Worst Beatles song on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

i think richard goldstein was on to something when he suggested there's only one real beatles song on this album -- the last one. all the pastiche that leads up to it is just bookended prelude. i mean, that's sort of obvious but also obscured by time. but it's so audacious it makes all of it work better for me somehow.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/01/arts/music/archives-beatles-sgt-peppers-lonely-hearts-club-band-review.html

I know that Joe Cocker's "With a Little Help" cover is impressive, but for me it misses what's truly great about the song: its mix of friendliness and plaintivness, which needs Ringo's small Ringo voice.

I just hate Joe Cocker and think the original is about a million times better in every conceivable way

The only problem with Within You Without You is that it's an inferior sequel to Love You To.

Still, my shocking challops here is that all the songs on Sgt Pepper are good songs.

Joe Cocker's version is OK only in the correct context, as theme song to The Wonder Years, it is entirely unacceptable out of that context.

xp

This is true, plus there's a singlemindedness of purpose on Sgt. Pepper that WYWY kind of disrupts. Revolver is much more eclectic and Love You To works well in that context.

That NYT review is pretty brilliant, I find it hard to argue with (except that WYWY is at least in part satire, and I think many of the songs are arch rather than earnest).

and now that I think about it, the anecdotes usually received with solemn amazement that Lennon cribbed his lyrics from a kid’s drawing, the Radio Times and an old poster are pretty frank admissions that he was phoning it in.

“Love You To” is spiky; “Within You, Without You” is cinematic. Different approaches.

lol c@al

pepper has been probably my favorite beatles album for a couple of years now, i used to kinda hate it for basically the same reasons i love it now. it's like 'Beatles: The Musical', it's emotionally manipulative and corny.

it has the richly saturated color pallette that none of their other records have, too. in that regard the difference between pepper and the other toy shops & lollipops psych records of the time is like the difference between disney and walter lantz.

if anything i'm more partial to Oldies Station Beatles these days

when they all sing “do you believe in a love at first sight” in “walhfmf” i levitate a little, so wonderful

how did A Day in the Life get any votes here, let alone more than the title track reprise?

dogs voting

I vividly remember "Fixing a Hole" explaining psychedelic experience to me when I first heard it, aged about 8 or 9.

Note that the hole stops his mind from wandering, rather than allowing it to roam further.

It’s curious to me how little Fixing a Hole gets mentioned – by myself includesd. It’s not a showy song but it’s absolutely one of my favourites on the album, and one of McCartney’s best lyrics, unusually personal, particularly for the period. I’m out without my headphones and now I’m eager to get home and play it.

Note that the hole *stops* his mind from wandering, rather than allowing it to roam further.

He's obsessed with this hole, so fixing it will free him from his obsession and allow his mind to drift off elsewhere.

"Fixing a hole where the rain gets in" vs. "Rain, I don't mind."

It's the rain that stops his mind from wandering.

Raining on him through the hole, evidently.

it really doesn't matter if you're wrong you're right

"good morning good morning" has a great bridge but the rest of it is mostly irritating imo

well, John hated it too.

ha well john usually had the worst beatles opinions of anyone, but a broke clock etc.

IIRC, Lennon wrote it in annoyance after hearing a cereal commercial. It's supposed to be irritating.

That said, there are no bad songs on this album, Beatles or otherwise.

yes, it is successfully irritating but again, the bridge is good, and the solo is freaky enough.

xps Yeah "Fixing A Hole" definitely feels underrated. I love the harpsichord, and the vocal melody and performance feels like the most soulful thing on the album to me.

My least favorite track is easily "Being For the Benefit of Mr. Kite" because I have a personal aversion to circus music.

the chords are very cool in that one, tho

My brain tut-tuts their "read shit off of things" like Mr. Kite or Savoy Truffle.

But gotta admit, those are some of my favorites.

yeah, I can't think of any songs I dislike, but the album has a few that I never want to hear again ("With a Little Help...," "When I'm 64") and others in which I've no interest ("Fixing a Hole," "Mr. Kite," "She's Leaving Home").

As someone who grew up on the Muppets (and whose wife loves Coronation Street), I have to defend "When I'm 64."

Even though Lennon and Ringo admitted that they gave up on the narrative concept after two songs, aurally the entire album feels conceptually bound together. Except for a few songs, I rarely listen to any of these on their own - they all seem to benefit immensely when heard together as an album.

I know it became fashionable to knock Pepper - not without good reason thanks to Rolling Stone constantly hyping it as some insurmountable achievement in pop culture - but I always thought it was a great album regardless.

Listened to it last night (1986 Capitol Vinyl), great album indeed.

The narrative aspect is a bit of a red herring, but I think the songs are of a piece thematically. The are all songs about different aspects of day-to-day British life seen through the same winking mod/hippie lens.

I know it became fashionable to knock Pepper - not without good reason

For instance having Lovely Rita, Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite, Good Morning Good Morning and When I'm 64 on it.

have always adored “mr kite” and surprised ppl hate it lol

I love "Lovely Rita" — just the sound of the vocals is totally classic.

and McCartney's loopy bass playing! what's not to love.

Yeah I love all of those tracks except When I'm 64, and even then the song does fit into the album's general world.

And Tyler's right, one thing I've really grown to appreciate is Paul's bass-playing on Beatle records, especially on Pepper.

FWIW, with "Good Morning Good Morning," I always thought it was a great lead-in to the finale. It's got a buried anger that feels like it's going to erupt as Lennon details the tedium of everyday rituals, like he's itching for something more out of life.

I dig "Rita" too. "Took her home, I nearly made it / Sitting on the sofa with a sister or two" - Paul's gentle ribaldry is an underrated aspect of his songwriting.

"When I'm Sixty-Four" is cute. Cool piece of trivia: Paul McCartney ended up turning 64 himself a few years ago!

no way

And yet he wrote the song when he was 14, wikipedia tells me. That strain of old-timey songs of Paul's (64, Honey Pie, You Gave Me The Answer etc) has been a constant throughout his career, interesting to see it was there right from the beginning

At least Paul made it to 64. Fuck cancer and psycho fans.

all songs about different aspects of day-to-day British life seen through the same winking mod/hippie lens.

Yep, and “Rita,” “Good Morning,” and “Mr. Kite” all end with, “By the way, I’m observing this while baked”: “Rita”’s reverb-drenched coda, the animals at the end of “Good Morning,” the randomly-cut-up organ in “Mr. Kite.”

I’m not an audiophile but listening to a clean vinyl copy of this on my parents decent stereo with really good headphones was an immersive experience for 8 year old me. Nothing since has sounded as good as that record did then.