Sgt Pepper's Musical Revolution with Howard Goodall

I can hear you grumble :one more documentary about the greatest(some will say it is not so) album of all time ...the Summer of love...Lucy was Julian Lennon's schoolmate.....tired of the tours and the screams,the Beatles had been experimenting in the studio for interminable agonizing months....A story we've been told ,and told and TOLD.

Yet ,any Beatle fan should watch this movie which thoroughly deserves its 8;Howard Goodall, a musician himself, dissects the most interesting songs, He integrates the strawberry fields forever/Penny Lane single in his absorbing study ,quite rightly so.

Of course there are plenty things the fans already know;but there's an approach which enlightens us;sometimes it's as though Ian McDonald 's"revolution in the head" was put on film ;Goodall insists on the nearly prehistoric means Martin and his team had at their disposal in 1966-67;the makings of "strawberry fields forever" "for the benefit of Mr Kite " or "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" were really wonders of technology ,considering they were 4 -track recordings.

He also points out the intuitive genius of the Beatles :Paul using with startling effects the piccolo trumpet added on the final day of recording;George ,inventing the world music and feeling that ,in this cross-cultural fusion ,an Indian-sounding vocal should not be attempted (to prove this,Goodall has an Indian singer perform the first verse : it's much more sophisticated than George's ).Ringo's drumming on " a day in the life" ,much more important to the overall sound he has generally been given credit for.)The treatment of John's vocal on "Lucy in the sky with diamonds " give the track its dreamy "psychedelic" landscape seen through the eyes of a girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

No other group -not even the Kinks ,their closest relative in this field - has elevated daily life to popular entertainment and high art at the same time : ," a day in the life" and "she's leaving home " are ,based ,as everybody knows, on three news items;the latter ,says Goodall recalls the structure of old English folk songs :and using the third person (narrator) for the verses and the voices of the desperate parents for the chorus , the singer makes us feel for the runaway AND her folks.

We can also see rare footage of the era (several interviews are included,including one of Paul ,sick and tired of the tours)



Recently ,an English music paper (NME) did not include the Beatles in "their 100 most influent rock artists "!!! But anyway ,they are in a class of their own,aren't they?

Howard Goodall's expert and forensic gaze is brought to bear on the Beatle's seminal 'Sgt Pepper' album; this film will be of interest to Beatles fans and musical scholars alike.

I largely agree with dbdumonteil's review ( the only user review here at the time of writing). However everyone has a different take on this album and will obviously have a different take on this film too. I was a mere babe when this album came out, and as I grew up, it was part of my musical firmament; not quite 'the musical wallpaper' but not far off. I recognised that it was different to what came before but I probably didn't recognise just how revolutionary this album was, until fairly recently.

It seems to me that the Beatles intuitively used whatever means they could find to make sounds that conveyed their emotions and meanings as best as possible; most listeners react to the music in the same visceral fashion, without quite understanding why. It really isn't necessary to understand exactly why, after all the music was seemingly made without this luxury, but it is interesting nonetheless. In this film you find out more about how certain musical structures and techniques work ; this kind of dissection has the potential to diminish the raw enjoyment of and wonder at the music, and maybe for some folk it will do. However there is much to be seen in terms of how the songs were structured and indeed how they were able to record the right sounds even with the primitive (by today's standards) equipment then at Abbey road.

In conclusion if you are a Beatles fan, the only reason for not watching this film is if you wish to preserve the mystery and the magic of the inner workings of these songs. For every other Beatles fan, this is must-see stuff.