As I mentioned the tremendous value of the Sgt. Pepper album in rock music. I would like to elaborate further on the cover design.
It is also considering as a countercultural movement soundtrack, by summarizing change that was occurring in social conciseness.
Therefore, initially, it is probably the most influential album with the most recognisable cover. It had taken a lot of money for this ''concept idea''. In 1967 after touring, The Beatles focused on working in the studio. Which had a lot of speculation mixed with crowds of yelling teenagers waiting for any information regarding the next gigs. The reason why I wrote this, have a lot in common in an artist's life. After bigger performances with the same hits, they had not evaluated. The inflexion point had the concert in Shea stadium. Met with terrible disappointment and lack of control of the screaming audience. Therefore, without 'feedback', an important part of success and joy, it had to be stopped. Those sessions and hours spent on music experiments gave an unforgettable album.
Paul's idea of creating a concept album worked really well. The new identification of The Beatles as a Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band needed to be developed into visual idea. Below is Paul's sketch showing a group wearing military uniforms in Edwardian sitting room with hung pictures of their heroes. He also drew the group next to the notorious British floral display. He wanted to present this picture as for Lord Major, with a lot of dignity in the area and instruments such as clarinet, trumpet, etc. During this time, the band had a convenient connection to the environment of London's artist. Someone has recommended for them Peter Blake and his wife, Jann Haworth. And then, the original cover concept evolved into a piece of art.
Recalling Paul, it evolved in a good way. Heroes transformed into a crowd. The flat personalities were stated as a two-dimensional picture. Then they could stand surrounded by life-size cutout images. The chosen whatever people they admired. On this part, Haworth hand-tinted large prints on the chipboard and cut them out. The other ''participants'' like the doll wearing Rolling Stone sweatshirt and rescued wax dolls from Madame Tussauds were placed by Blake's contribution. Those waxworks were featured The Beatles from 1963. The drum skin was made by Joe Ephgrave, he made two versions, but the second one eventually attached to the other side of the drum. On the day of the photo session, the flowers arrived. During the final touches of the session, there appeared a possibility that someone from the ''crowd'' may not like to show their's likeness. Therefore, they send around about 63 letters asking for permission.
The approximately cost was estimated at £100, but then the budget has risen up to £3,000. Fortunately, this costly undertaking paid back at an alarming rate.
Despite the numerous sources of deceased persona,
Peter Blake (25.06.1932) is an English pop artist who lived in London. He graduated from the Royal College of Art. Particularly known from assemblages and collages of contemporary culture. His identifying mark is concerned with the modernity prints embedded in geometric shapes. They are very simple but works together really well. For instance, he combined the black&white stripes in one block and above placed a yellow star with green background. He intended to identify the collaboration of different forms and colours. Not to mention the collective work of famous people mixed along with brand marks. He made also album covers for: Paul Weller, Band Aid and The Who. However his early stage as an artist had been full of paintings. His very first known work, On the Balcony showing Blake's interest in combining pictures. It has also shown the attitude to changing horizons, reality and standard compositions. For me, it remembrance the development of the subject of interest. A combination of pictures and irregular forms would be helpful in some of my stages at work.
I picked this picture because it reflects the colours from The Beatles cover. Personally, I prefer his later art period, it seems to be bolder. The likeness, saturation and field are the most effective. And going into square shapes allowed him to apply all pictograms as a mind map. Therefore not without a reason, on his 80 birthday, he made a self version of Sgt.Pepper album with the people whose he admires "I had a very long list of people who I wanted to go in but couldn't fit everyone in – I think that shows how strong British culture and its legacy of the last six decades is." (Peter Blake, 2012)
There was also an alternative version of the Sgt.Pepper album, made by The Fools members (Dutch designers). The same group that designed the front of the Apple shop on Baker Street.
The story behind this cover taking back to 1966 when experimental psychedelic covers started to be a fad. John and Paul met Marijke Koger's studio in St Stephen’s Gardens, London.“They had seen my Saville Theatre programme cover for Hendrix and The Who and were intrigued by the artwork. They blew their minds over the ‘Wonderwall’ Simon [Posthuma] and I had painted in 1966 on an armoire in polychrome psychedelic imagery, as well as others paintings and artwork.” (Marijke Koger, 2018).
However, the concept for the album has changed and would not fit with the vision of decanting psychedelia. This piece could be on the inner sleeve but was replaced by the group portrait. Instead, it was in Ringo Starr's collection.
Frankly, this artwork depicted a real psychedelic dream with landscapes. The sunset at the focal point, fantastic scenery with the peacock in the foreground. I like the complexity and energetic impression. I do love the colours and implements of everything that happened during the day in the mystical land. Which surely those aspects I will introduce in my outcomes.
References:
Howlett, K. (2017) Digital booklet Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. [Online] Issuu. Available from : https://issuu.com/lcohailag/docs/digital_booklet_-_sgt_pepper_s_lone [Accessed 21/04/21].
Tate (2019) Peter Blake | Tate. [Online] Tate. Available from : https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/peter-blake-763 [Accessed 22/04/21].
Stavropoulos, L. (2018) Alternative Beatles “Sgt Pepper” Album Artwork For Sale At Sotheby’s. [Online] uDiscover Music. Available from : https://www.udiscovermusic.com/news/beatles-sgt-pepper-artwork-for-sale-at-sothebys/ [Accessed 21/04/21].
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