By Chet Green
CCC Journalism Program
BLACKWOOD – Camden County College’s Ensemble Class is playing the entire Beatles’ album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, for a concert in May.
On May 6, 2013, students from Professor Mike Billingsley’s Ensemble Class will perform this Beatles’ album from start to finish. This is the second performance of this kind for the 2012-2013 school year at Camden County College. During the fall semester the Ensemble Class performed the Beatles’ album, Revolver, from start to finish. These two albums were released back to back by The Beatles. Revolver was released on Aug. 5, 1966, and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was released on June 1, 1967.
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was the eighth studio album released by The Beatles in just over four years. After frustration from a concert tour promoting Revolver in the summer of 1966, The Beatles decided that they would tour no more and just work on releasing new albums. From September 1966 until January 1967, The Beatles started work on what would later be known as the Sgt. Pepper sessions. In these five months the band came up with two singles that would not be included on the new album, but instead released in February 1967 to give awaiting fans some new music. These two songs were “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane,” which would later become tracks on their ninth studio album, Magical Mystery Tour.
Although “When I’m Sixty-Four” was recorded by this time as well, it was not released as a single to promote the album. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was one of four Beatles albums that never released any singles and instead just released all 13 tracks at the release of the album. The second Sgt. Pepper session started on March 9, 1967, with The Beatles working on another song for the album, “Getting Better.” After this song, they began work on the name song of the album, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
Paul McCartney said the idea for the song “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” came to him while they were on a plane back to London and he was talking to their road manager, Mal Evans. “Over our meal we were talking about salt and pepper which was misheard as Sgt. Pepper.”
This album will be performed in its entirety at 7:30 p.m. May 6 in the Dennis Flyer Memorial Theater in Lincoln Hall.
Bruce Tyler, a member of Camden County College’s Ensemble Class, practices his acoustic guitar for the upcoming concert in May. By Chet Green, CCC Journalism Program
