Today, the Beatles remain one of, if not the most influential musical group in the history of rock and roll. In the 1960s, the band’s increasing popularity on both sides of the lake put pressure on the band to continuously create success after success. In the seven years that Fab Four have produced music together, 12 albums have been released in the UK. While the 1967 album Sgt. Banda Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club it was not the best seller in the group, it may have been the most controversial and influential.
Beatles songs and albums
“Here Comes the Sun”, released in 1969, is the Beatles’ most broadcast song, according to Official Charts. His 1968 hit “Hey Jude” spent 19 weeks on the music charts, according to Newsweek. The band’s No. 1 hit in 1969, “Come Together”, spent 16 weeks on the charts. THE White Album, released in 1968, far surpassed any other album by the band with over 24 million copies sold. But was Sgt. Banda Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club, released a year earlier, which Rolling Stone named as the best album of all time. The base of the album was Paul McCartney, conceived while he was on board an airplane.
The idea was that each member of the band would assume an alter ego in the “Lonely Hearts Club Band” to be presented in concert to create the album. The name Sgt. Pimenta came from the letters S for salt and P for pepper that McCartney had to explain to his assistant while eating a meal during the flight, according to Mental Floss. Sgt. Pepper included hits like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, “With a Little Help from My Friends”, “Lovely Rita”, “When I’m Sixty-Four” and “Getting Better”. As with most of their songs, the songs on the album were written by members of the band, mostly by John Lennon and McCartney.
The Beatles used many illicit drugs
It is no secret that every member of the Beatles has used drugs at some point. “Almost everyone was using drugs in one way or another and we were no different,” McCartney said in an interview with Today. McCartney admitted that drugs were an influence on some songs. “A song like ‘Got to Get You into My Life’, which is directly about marijuana, although everyone missed it at the time,” said McCartney. Lennon called the album, Revolver, the band’s acidic album. Songs on Sgt. The Pepper album more than hinted at drugs, including “Day Tripper”, which was about LSD, said McCartney, and “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds”, although Lennon denied it at the time. Lennon said he was inspired by a drawing that his son, Julian, had drawn. McCartney admitted “it was pretty obvious” that drugs were the influence.
Writing and recording ‘Getting Better’
McCartney and Lennon wrote the lyrics for “Getting Better”. McCartney came up with the title phrase one morning while walking with his sheepdog, along with journalist Hunter Davies. The reference was to welcome spring. Although McCartney saw this as an optimistic line, Lennon commented, “It couldn’t get any worse.” It was Lennon who added a darker lyrics to the song that “would deal with anger, indiscipline at school and violence against women,” according to the Beatles Bible. When it came to recording the song, Lennon took what he thought was a superior (amphetamine) when preparing for a long night in the studio. He later realized that he had taken the wrong pill. “I thought I was feeling bad and I was freaking out … so it occurred to me that I must have taken some acid,” said Lennon in an interview in 1970.
Lennon went to the production room where Beatles producer George Martin was working. He had a “strange, glassy appearance,” said Martin. Without knowing that Lennon was under the influence, Martin suggested that Lennon may just need some air. To avoid the hundreds of fans outside, Martin took Lennon to the roof of the studio, unaware that he had used drugs, and left him alone on the roof and went back to work. It was McCartney and George Harrison who ran to the roof when they realized that their bandmate was alone on an acid trip. The band decided to give up recording support vocals for the song that night.
McCartney accompanied Lennon a short distance home. He made a sudden decision. While fearing acid, McCartney decided that maybe it was time to finally take a trip with his friend. “It’s been a long time coming. It is often the best way, without thinking about it too much, just slide inside. John is already working on it, so I’m kind of going to catch up with him, ”said McCartney. “It was my first trip with John, or any of the guys. We stayed up all night, sat down and hallucinated a lot. McCartney called that night’s experience “dizzying … You dissolve into each other. … And it was incredible. ”He could see himself through the eyes of his good friend. “It was a good trip.”