Could Sgt. Pepper have been a double album (if they'd released it just a bit later into the Summer?)

From the same source to propose the old "Could "The Beatles (The White Album)" have been a triple album? Comes this... Could "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" squeaked by as a double album, if The Beatles had culled all available material & waited just a bit longer for release to finish up a few stray tracks that were then in progress?

Imagine, if you will, an Acid/LSD trip with Lennon, & whichever other Beatles you'd like to include, else being chauffeured about the roads near London either on some Spring full moon night, or sunny Spring day (if you prefer) with his in-car record player blasting something wonderful... if it was in May, then it could even be Procol Harum's "Whiter Shade Of Pale" (a Summer of '67 fave for all of them)... and this leads them to up their already incredible ambition quotient to expand their upcoming release to reflect their ever expanding consciousness & Voia'la!! Their first double album ends up appearing in 1967.

To make this work you'd have to stretch/expand your imagination & figure that we'd only have 5 proper songs per album side (20 solid songs to work with), but... you could also end one of the two albums (I'd end the first one with it) with "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number) in some form, or another... and, if you're careful, you could still retain most of what strings Pepper along together like a Suite of sorts in it's original form...but also use snippets of "Carnival Of Light" to join together some of the new entries...

Here's what you've got to work with...

You can kind of make Sgt. Pepper an operational double album, by adding, to the 13 released songs, the 3-4 songs from the sessions that weren't on the album ("Penny Lane", "Strawberry Fields Forever", "It's Only A Northern Song" & the experimental sound collage "Carnival Of Light"- I'd use excerpts of this to link these extra songs)... and then those 4-5 songs that were recorded in May & June, as the decision to keep it a single album was finalized, the final running order was prepared & the album was actually released ("It's All Too Much", "All Together Now", "Baby You're A Rich Man", "All You Need Is Love" & the jokey "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)"- which I'd just use a minute or two of...).

If they'd just waited another month or so, they could have gone with a full blown double album, albeit barely & it is a stretch of sorts (20 full blown songs plus the sound collage to link some & the excerpt of the joke song at the end...)... thus giving you this (& all the rest of "67ish, for those of you keeping score at home concerning all the work from post-"Revolver" Winter of late '66, through all of '67 & onward to the Winter of early '68, before the Spring of The White Album...)...

Pepper Proper:
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
"With a Little Help from My Friends"
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
"Getting Better"
"Fixing a Hole"
"She's Leaving Home"
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"
"Within You Without You"
"When I'm Sixty-Four"
"Lovely Rita"
"Good Morning Good Morning"
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
"A Day in the Life"

Pepper Plus:
"Penny Lane"
"Strawberry Fields Forever"
"It's Only A Northern Song"
"It's All Too Much"
"All Together Now"
"Baby You're A Rich Man"
"All You Need Is Love"
**"You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)
**"Carnival Of Light"

...and finally...throughout the rest of the post-Pepper/pre-White Album era.... they also cut...
in the Autumn of '67
"I Am The Walrus"
"Hello Goodbye"
"Magical Mystery Tour"
"The Fool On The Hill"
"Flying"
"Blue Jay Way"
"Your Mother Should Know"
**"Christmas Time (Is Here Again)"
**"Shirley's Wild Accordion"

... and then in Feb. '68... (add to Post-Pepper '67 or The White Album)
"Across The Universe"
"The Inner Light"
"Lady Madonna"
"Hey Bulldog"

 

Thank goodness they didn't otherwise we'd be endlessly debating what a single Sgt. Pepper album would/should be like.

 

Working from the list of 20 songs ("Pepper Proper" + "Pepper Plus" sections) in my initial post, here it goes...

We've got Sgt. Pepper proper album side openers & closers remaining intact... as does the first 4 song run & the final 4 song run of the original album...Great Side 3 & 4 openers, & fitting closers as well, with just enough Pepper session songs seasoned in among the other wonders from that era to make the second album flow Lonely Hearts Club Band style... Sgt. Pepper, I believe, would be pleased

Side 1
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"
"With a Little Help from My Friends"
"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"
"Getting Better"
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"

Side 2
"Within You Without You"
"Lovely Rita"
"Good Morning Good Morning"
"Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"
"A Day in the Life"

Side 3
"Strawberry Fields Forever"
"Penny Lane"
"It's Only A Northern Song"
"Fixing a Hole"
"All Together Now"

Side 4
"All You Need Is Love"
"When I'm Sixty-Four"
"Baby You're A Rich Man"
"She's Leaving Home"
"It's All Too Much" (Full longer version with "lost/extra/film" verse etc.)

**Add in a bit of "You Know My Name (Look Up The Number)" at the end of Side 3? (or Side 4-a la "Her Majesty" after "The End" on "Abbey Road")
**Add in "Carnival Of Light" excerpts on Side 3 & 4?

 

Off:

Or, an E.P.*, if released earlier in the Spring.

"Liverpool Lonely Hearts Band"
A-side: "Penny Lane" ~ "Strawberry Fields Forever".
B-side: "Fixing a Hole" ~ "Only a Northern Song" ~ "A Day in the Life".

May be 2 disc E.P. ala "Magical Mystery Tour" or a one sided single?!?!



* 10" like RCA Elvis S/T.

 

The only way this works for me is to insert a number of songs within the original Pepper track list. Yes, these would be short sides, but all the better for the sound. I replaced All Together Now and It's All Too Much with I Am The Walrus and Hello Goodbye as they seem to work better (at least for me). Total running time: 1 hour and 5 minutes. I tried this out with all remix versions:

Side One
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
With A Little Help From My Friends
Penny Lane
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
Getting Better

Side Two
Only A Northern Song
Fixing A Hole
Baby You're A Rich Man
She's Leaving Home
Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!

Side Three
Within You Without You
Strawberry Fields Forever
When I'm Sixty-Four
I Am The Walrus
Hello Goodbye

Side Four
Lovely Rita
All You Need Is Love
Good Morning Good Morning
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
A Day In The Life

 

Actually if Sgt Pepper had been a double album you would have to change the title to Sgt Salt and Pepper with a photo of the 2 shakers for the cover ......

 

While I'm all for "Baby You're A Rich Man" and "All You Need Is Love" having a rightful place on Pepper in my head (yeah, I know All You Need wasn't done yet by June 1 1967) , I wouldn't have enjoyed a 4 sided Pepper back then myself. Although it does bring up an interesting question on how Frank Zappa would've responded.

 

Please no, folks.
Some of us love the Magical Mystery Tour album.

 

I personally couldn't handle "Hello Goodbye/Walrus" being part of the summer Pepper. After all, "Hello Goodbye/Walrus" is from Christmas time 1967. Just after Thanksgiving if you were in the US. I personally needed that solid year between Strawberry Fields and Walrus.... and Penny Lane and Hello Goodbye.... with Pepper sort of sandwiched in between in the summer.

On the other hand, Strawberry and Walrus often sound like the same general trip... so .... good thing we can all sequence our own playlists. I could do that in 1967, but it was a hassle stacking all those 45s/33& a thirds on the spindle the same way every day.

 

That makes sense. But I wasn't anywhere in the fall/winter of 1967. I was born the day the Red & Blue albums were released. I grew up in the 80s, so I didn't have any 67 Pepper experience. These two songs seem much more polished and Pepper ready than the other two. All Together Now feels like a throwaway which seems it could fit much better on an album like The White Album.

 

Those two could make a '67 comp... but too early for Pepper I'm afraid... unless they'd held the album back to the Autumn!
Thanks for playing along though... cool Pepper double comp you made!!

Personally I adore "It's All Too Much" & think it's a great 2nd album closer & "All Together Now" worked for me where I had it- as another side closer...

 

I forgot my smiley face in my above post, was just having fun.
But seriously, as a double album fan (Blonde on Blonde, The River, The White Album are somewhere in my top ten favorite albums) it would be fun to listen to a double set of songs from 1967. I've thought that especially listening to Yellow Submarine soundtrack.
It's All Too Much and I Am the Walrus on the same album