Biographic - Sunday May 28, 2017 Comic Strip Licensing and Permissions

Transcript

Fifty years ago this week, one of the most innovative and influential records in the history of popular music was released to huge critical acclaim and commercial success. By late 1966, The Beatles had grown weary of constant touring. In three short years, they had become the most famous young men on the planet, but their unrelenting schedules had become a point of frustration and contention. In the Philippines, they had been manhandled by citizens angered at a perceived slight to First Lady Imelda Marcos. In the states, John Lennon's comments about religion had sparked protests, boycotts and death threats... and wherever they played throughout the world, their performance was drowned out by legions of screaming fans. The group took a three-month break. Lennon took an acting role in the movie "How I Won The War." George Harrison traveled to India to study the sitar, Paul McCartney worked on the soundtrack for the movie "The Family Way" and Ringo Starr spent time at home with his family. The Beatles had developed at light speed, the simple, catchy pop songs of their early days giving way to increasingly complex and ambitious rock music. When they reconvened, freed from the constraints of touring and with unlimited studio time to experiment, the quartet threw themselves into creating new music, embracing the latest technologies and enlisting a 40-piece orchestra. On June 1, 1967, they unveiled their masterpiece: "SGT. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band" was a revelation. A beautifully packaged concept album hailed by Time Magazine as "a historic departure in the progress of music," it dominated the record charts for months on end. It won four Grammy's, including becoming the first rock record to be named album of the year. According to Rolling Stone Magazine, it is "the most important rock & roll album ever made, an unsurpassed adventure in concept, sound, songwriting, cover art and studio technology by the greatest rock & roll group of all time."

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