in the same order as the album.

Super Deluxe: The comprehensive six-disc boxed set features:

CD 1: New stereo album mix

CDs 2 & 3:

- 33 additional recordings from the studio sessions, most previously unreleased and mixed for the first time from the four-track session tapes, sequenced in chronological order of their recording dates

- A new stereo mix of "Penny Lane" and the 2015 stereo mix of "Strawberry Fields Forever"

CD 4:

- Direct transfers of the album's original mono mix and the "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" singles

- Capitol Records' U.S. promotional mono single mix of "Penny Lane"

- Previously unreleased early mono mixes of "She's Leaving Home," "A Day In The Life," and "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" (a mix thought to have been erased from a tape in 1967, but discovered during archive research for the anniversary edition)

Discs 5 & 6 (Blu-ray and DVD):

- New 5.1 surround audio mixes of the album and "Penny Lane" by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, plus their 2015 5.1 surround mix of "Strawberry Fields Forever"

- High resolution audio versions of the new stereo mixes of the album and "Penny Lane" and of the 2015 stereo mix of "Strawberry Fields Forever"

- Video features: 4K restored original promotional films for "Strawberry Fields Forever," "Penny Lane", and "A Day In The Life"; plus The Making of Sgt. Pepper, a restored, previously unreleased documentary film (broadcast in 1992), featuring insightful interviews with McCartney, Harrison, and Starr, and in-studio footage introduced by George Martin.

- "A splendid time is guaranteed for all" -

The album's vibrant artwork, including its extravagant Pop Art cover which finds The Beatles surrounded by a crowd of heroes in a 3D collage, was created by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth in collaboration with the band. The original artwork is showcased across the suite of Anniversary Edition releases, including the album's pull-out sheet of 'Sgt. Pepper' cutouts. Housed in a 12-inch by 12-inch box with lenticular artwork and two bonus posters, the six-disc Super Deluxe set is presented with a 144-page hardcover book. The book includes new introductions by Paul McCartney and Giles Martin, and chapters covering comprehensive song-by-song details and recording information, the design of the cover, the album's musical innovations and its historical context by Beatles historian, author and radio producer Kevin Howlett; composer and musicologist Howard Goodall; music producer and writer Joe Boyd; and journalists Ed Vulliamy and Jeff Slate, illustrated with rare photographs, reproductions of handwritten lyrics, Abbey Road Studios documentation, and original 'Sgt. Pepper' print ads. The Deluxe 2CD digipak is slipcased with a 50-page booklet abridged from the box set's book, and the 2LP Deluxe Vinyl is presented in a faithful reproduction of the album's original gatefold jacket.

- "We hope you will enjoy the show" -

Just as many ideas are sparked by chance, 'Sgt. Pepper' first sprang from a conversation between Paul and Beatles roadie Mal Evans on an airplane, when Mal's request to pass the salt and pepper was misheard by Paul as "Sgt. Pepper." The concept of who such a figure could be took root in Paul's mind, blooming with the imagination of The Beatles as an Edwardian era military band -- "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". The Beatles' creative wellspring for 'Sgt. Pepper' also flowed from such myriad sources as The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album, a Victorian circus poster ("Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!"), a TV commercial for breakfast cereal ("Good Morning Good Morning"), a picture drawn by John's young son, Julian ("Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds"), a teen runaway reported in the news ("She's Leaving Home'), and Hindu teachings ("Within You Without You").

- "Lend me your ears and I'll sing you a song" -

Using the standard four-track tape recording equipment of the day, The Beatles collaborated with producer George Martin to achieve "the impossible," as they dubbed it, to go as far out as they could with arrangements and new technology to realize their collective vision for Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. As George Martin described it, "We were into another kind of art form where you were putting something down on tape that could only be done on tape." The Beatles clocked more than 400 hours in Abbey Road's Studio 2 to record the album, wrapping sessions in April 1967.

- "I read the news today oh boy" -

Upon its release on June 1, 1967, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band initially spent 148 weeks in the British chart, including a total of 27 weeks at number one. During its first U.S. chart run, the album held the number one spot for 15 of the 88 weeks it appeared in the Top 200. 'Sgt. Pepper' won four GRAMMY Awards®, including Album of the Year, and it remains one of the most influential and bestselling albums of all time. In 2003, the U.S. Library of Congress selected 'Sgt. Pepper' for the National Recording Registry, recognizing the album as "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant." 'Sgt. Pepper' tops Rolling Stone magazine's definitive list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time."

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Anniversary Edition is available for purchase on iTunes: http://TheBeatles.lnk.to/SgtPepperAnniversary

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