Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Yesteryear Vinyl

LH image: USA Capitol Records – SMAS 2653 (1968). RH image: UK Parlophone repress – PCS 7027 (1993).

Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band is the eighth studio album by the English rock band the Beatles. It was produced by George Martin and released on 26th May 1967 in the United Kingdom and 2nd June 1967 in the United States. It spent 27 weeks at number one in the UK Albums Chart, eventually going 17 x Platinum, and 15 weeks at number one in the Billboard Top LPs chart in the USA going 11 x Platinum.

The album was recorded at EMI Studio 2, Abbey Road, and Regent Sound, London, using four-track tape machines. However, a pseudo 8 track was created by ‘locking’ two 4 tracks together for the recording of ‘A Day In The Life’. It was also one of the earlier uses of ‘double tracking’, for vocals

Originally released in mono on the Parlaphone label in 1967 it won four Grammy Awards in 1968, including Album of the Year, the first rock LP to receive this honour.

It remains one of the best-selling albums of all time and the UK’s best-selling studio album, with more than 32 million copies sold worldwide as of 2011.

I own both a 1993 stereo digitally remastered UK Parlophone – PCS 7027 (pressed by The Gramophone Company) and the original first issue 1967 USA stereo release by Capitol Records – SMAS 2653 (pressed by Capitol Records, Scranton, PA).

Tracks:

Side 1:

1. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She’s Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite !

Side 2:

1. Within You Without You
2. When I’m Sixty-Four
3. Lovely Rita
4. Good Morning Good Morning
5. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
6. A Day In The Life
7. Hidden Message (run out groove – UK version only)

Back in the 60’s I lived just a short drive from the UK northern centers of pop, Liverpool and Manchester, so I thought that a review of one of their albums was well overdue. My wife, a die-hard Beatles fan, has most of their albums playing some so often that she has a second copy after wearing out the original purchases.

Unfortunately the 1967 Sergeant Peppers Lonely Heart Club Band was one of those heavily played albums. No matter how I cleaned it, the track damage was excessive and much of side A was unplayable. Side B was playable but had significant noise. This I compared at length with the UK version together with a couple of tracks from side A.

Rather than passing judgment on their technical audiophile quality, which clearly neither of these pressings could muster, I will mainly contrast and compare the mixes. I suspect that the USA and UK mixes were different, but the resulting mastering and pressing process certainly are.

Both albums were perfectly concentric and flat, the USA album weighing in at a very respectable 165grams, whereas the UK pressing could barely muster 114grams. Vinyl noise rated at a respectable 4+ with few pops and clicks on the UK version, with the badly worn USA version barely making a 3+. Only 4 track tape machines were available for the recording of this album so it was continually mixed and “bounced” between these 4 tracks as additional overdubs were added. Stereo miking techniques were very limited and much is simple panned stereo that uses level and reverb to create some limited sense of depth. Even the entire kit appears hard panned to just one speaker on a few tracks. Despite this continual re-recording I am pleased to say that the mixes dynamics did not unduly suffer, however the lower and upper octaves are definitely lacking. These mixes were also edited so that there are little to no ‘silent’ run in grooves between tracks.

The most interesting aspect, to me, are the significant differences between the two mixes/mastering/pressings. The USA pressing clearly being the winner by a wide margin. Both mixes are open, with every instrument and vocal occupying its own space in the mix. Mid-range is clean if not just a little forward on occasions. Vocals show no signs of sibilance and Paul’s electric bass is always there to be clearly heard. Now for the differences:

• The analog “worn” USA pressing compared to the digital “as new” UK pressing.
  • Much higher level by about +3dB.
  • Stereo imaging was almost stereo! A much more “solid” stereo experience.
  • Overall instrumental detail was increased.
  • More mellow sound with a less strident mid-range and more natural vocals, especially Paul’s.
  • Electric bass was less damped and more extended.
  • The kit sounded like a kit, with the snare, toms, hi-hat and cymbals sounding natural. The heavily damped kick drum being clearly audible on many tracks.
  • The remaining instruments; guitars, strings, brass, tubular bells, acoustic piano, maracas, wood blocks, sitar etc. all having more body and life.
• The UK version, despite the dynamics being similar, sounded “all squeezed up”, with an over “tight” and thin electric bass, unnatural kit sound that rarely showed any kick drum. It had a more restricted frequency range and the instruments and ambience just seemed lacking by comparison. I suspect that this sound is in part due to the early digital re-mastering technologies and maybe a different mix. 

The original recording leveraged new production techniques and instruments creating what was then a unique sound, propelling it to number one and out-selling all other albums. It’s musically entertaining and enjoyable but unfortunately not audiophile. Finally the inner groove on side B of my USA version does not contain the endlessly looping hidden message found on the UK version.

There are a bewildering number of pressings of both the British and American versions so if you are looking to buy this album take care as clearly all pressings are not the same.

Beatles – Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band – Yesteryear Vinyl

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