What happened to the great Sgt. Pepper's?

For my money, this is a fairly simple one. Listening habits have changed again. Sitting and listening to an entire album is out, and skipping about for the singles and listening to songs on the radio is in. Greatest hits sell better than proper albums, even if an artist is best represented by single album. Revolver plays like an eclectic mix of radio tunes, where Sgt. Peppers had NO singles and plays like a song cycle, if not a concept album. With 'post-modern' (not an accurate term, but that's what they're called) artists like Beck popularizing the wild trip through widely differing tunes style, Revolver fits with the time better. The White Album has also benefited from this shift in taste.

At least, that's my take on this.

Shalom, y'all!

L. Bangs

 

I went to an Allman Brothers concert this summer. Most of the people there looked like college students. In fact, my daughters 17yr old boyfriend came to me with the tickets. We went together and really enjoyed the concert.

 

I just want to concur with syogusr's observation about today's youngsters and the Beatles. Contrary to what some may believe (and perhaps even want to believe), there are plenty of kids out there who know and love the Beatles and other classic rock and pop artists.

Conversely, there are plenty of baby boomers out there who are sadly ignorant, not only about today's music (beyond a blanket assertion, based on a perfunctory glance at the Top 40 charts, that it's all "garbage") but also about music that came from an even earlier era. I bet your average Boomer knows less about Armstrong and Ellington than today's average teen knows about the Beatles.

 

Another band the kids seem to know about is Black Sabbath. "They're cool! They were the first heavy metal band!" I've heard this out of the mouths of babes before.

 

This boomer loves...The Modernaires, The Pied Pipers, Glenn Miller, Guy Lombardo, Al Jolson, Benny Goodman, Clyde McCoy, Tommy Dorsey, Bix Beiderbecke, Harry James, Louie Prima. Keely Smith, Blind Willie Johnson...the list goes on and on...Today's music is no comparison and yes, it's all garbage! Except...Aimee Mann, Matthew Sweet and a few others..but wait...aren't they considered oldies?

 

Michael, I would submit that you are the exception rather than the rule.

And I wouldn't consider Aimee Mann, Matthew Sweet, et al. to be "oldies". Adult alternative, maybe?

 

There are many of us out there, I'm not an exception...I'm sure. Adult alternative is a fine description!

 

To answer the question asked from my own perspective:

I like Pepper. I always have, and I'm not ashamed of it.

That said, I think that if you separate the songs from the album as whole concept, some of them, while good, are not really earthshaking. (Some, I said. I do not include A Day in the Life, for example.)

Part of the reason the album is legendary does have to do with its cultural connections, which are probably meaningless to younger folks; and part of it is that we hadn't heard (or seen) anything quite like it before, whereas now it's "old hat".

It's inevitable that some of its specialness will have faded with time.

Vanity of vanities, all is vanity, says the preacher.

 

To get back on topic, I can tell you that the first edition of the ROLLING STONE RECORD GUIDE (red cover), published in the late 70s, was already knocking SGT. PEPPER, giving it only four stars, compared to the five stars received by RUBBER SOUL, REVOLVER, ABBEY ROAD, etc., not to mention the couple hundred other five-star albums from other artists. I also remember another 70s book referring to PEPPER as a "day-glo tombstone." The critical reassessment of PEPPER was underway within a decade, if not sooner.

I myself am amused that PET SOUNDS has somehow become the Greatest Album of All Time, as I definitely do not share this opinion. I'd probably rank it 312th or something. (Calm down, Beach Boys fans, I'd be hard-pressed to keep ENDLESS SUMMER out of the top twenty!)

As for the knowledge of younger listeners, I can tell you as a music buyer for a college bookstore, students buy a lot more Beatles, Grateful Dead, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Velvet Underground, Led Zeppelin, Miles Davis, and Billie Holiday, etc., than you think. Granted, not in the quantities they buy Creed, Dave Matthews Band, or india.arie, but catalog, rather than Top 40, remains the core of the section.

Trust me, in 2002 young listeners know more about the music of 1967 than I knew about the music of 1947 in 1982.

 

The older I get, the less I listen to Sgt. Pepper; for me, it signals the start of some bad habits for the pop music scene, like moving into the studio and recording for months on end - yep, you got some cool tunes, but a whole lotta spontanaeity and adrenalin fueled music bit the dust. The psychedelic era really took off then, and a mountain of wretched crap came in the wake of Sgt. Pepper. Now before you Fab Fans send too much hate mail, I useta grok on the Beatles big time - got a nice Japanese Red album, a swell German Blue, many of the MoFi vinyls (didn't know about them pesky yellow/black Parlophone pressings or I'da searched for them, too). Somewhere along the line the fire dwindled - roughly about the time the first 4 albums came out on cd - I felt gypped, and I rethought my musical priorities; then the Pepper cd came out, sounded pretty lifeless, and I just switched musical gears. Maybe someday I'll get my phono section rebuilt, spin some of those Fabber Fave lp's and see if there's still a spark...

 

The concept was to pretend to not be THE BEATLES... to write and record some great songs. Songs which would never be played LIVE. That gave the group a lot of freedom to experiment in the studio.

Also, remember George only played on "Within You, Without You" and "Good Morning".

Do ya think a 2002 rock/pop/country band could work with a 4 track tape machine?

 

Man, I expect a lightning bolt to come down and zap you for speaking about Pet Sounds that way! I still don't connect with that lp, and I try every few years to give it another shot. Guess I don't like Brian airing out the personal laundry in public - gimme Don't Worry Baby for emotional impact any day... I can belive your comments about what students buy; I went to my old stomping grounds this summer and the amount of Beatle bootlegs I saw there was astounding...

 

Ferric, that was "Magnetic".

 

Long Live FeO2 Tape

 

They'd probably be sent to a gazillion track studio and told to record it properly! I guess I understand the "don't wanna be the Beatles" attitude, but that studio experimenting was/is a Pandora's box for me - more tracks, more time noodling, too much polish - the Ramones were mentioned above - good example of going back to the basics and bashing out a buttload of songs in a few days - they loved the early Beatles and sub 3 minute singles, and that's where I find my greatest musical pleasure these days. I believe I'm done, thankee for your kind indulgence!

 

Hey ferric (oxide) man, do you ever find you have to be baked in order to function properly?

 

I agree that few musicians have the talent to pull off the 2:15 minute pop song AND the 5:00 minute extended song. And noodling has been to the limits and back. "What's the New mary Jane" and "You Know MyName Look Up the Number" are good examples.

Sgt. Pepper is not my favorite. that would be the White Album. but every studio release has some gems.

'Benefit for Mr. Kite" is a song I can sing along to but never heard on the radio. The lyrics are that fantastic.

As for the Ramones, they have about 5-6 songs I enjoy. Their range is limited, though. I expect they achieved all they wanted within rock n roll (High School). no graduate work

Some say I have a magnetic personality. Only when not degaussed.

FeO2 guy

 

Yeah, In the warm

California Sun

The Rivieras
The Dictators
The Ramones

 

Great screen name. I think your posts are "shedding" some light on my thread!

 

Dare I say your opinions are "low bias"?

 

LOL

The chiropractor said my head was out of alignment. I could accept that but when he said my azimuth was not to spec, I said leave my personal life out of this!

 

Somebody once wrote that there are two seperate and distinct camps of Beach Boys fans, those who think Pet Sounds is their greatest achievement and those who'd prefer to listen to Endless Summer!

I would argue that there's actually a third type of BBs fan, the one who prefers the more eccentric '70s/Brother Records incarnation of the band and stuff like Mount Vernon and Fairway, but anywho...

 

Laughs for ferric man...not laughing at guy incognito's post!

 

Alright. Seems like we're looking at a combination of changing tastes, the view of some that Sgt. Pepper's was always overrated, and the relatively non-commercial nature of the recording...that is, the need to hear it as a whole to get the big picture, which doesn't mesh well with today's listening preferences. Interesting thoughts. Thanks for the input, guys.