Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Front Cover	Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Back Cover
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Inside Cover
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - The Cutouts	Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Inner Sleeve

Label	Parlophone
Catalogue No.'s	PMC 7027 (Mono) PCS 7027 (Stereo) PHO 7027 (Picture Disc L.P.) CDP 7 46442 2 (CD)
Matrix No.'s	A-side   B-Side Mono : XEX 637-1   XEX 638-1 Stereo: YEX 637-1   YEX 638-2
Release dates	1st June 1967 16th January 1979 (Picture disc L.P.) 1st June 1987 (CD - "It Was Twenty Years Ago Today" !)
Total time	39:07 ... or Endless ??
U.K. Album Chart Detail :	Entry Date : 3rd June 1967 Highest Position : 1 ... for 23 weeks from 10th June 1967             + 1 week from 25th November 1967             + 2 weeks from 23rd December 1967             + 1 week from 3rd February 1968 Weeks in Chart : + + + + 149 !!   16 from 6th June 1987 (CD release ... reached number 3 !)   33 from 20th June 1992 (CD re-promoted to commemorate 25th Anniversary ... reached number 6 !)     4 from 10th June 2007 (Promoted to commemorate 40th Anniversary ... reached number 47)     5 from 13th September 2009 (09/09/09 Remaster launch of all albums ... reached number 5 !!) === 207 weeks - Grand Total (so far) ===
Detail :	The Beatles ninth official album release. This album sold a quarter of a million copies in Britain in it's first week of release, and by the end of June had topped 500,000 sales. But it didn't sell it's One Millionth copy until April 1973, some 6 years later. It is still in the Top 10 albums of all time worldwide (See Top 10 Worldwide Albums) And is THE top selling album in the U.K. of ALL time (See Top 10 U.K. Albums) It went straight to number 1 and dominated the top slot for the next 23 weeks. Sgt. Peppers was the first "concept" album, although any link between tracks was tenuous. The record is the first not to be banded into individual tracks, with hardly any gaps between songs. It was also the first to use the run-out groove, therefore leave the stylus on the record and it would chatter away endlessly. The Beatles insisted that the album be issued identically worldwide, so for the first time Capitol in America fell into line and didn't split tracks over different L.P.'s (then again, how could they ??) The cover has a picture montage (but not the Beatles first - check out "Beatles For Sale") by Peter Blake which contains, 57 photographs, 9 waxwork models loaned from Madam Tussaud's, A Sgt. Pepper drumskin, A stone bust, Four Statuettes, An Idol, A doll wearing a jumper emblazoned with "Welcome The Rolling Stones" and "Good Guys", A portable T.V. A Gold award, A variety of flower arrangements, one spelling "Beatles", and another of a guitar, plus a row of Marijuana plants, And ... The Beatles. Other than the waxworks, the other items all came from the personal collections of The Beatles. The drumskin was painted by a genuine fairground artist, Joe Ephgrave, who actually did two versions. The chosen design is now part of Beatles iconography and is probably the second most famous drumskin of all time. Here is the alternate Sgt, Pepper drumskin ... The cover too, is the subject of a few "firsts", It was the first to have the lyrics printed on the reverse. The inner sleeve was also the first to be decorated in a design by Seemon and Marijke. Plus the L.P. came with a set of Sgt. Pepper cardboard cut-outs, which include, a moustache, a picture card, some sergeant stripes, 2 badges, and a stand-up. Not surprisingly this legendary cover has also sparked a few satirists, Frank Zappa - We're Only In It For The Money (1967) The Rutles (1978) The Moonlight Tapes (1980) Burning Ambitions (1982) E.M.I. were allegedly horified when they saw the cost for producing the sleeve. The usual budget for a record cover photograph in the sixties was £25, or as much as £75 for an act as big as The Beatles. Copyright and retouching fees came to £1,367.13s.3d .... plus ... Michael Cooper's (the photographer) fees came to £1,500.12s (which included Peter Blake's share of ... £200 !) The total recording time spent on Sgt. Pepper's was over 700 hours at a cost of about £25,000 Also recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, "Strawberry Fields Forever" - 24th November 1966 - 22nd December 1966 "Penny Lane" - 29th December 1966 - 17th January 1967 "Carnival Of Light" - 5th January 1967 "Only A Northern Song" - 13th February 1967 - 14th February 1967 "Drum Track" - 22nd February 1967 ... 22:10 long, unreleased, never remixed. The album was also part of "The Beatles Collection" 13 album box set (see Beatles Collection). In January 1979 E.M.I. released a picture disc with a retail price of £6:99. It had much better sound quality than the American issue, but the English version had the same cover picture front and back, whereas the U.S. edition has the Sgt. Pepper drum filling the b-side. The disc was manufactured by Metronome records in Germany, who incidentally produced one of England's first picture disc L.P.'s almost ten years earlier, which was the excellent "Air Conditioning" by Curved Air. With a now typical lack of effort, E.M.I. failed to advertise the fact that they had released this most desirable object, and so they were rewarded with chart failure. Sgt. Peppers - Picture Disc On 1st June 1987 this album had it's first release on C.D. which was published in stereo, with a catalogue number of CDP 7 46442 2 And on the same day, the record shop H.M.V. produced a special 12" numbered CD Box Set Comprising: The C.D. of "Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band" + "It was 20 years ago today" badge + A booklet of b/w photos + The usual cardboard cut-outs This set had a catalogue number of BEA CD 25/3, and was in a limited edition of 10,000 copies. The C.D. was also part of "The Beatles Box" 15 C.D. box set (see Beatles C.D. Box). In June 2007 there was much media interest in the album again due to it's 40th anniversary. 10th June it re-entered the album charts again at number 48. 17th June it moved one place up the chart to number 47. 24th June 2007 - Sgt. Pepper's 200th week in the chart as it dropped a few places to number 52. 1st July 2007 - Maybe it's last week in the chart for a while as it dropped twenty places to number 72. 09/09/09 (Number Nine, Number Nine, Number Nine) - the album was re-released as part of the Beatles In Stereo Remasters collection. 13th September 2009 it re-entered the chart again at number 5 as the highest of SEVENTEEN chart positions The Beatles captured in one amazing week.          (see the box set detail for the chart position of all 17 titles together) 20th September 2009 - dropped eight places down to number 13. 27th September 2009 - dropped eighteen places down to number 31. 4th October 2009 - dropped twenty-one places down to number 52. 11th October 2009 - dropped twenty-three places down to number 75 - the last Beatles Remaster album to be listed in the chart. Albeit at the foot of the table ! 18th October 2009 - * * * No longer listed in the Top 100. 15th November 2009 - Reappeared at number 99 (from 112) Tape Media The album was also available on 4" reel-to-reel tape, 1967 - Catalogue number TA-PMC 7027 (3¾ ips twin-track mono tape) - first edition (mono only) in a cardboard box. 1968 - Catalogue number TA-PMC 7027 (3¾ ips twin-track mono tape)                                         TD-PCS 7027 (3¾ ips 4-track stereo) these editions in a "jewel" box. Prior to 1973: The album was released on stereo cassette tape (1⅞ ips) - Catalogue number - TC-PCS 7027 The album was also released on 8-track stereo continuous play cartridge (3¾ ips) - catalogue no. 8X-PCS 7027 In November 1987 the album was re-released on cassette tape (stereo only) - Catalogue number - TC-PCS 7027 (Originally released June 1967).

Side 1

Side 2

Mono/Stereo Differences

Re-pressings of the L.P. do NOT include the High-frequency tone nor the nonsense, but the 1987 CD does have both.

Released Versions

           Note: See after this Released Versions section for differences in the printed editions of the initial sleeves.

First pressings (1967) - Mono AND Stereo versions

The standard yellow block writing Parlophone label.
The "All rights of the manufacturer" message around the edge of the label starts with "The Gramophone Co. Ltd."
The label DOES have "Sold in the U.K..." statement.
The sleeve is gatefold, the inner sleeve is red and white, and there is a cardboard cut-out insert.

Same as above ... but ......
Some original mono pressings omit any reference to "A Day In the Life" on the side 2 record label, although the track does play on the album !
This version is therefore the rarest of all The Beatles "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" UK Pressings.
Note that so far this rare variant has only been discovered in MONO format (PMC 7027), it has never been found on a stereo version.
(The inner sleeve is plain white.)

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band - Rare 1st Pressing Mono Label

The standard yellow block writing Parlophone label.
The "All rights of the manufacturer" message around the edge of the label starts with "The Gramophone Co. Ltd."
The label does NOT have "Sold in the U.K..." statement.
Inner sleeve is a sepia coloured EMI advertising bag, plus cardboard cut-out insert.
Note that there are rare pressings of the 1969 Mono version (PMC 7027) with a stereo matrix number YEX 637/8 that play in stereo.

One of only three Beatles albums to have been released in MONO by Parlophone in 1969 (the other two titles being 'Please Please Me' and 'Help').
Now with a silver/black Parlophone label.
Initial 1969 copies have the "All rights of the manufacturer" still starting with "The Gramophone Co Ltd"
Still with Gatefold sleeve, and cardboard cut-out inserts.
The label has one EMI boxed logo.
Both 'mono' and 'stereo' catalogue numbers are printed in the upper right hand corner of the rear of the sleeve.

Sgt. Peppers - Example Fourth Pressing Label A-Side	Sgt. Peppers - Example Fourth Pressing Label B-Side

Basically same as fourth pressing, but during the run the "All rights of the manufacturer"
message around the edge of the label switched to "EMI Records Ltd."
Still with Gatefold sleeve, and cardboard cut-out inserts.
Still with a label with one EMI boxed logo.

Silver/black Parlophone label.
The "All rights of the manufacturer" message around the edge of the label starts with "EMI Records Ltd."
Still with Gatefold sleeve, and cardboard cut-out inserts.
The label has TWO EMI boxed logos.
In 1973 there were also some French Pressings. The L.P. has "Made In France" on the EMI rim copyright notice. The sleeve was British printed with a "Made In France" sticker. Some of these French copies came with banded vinyl.

PICTURE DISC L.P. - Catalogue number PHO 7027
The "All rights of the manufacturer" message around the edge of the label now starts with "EMI Records Ltd."
Not a gatefold sleeve, it has a circular 10.25" hole cut in it, and NO cardboard cut-out inserts.
The label has TWO EMI boxed logos.

Now with a yellow/black Parlophone label.
The "All rights of the manufacturer" message around the edge of the label now starts with "EMI Records Ltd."
Still with Gatefold sleeve, and cardboard cut-out inserts.
This release is on a lightweight vinyl.

With a Parlophone/Nimbus label.
This was mail-order only from Practical Hi-Fi magazine and is obviously very rare (and worth a lot more).

Now with a Black and Silver Parlophone label.
The gatefold sleeve (with cut-out sheet) has a printed statement which reads:
"This album has been Direct Metal Mastered From a Digitally Re-mastered Original Tape to give the best possible sound quality"
This release is (surprisingly) on a lightweight vinyl.

Initial Sleeves - Printing Differences

There are a variety of sleeve differences of Sgt. Pepper making each print run (of the sleeve !) noticable. These can make us aware of which are first edition sleeves, second edition etc.
The difference can be noted in the bottom right hand corner and can be assessed thus:
First Edition Sleeve
"Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Patents applied for."

Second Edition Sleeve
"Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd. Patents pending."

Third Edition Sleeve
"Printed and made by Garrod & Lofthouse Ltd."

There are also versions with no wording at all of the printing. These are printed by E.J. Day instead of Garrod & Lofthouse and can be verified by the fact that they have a wider spine.

Does this affect value ?
According to Record Collector magazine no. 335, these don't affect value as the album was a multi-million seller. Original stereo copies are rarer than original mono copies, however the original mono pressing is a different mix to the version available in the shops today, so although not as rare, the mono is the most desirable. Of course, absolutely mint examples will fetch the best price.

Special Imports

Secondly, I have a Russian double L.P. which couples Sgt. Peppers WITH Revolver !!
This utterly splendid double album is in a gatefold sleeve, which has a Sgt. Pepper front, with all the Words in Russian ! ... open it out and it has a similar Sgt. Pepper inside, but with the tracklistings of BOTH L.P.'s and a date of 1992, plus what looks to me like "Made In Gt. Petersburg" ? ... The rear has the look of a Revolver cover, BUT look closely and it IS different.
The insert has a whole page of Russian, which seems to be about Sgt. Pepper's, but could be about anything ! ... and turn it over and one can see a list of all the people on the cover ... but ... once again, in Russian.
Taken from the front cover, here is the Russian album centrepiece drumskin :

and opening up the gatefold, here is the Russian album, showing BOTH albums listed internally. :

I had an email from a Russian correspondent who tells me that this release and others are on the "Antrop" label which is derived from the founder's name, Andrey Tropillo. It was issued in 1992 and is pirated in Russia as there was no official release at all.
There are two differences to the front cover picture - in the top line in the centre Andrey's picture has been added and instead of Karl Marx is someone called Kolya Vasin (?)

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