Welcome to the daily standard podcast. I'm Eric Felton. We're gonna talk today with Mike Warren about the Beatles But first I should mention the daily standard is sponsored by the Dollar Shave Club the smarter choice You can enjoy your first month with a dollar shave club for just five dollars with free shipping included Just go to dollar shave club calm slash weekly standard. Don't forget the slash weekly standard part Mike Warren so you ever heard that cut before once twice.
Yeah, it's a new band. I hear from liberal It's happened in band. I'm charging Yeah, it was a 50 years ago today. Go to get today and This was by all accounts the most extraordinary rock album to have appeared at any time.
Yeah, that's what everybody seems I think there's an equal out which I think we know He's not going up with the standard calm called Sergeant pepper at 50 It's a year ago. It's a good for 15 the title were first to it as the Beatles and Masterpiece I think that is sort of universal view of Sergeant General in the heart club and that this album that comes out in 1967 10 months after the previous Beatles almost at the longest stretch Modern terms that's a bear you know The I When you think of everything that went into and production without computer at age. That's right And it's it's interesting too because the demand for Beatles records something new from the Beatles was so great that The single comes out. I think in January 1967 strawberry.
It was forever in pain lane Was basically released in sort of rush into production quickly So that the fans are something because they're wondering where the Beatles are not doing live shows anymore They're supposedly going to start working on this album in fact those two songs were left off the album Which I think they're always really kind of really constantly supposed to be on that You talked into that that cosmic jumble the magical mystery to that. Actually. Yeah, the the Melrose and EP in UK actually But the the view at the time which George Martin was always regret it was that Is that you didn't want to? Such a make people buy the same songs twice so if they don't buy them on 45 they didn't be on the on the LP of course Particularly that was not really what you've had.
But anyway, so it took the album cook the summer of love by so I think I kicked off the summer of love in 1967 and was just dominant and was this this 23 weeks number one in Britain It's pretty amazing and at the time again The emphasize this is the time when the Beatles were thought to have been done. They had gone off the road You were no longer doing towards You're a lot of great interview started with you know, are you guys breaking up exactly exactly? And and so for them to sort of unleash this album that had music that was unlike anything that most people had heard was really I would say and I would argue that I think I think it's very in here. This is our colleague Ferguson like to say the maybe this is a bit To take I'm not really sophisticated, but this is the sophisticated argument that start covers not all it's Right up to be it's actually got some flaws and I would say that the the album that is better than start But that does what I think better is one that receives it that 10 months before in making out an August of 96 which was well But we'll get to get to get to all of that one of the things you point out and has been pointed out before About Sergeant Pepper's is a concept album that the concept seems to stop after the first song right so right this idea that Paul I came up with this point on parties basically leading the group John Lennon's kind of check out a little bit George Harrison's doing his own things I'm just trying to find a play with or you know what to be able to play with Exactly exactly Paul's kind of didn't believe that he's thinking I think actually kind of brilliantly We are now not a touring band people are wondering what kind of man We are what better time what better device to sort of explore the studio with then behind these older egos He comes up with idea of Sergeant Pepper and this brass band was sort of a thing in the used be a thing in the UK He's brass band Still is So there's sort of the members of that and they'll be playing music that was different than what people expect from the Beatles But they could always say we're playing characters here and that was the idea except as you mentioned There's first songs on the heart of the band and then they sort of do an introduction as we've taken on to the end For another singer Billy Sheers who was really starting the second song with a little help my friends And then that kind of it no other song is something to do with this brass band or this Easter egos is just kind of a mesh Right and the songs make no sense together many of them and it's not that they don't hang together as Beatles songs It's they don't hang together as Sergeant Pepper's only hard-to-out band of songs I mean the opening cut that's a great bit of groovy rock and roll and then you know I particularly think that this stretch of within you without you which is the first tune on on the side right side Which is this sort of in turnable?
Indian Raga kind of thing just goes on and on which George George's contribution followed by one of Paul's worst Paul things Which is when I'm 64 little musical you just put those two things together It's a concept album in which you have things that make no sense jammed up one right after the other and you know You think of a concept album concept album had been done before And we've done better in the same years, too Right and but you know in the world of jazz you had things like Miles Davis sketches of Spain You had a kind of unified concept of what the sound was with the 11's arrangements and the approach taking music that was famous music from Spanish composers and translating it into a jazz It all holds together as a album rather than being here's an idea. Here's an idea Here's an idea. It's a variety show approach right right and I think that is sort of reflects where the Beatles were at that point Which is they did lose something when they stopped being a live band now Seems particularly late era live band Beatles shows no terrible. They were out tune They were they were playing sort of the same old song they've been playing since you know hammered and it was it was really kind of a mess But 30 minutes right there very short to imagine going to like one of these big stadiums Just going to the people's and then they played for half an hour and then that was anyone home It's reading fans, you know, they couldn't hear themselves and have good monitors and that sort of thing back then and But there's a lot of something sort of the idea of a band as a collaboration between the four That I think was they lost a little bit of that in sort of We can break away for just a moment.
This is the shameless commerce part of the podcast where we talk about the Dollar Shave Club They're great shave a great price with razors delivered right to your door. The Dollar Shave Club is the smarter choice They don't mess around with 14 blade razors and magic lubrication strips are other silly shave technology There's a special deal for daily standard listeners who join the shit dollar shave club You get $15 worth of blades and shave butter for just five dollars with free shipping. It's easy to order online All you have to do to get this exclusive offer is go to dollar Shave Club dot com slash weekly standard now We're talking the Shave Club, but this was the album where the guy showed up with my stash Yeah, it was kind of a there was another part of this album right was with an image makeover for the Beatles We're no longer this sort of ties and suits and mop top. They were kind of psychedelic I'm probably not bringing any ground by saying there were a lot of controlled substances and it was just a different It was also a different time in the country.
It was one of this transition time and there's a lot of the other Agriculture these sort of artistic people who were I should say in the country We're all over the world particularly in London and in the United States They're always sort of artists and drug pushers and weird kind of groups of people who are all influencing each other and It's hard to kind of comes out of that period But I find that it kind of sounds like it's from that period and one of the great things about the people is there's a time What's on this is one of the records? I think that they put out that kind of strange that that characteristic of their music now If Sergeant pepper isn't the great masterpieces you suggested. I watermark may well be revolver. Yes, this is I Find revolver to be everything that people say sorry isn't everything people say about our cover That's what rollers to me.
It is a mishmash of different genres interesting different sounds You do again, you have Indian sound song for George and love you too You have a heavy strings accompaniment of pulsing on with Eleanor Ruby you have except compare the strings on Oh, yeah, which are really vigorous strings with the main strings on Sergeant peppers She's leaving home which was not those were not done by George Martin Right that Martin did Eleanor Ruby the arrangement right he didn't do she's leaving home which is really Sappy oh, I think I think it's terrible actually it's in George Martin Who's really sick the day that Paul really wanted to get the strings arranged We also Paul calls up his friend Mike Lee-Inner who's another another last experience a range we go on How we agree here and includes this harp at the beginning of she's leaving home and the strings are very kind of sappy and They George Martin later said sort of backhanded come there's a little too much lush But yeah, I mean it was it started peppers all about Started with probably have the elements is a little too much access and a little too much buildings Revolver doesn't do any of that. There's no trying to figure out what's going on in the studio The idea of looping tapes to get sort of multiple sounds and things backwards backwards Like things get all the school analog things that they were doing experiment with they hadn't quite they didn't quite have a freedom that they did Was Sergeant pepper and so that can string them a little bit made I think tighter album and then you added back that very much Much more so to start a very collaboration you read about the different songs and how they're put together and really everybody's kind of involved You know even on L. Riggie, which is just Paul in an octa Paul singing with a certain you know George The famous chorus. I'll look at all the other people at the George Harrison contribution I like Ringo star contributed the line that Father McKenzie was darning a socks in the night You know, I mean this just sort of there's a group collaboration.
I think that strengthens the album makes it more of an artistic Piece of art pop art, but it has something of sophistication and visionary quality beyond even anything that happened on Sergeant Pepper, and that's the closing cut on the baller another ring goism as you pointed out me tomorrow never know I think it's the single high point of the Beatles. I totally agree it's this it's this sort of controlled Co-poverty of noises and Gromby by Ringo and completely original drum beat totally yes and and sort of John Lennon I think and his best of the sort of avant-garde John Lennon is best He was not just growing in random sounds and screens by yoga. Oh no as a two-liter This is sort of playing around with songs trying to build I was also trying to do the Beatles were obsessed with making a mono chord single-cord song and almost date it with with Taur and never knows they were trying to get once on it I'm having almost Indian style driving chord throughout the entire song. It's I think it's it's it's more Smells anything on sort of ends.
It's better than anything. I'm sorry I know it's no sacrilegious say, but I think it's true. All right. Well, let's send things off with a little taste of tomorrow Never knows Michael Warren.
Thanks. I'm up for joining us. Thanks. Right here Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Standard podcast you can get all our podcasts at weekly standard calm or better yet Subscribe that iTunes are Google play go to either one of those fine services and search for weekly standard That way you'll never miss any of our podcasts including the substandard podcasts on Thursdays The crystal clear podcasts with Bill Crystal every Friday and the compact with me Eric Feltin every weekend catch you next time