CAPITOL LP SMAS 2653: The BEATLES - Sgt. Pepper's - OOP, 1967, CANADA, NM

$

40

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Background on this eBay item -

VERY LAST COPY!!

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960 and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. The group's best-known lineup consisted of John Lennon (rhythm guitar, vocals), Paul McCartney (bass guitar, vocals), George Harrison (lead guitar, vocals) and Ringo Starr (drums, vocals). Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, the group later worked in many genres ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. Their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania"; as their songwriting grew in sophistication, by the late 1960s they came to be perceived by many fans and cultural observers as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the era's sociocultural revolutions.

As a five-piece line-up of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison on guitar and vocals, with Stuart Sutcliffe (bass) and Pete Best (drums), the band built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over a three-year period from 1960. Sutcliffe left the group in 1961, and Best was replaced by Starr the following year. Moulded into a professional act by manager Brian Epstein, their musical potential was enhanced by the creativity of producer George Martin. They gained popularity in the United Kingdom after their first single, "Love Me Do", became a modest hit in late 1962. They acquired the nickname the "Fab Four" as Beatlemania grew in Britain over the following year, and by early 1964 they had become international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market. The band toured extensively around the world until August 1966, when they performed their final commercial concert. From 1966 they produced what many critics consider to be some of their finest material, including the innovative and widely influential albums Revolver (1966), Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), The Beatles (1968) and Abbey Road (1969). After their break-up in 1970, the ex-Beatles each found success in individual musical careers. Lennon was murdered in 1980, and Harrison died of cancer in 2001. McCartney and Starr remain active.

The Beatles are the best-selling band in history, with sales of over one billion units estimated by EMI Records. They have had more number-one albums on the British charts and sold more singles in the UK than any other act. According to the RIAA, as of 2012 they have sold 177 million units in the US, more than any other artist, and in 2008 they topped Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists. As of 2012, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Hot 100 chart with 20. They have received 7 Grammy Awards from the American National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences, an Academy Award for Best Original Song Score and 15 Ivor Novello Awards from the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people.

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (often shortened to Sgt. Pepper) is the eighth studio album by the English rock band The Beatles, released on 1 June 1967 on the Parlophone label and produced by George Martin. The album is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, and has since been recognized as one of the most important albums in the history of popular music, including songs such as "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and "A Day in the Life". Recorded over a 129-day period beginning in December 1966, Sgt. Pepper saw the band developing the production techniques of their previous album, Revolver. Martin's innovative and lavish production included the orchestra usage and hired musicians ordered by the band. Genres such as music hall, rock and roll, pop rock, and traditional Indian music are covered. The album cover art, by English pop artist Peter Blake, depicts the band posing in front of a collage of their favourite celebrities, and has been widely acclaimed and imitated.

Sgt. Pepper was a worldwide critical and commercial success, spending a total of 27 weeks at the top of the UK Album Chart and 15 weeks at number one on the US Billboard 200. A defining album in the emerging psychedelic rock style, the album was critically acclaimed upon release and won four Grammy Awards in 1968. It frequently ranks at or near the top of published lists of the greatest albums of all time. In 1994 it was ranked number one in the book All Time Top 1000 Albums. In 2003, and again in 2012, the album was placed at number one on Rolling Stone magazine's list of "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time". Sgt. Pepper is one of the world's best selling albums; 32 million copies have been shipped.

The Beatles had grown tired of performing live and stopped touring in August 1966. After the stress of their final American tour, in particular the postponed Cincinnati concert, the four of them — especially Paul McCartney, who was most in favor of continuing to tour — decided that it was time to stop. They took a two-month break, and individually got involved in their own interests. George Harrison traveled to India to continue developing his sitar playing at the invitation of Ravi Shankar, returning with enhanced Indian cultural and musical influences. McCartney, along with Martin, wrote the music for the film The Family Way, getting an Ivor Novello award the following year for best film song for the track "Love in the Open Air". John Lennon acted in How I Won the War, and attended art galleries, where he met his future wife Yoko Ono. Ringo Starr spent more time with his wife and child. In November, during a flight back from a holiday in Kenya with his girlfriend Jane Asher and tour manager Mal Evans, McCartney had the first idea for the concept of an alternative Beatles band that would become the Sgt Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club band.

With Sgt. Pepper, The Beatles wanted to create a record that could, in effect, tour for them, an idea they had already explored with the promotional film clips made over the previous years, intended to promote them in the US when they were not touring there. McCartney decided that he should create fictitious characters for each band member and record an album that would be a performance by that fictitious band. This "alter-ego group" gave the band the freedom to experiment with songs. McCartney explained, "'Let's not be ourselves,'", and suggested that they invent a fake band. "Everything about the album," McCartney said, "will be imagined from the perspective of these people, so it doesn't have to be the kind of song you want to write, it could be the song they might want to write."

George Martin wrote of the fictitious band concept: "'Sergeant Pepper' itself didn't appear until halfway through making the album. It was Paul's song, just an ordinary rock number and not particularly brilliant as songs go ... But when we had finished it, Paul said, 'Why don't we make the album as though the Pepper band really existed, as though Sergeant Pepper was making the record? We'll dub in effects and things.' I loved the idea, and from that moment on it was as though Pepper had a life of its own".

The album starts with the title song, which introduces Sgt. Pepper's band itself; this song segues into a sung introduction for bandleader "Billy Shears" (Starr), who performs "With a Little Help from My Friends". A reprise version of the title song was also recorded, and appears on side two of the original album (just prior to the climactic "A Day in the Life"), creating a "book-ending" effect. However, the band effectively abandoned the concept other than the first two songs and the reprise. Lennon was unequivocal in stating that the songs he wrote for the album had nothing to do with the Sgt. Pepper concept, and further noted that none of the other songs did either, saying "Every other song could have been on any other album". In spite of Lennon's statements to the contrary, the album has been widely heralded as an early and ground-breaking example of the concept album. 

Release date of this ebay listed item: 1967

This ebay listing is for a super rare, long out of print and near mint LP title -

• CAPITOL Records LP Item - RED / ORANGE record labels with BLACK lettering, sporting the record label logo.

• LP was made in CANADA
  

• Pressing is in STEREO

• LP was issued in 1967
  

• Record Catalog Number: SMAS 2653
  

Featuring -

The BEATLES

John Lennon – lead, harmony and backing vocals, lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, Hammond organ, piano, hand-claps, harmonica, tape loops, sound effects, kazoo, tambourine, maracas, comb and paper (on "Lovely Rita")
Paul McCartney – lead, harmony and backing vocals, lead, acoustic and bass guitars, piano, Lowry and Hammond organ, hand-claps, vocalizations, tape loops, sound effects, kazoo, comb and paper (on "Lovely Rita")
George Harrison – lead, rhythm and acoustic guitars, sitar, lead vocals on "Within You Without You", harmony and backing vocals, Hammond organ, tambura, harmonica, kazoo, hand-claps, maracas, comb and paper (on "Lovely Rita")
Ringo Starr – drums, percussion, congas, tambourine, maracas, hand-claps, tubular bells, lead vocals on "With a Little Help from My Friends", harmonica, kazoo, final piano E chord

Additional Musicians & Production
Neil Aspinall – tambura and harmonica
Geoff Emerick – recording and mixing engineer; tape loops and sound effects
Mal Evans – counting, alarm clock and final piano E chord
George Martin – producer and mixer; tape loops and sound effects; harpsichord on "Fixing a Hole", harmonium, Lowry organ and glockenspiel on "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" Hammond organ on "With a Little Help from My Friends", piano on "Getting Better" and the solo on "Lovely Rita",  final harmonium chord
Session musicians – four French horns on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", (Neill Sanders, James W. Buck, John Burden, Tony Randall),[67] arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; string section and harp on "She's Leaving Home", arranged by Mike Leander and conducted by Martin; harmonium, tabla, sitar, dilruba, eight violins and four cellos on "Within You, Without You", arranged and conducted by Harrison and Martin; clarinet trio on "When I'm Sixty Four", as arranged and conducted by Martin and McCartney; saxophone sextet on "Good Morning Good Morning", arranged and conducted by Martin and Lennon; and forty-piece orchestra (strings, brass, woodwinds and percussion) on "A Day in the Life", arranged by Martin, Lennon and McCartney, conducted by Martin and McCartney

LP Title -

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Track Listing -

Sgt. Pepper was the first Beatles album to be released with identical track listings in the UK and US. The American release did not originally contain the side two run out groove and inner groove sound effects that were restored for the worldwide CD issue, released on 1 June 1987.

All tracks written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney except where noted.

Side one
1.    "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"      McCartney    2:02
2.    "With a Little Help from My Friends"      Starr    2:44
3.    "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds"      Lennon    3:28
4.    "Getting Better"      McCartney    2:48
5.    "Fixing a Hole"      McCartney    2:36
6.    "She's Leaving Home"      McCartney with Lennon[a]    3:35
7.    "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"      Lennon    2:37

Side two
1.    "Within You Without You" (George Harrison)    Harrison    5:04
2.    "When I'm Sixty-Four"      McCartney    2:37
3.    "Lovely Rita"      McCartney    2:42
4.    "Good Morning Good Morning"      Lennon    2:41
5.    "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)"      Lennon, McCartney and Harrison[b]    1:19
6.    "A Day in the Life"      Lennon and McCartney    5:39

CONDITION Details:

LP JACKET:

• The GATE-FOLD LP jacket is in near MINT minus condition - outstanding condition!

• The jacket has NO seam splits - it is completely intact and only shows some very minor shelf wear, primarily along the seams and corners.
  

• It has NO drill holes or saw marks of any kind - see picture with this listing for a better understanding of the condition of this item. Most of the record jacket still has the original plastic sleeve on it! It comes with an insert which is untouched with no cut outs (see picture).
  

• There is NO hand writing on the front or back of the jacket.
  

• The cover has clean and sharp colors - see picture with this listing for more detail. 

The LP (vinyl) itself:

• The LP is in near MINT minus condition!
  

• The LP retains most of the original gloss and sheen - looks like it's rarely been played!
  

• The record has no serious marks on it, obviously well taken care of.
  

• NO significant spindle marks either - perhaps a light one or two!
  

• This is the copy you have always wanted in your collection - any picky audiophile or collector should be happy with this one!
  

• This LP may have a slight mark or two (spider marks) which are caused by sliding the LP in and out of the inner sleeve and are usually not audible on most audio systems, depending of course, on the sensitivity of your turntable, arm and cartridge - as for any record, we recommend a thorough cleaning before playing!

A Short Note About LP GRADING -

• Mint = Only used for sealed items.
• Near Mint = Virtually flawless in every way.
• Near Mint Minus = Item has some minor imperfections, some audible.
• Excellent = Item obviously played and enjoyed with some noise.
• Very Good Plus = Many more imperfections which are noticeable and obtrusive.

Don't let this rarity slip by!!!