Created by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth from a drawing by Paul McCartney, art-directed by Robert Fraser and photographed by Michael Cooper at an extravagant cost of nearly £3,000, the resulting collage has become (according to author Ian Inglis) "a guidebook to the cultural topography of the decade" that is the 1960s.
It's inner sleeve art was done by Dutch design collective and band The Fool. Originally The Beatles wanted them to make a psychedelic front cover for the album, but art dealer Robert Fraser persuaded them not to and suggested Peter Blake to do the cover instead. Included with the album were a bonus gift of a cut-out sheet made by Blake and Haworth that features -
- a postcard-sized portrait of Sgt. Pepper (based on a statue from Lennon's house that was used on the front cover).
- a fake moustache
- two sets of sergeant stripes
- two lapel badges
- and a stand-up cut-out of the band in their uniforms
The album is also noted for what happened on its back. It was the first album to have its songs lyrics written on the back, so you no longer have to guess what John Lennon was saying by placing your ear close to the speaker. (although it made no difference in the task of interpreting them for any meaning what so ever).
It didn't take long for the world to recognise Blake and Haworth's genius. The cover won a Grammy that same year for Best Album Cover, Graphics Art.
Since then the cover has become so iconic it has led to a number of parodies and remakes, including...
- Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention's parody inside art on their 1968 We're Only in It for the Money album.
- This MAD magazine cover from 2002.
- The "heroes and heroines of the 21st century" SLC Pepper mural in Salt Lake City, painted in 2004 by Jann Haworth to address the imbalance of race and gender in the original.
- And this one that was made to commemorate the famous people who died in 2016.
Oh, and my tribute to the album's 50th anniversary
(which also happens to be the same year as this blog's 5th anniversary (two birds with one stone)).
Hope you like it. It took ages to make!
The past few months have been .... (I can't find the right words) for me.
I hope next year things get better.
Happy "I survived winter" celebrations everyone.
(I don't want a society that forces me to say "Merry Christmas" to everyone.
Its become boring and its become hatred fuel to a biggest bunch of killjoys of our time.
I want a choice in December.
I don't want a world full of broken robots that say "Merry Christmas"
each time they sense a person walk pass them.
I want variety.
And I think most people (the people who don't bother voting or ranting online) feel the same too.
Don't let those killjoys win their imaginary non-existant "war."
UPDATE - A post about how this tribute was made featuring a list of who's in it can be accessed by clicking ....
