The Beatles: Sgt. Pepper - Why was Harrison only allowed One song?

No! We had a major argument a month ago in another thread about this, they were not written and recorded with Pepper in mind, because the concept for Pepper was decided after these songs had been written, they intended to make a concept album about there childhood which became just a very brilliant 'Concept Single', and then the concept of Pepper was decided so they were never intended for the album Sgt. Pepper, Sir George Martin has stated if they were on the album it would have been better, but they were never recorded or intended to be for the Sgt. Pepper album !!

 

And likewise: How did he manage to get three songs on Revolver? George was allowed (granted?) only 2 songs at the most on all of their other LPs (yes, there were 4 on the White Album, but that was a double, so 2 per disc). So since he got 3 on Revolver, he was allowed only 1 more for Pepper. Arnie

 

That is what I thought, like he came up with 3 on Revolver so Martin/Lennon/McCartney said, OK then you can only have one for the next Album ? ?

 

Nonsense. "It's Only A Northern Song" is simply not a very good song.

 

My theory is that George was only really interested in Indian music during 1966-67, and they were only going to let him put one of those kinds of songs on Pepper, so Within You Without You became the one.

Only A Northern Song is pretty half-hearted, despite being draped in psychedelia. I agree it was best left off Pepper.

 

Sgt. Peppers would have been a much better album if Only A Northern Song had replaced Lovely Rita, which it is least 10x better than.

 

No way. OANS is weaker than anything on Pepper, Revolver, or MMT. It doesn't fit the Pepper concept at all either: Pepper is about fantasy, not sarcastic reality.

 

I've always thought that the answer to the question of whether PL/SFF was recorded for Sgt. Pepper depends on your point of view. Both songs were recorded for their next album (which turned out to be Pepper). Regardless of the "concept" of the single, or the "concept" of Pepper (which Lennon always said only existed in the title song), these songs were intended to go on the next album. When you look at the sequence of recording these songs, you will see that When I'm Sixty For was recorded in between SFF and Penny Lane, and A Day in the Life was recorded before the Sgt. Peppers title track.

I beleive that, if it weren't for EMI screaming for a single in February '67 (after all the previous single was in June of '66 - an incredibly long time between releases back in those days), Penny and Fields would have been on Pepper. George Martin simply picked the two best completed tracks atthe time.

Below is a list of the recording dates of the songs from SFF through the release date of the single (Feb 12 '67). Data taken from Brennan's Usenet Guide (http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/beatles/). What would you have picked?

STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
basic recording- 29 Nov 1966 and 8 Dec 1966
additional recording- 29 Nov 1966 and 8,9,15,21 Dec 1966
WHEN I'M SIXTY-FOUR
basic recording- 6 Dec 1966
additional recording- 6,8,20,21 Dec 1966
PENNY LANE
basic recording- 29 Dec 1966
additional recording- 29,30 Dec 1966, 4,5,6,9,10,17 Jan 1967
A DAY IN THE LIFE
basic recording- 19 Jan 1967
additional recording- 19,20 Jan, 3,10,22 Feb 1967
SGT PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND
basic recording- 1 Feb 1967
additional recording- 1,2 Feb, 3,6 Mar 1967
GOOD MORNING GOOD MORNING
basic recording- 8 Feb 1967
additional recording- 16 Feb, 13,29 Mar 1967
FIXING A HOLE
basic recording- 9 Feb 1967 at Regent Sound
additional recording- 9 Feb at Regent Sound, 21 Feb 1967


Interestingly, the very next song stated by the Beatles was It's Only a Northern Song.

 

The epicness of Within You Without You would have been understated if George included another song of his on it.

Unless... if It's All Too Much would have been written at the time, it would have fit in well, but definitely would have booted at least 2 Lennon/McCartney songs off of the album.

 

I agree with you about the merits of Northern Song and with your theory which is also backed up by interviews Hunter Davies conducted with George and all the lads in 1967 for his 1968 authorized Beatles bio.

George had already soured on the Beatles, was into all things Indian, and told Davies he was happy to let John and Paul do the majority of the songwriting. For the anthology, George again restates that he wasn't into the Pepper thing and during the early Beatle years admits he was only writing a couple songs per year.

Although the others (and Martin) certainly could have been more encouraging and sensitive to George's position and insecurities, the person who held back Harrison the most in that band, was Harrison himself.

He did not fully commit himself to being a songwriter until 1968 and for George to later resent being held back for years by mean old egomaniacs J & (especially) P (who seems to get most of the blame) and G. Martin, is a tab disingenous, IMO. On balance, their close proximity and influence had to have helped his development as a songwriter and musician, more than it subtracted, no..?

IMHO, it's a case of he doth protest (a tad) too much...

 

Ever notice the intro to "Isn't it a pity" sounds a lot like the intro to "I am the walrus" and the ending of "Isn't it a pity" sounds a lot like the ending of Hey Jude

 

no!

 

Sorry can't agree. Lovely Rita is a horrible song and the album would simply be better with the far more interesting OaNS substituted. Let's be honest the 'concept' is a load of bollocks anyway.

 

and Good Morning, Good Morning is about fantasy too?

 

Yeah but thats a Lennon song isn't it

 

If George would have had a song or two of the caliber (not necessarily style of) of Taxman, If I Needed Someone, While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Something, or Here Comes the Sun, I bet they would have made it onto Sgt. Pepper.

IMHO, "Within You, Without You" is easily the worst song on SPLHCB. If this was the best Harrison had to offer at the time, why would they have included another song of his? When he got his writing chops back up to par for the later albums, he got more songs on them; it's as simple as that.

I've been a fan of the Beatles and SPLHCB since I was very young. When I got my first copy of the album back in the '70s, I had two playing patterns. Sometimes I would listen the the album all the way through. Other times, I would play the first side all the way through, and then start the second side with "Lovely Rita", skipping over WYWY and WIS-F.

When I saw this thread, I did a quick search here on the forum to find a "Weak Link" series of threads for this album from late 2006. In the first round, WYWY (99 votes) and WIS-F (71 votes) were the first two songs voted off. Good Morning (51 votes) and She's Leaving Home (39 votes) were the next two highest vote getters in that first round; and in fact they were voted off in the second round. I guess my opinion of the relative strengths and weaknesses of the songs on this album when I was 12 years old are pretty much in line with the overall opinions of forum members today.

And in no way am I saying WYWY is a bad song; I just like it (and WIS-F) significantly less than the rest of the album. This is just MHO; YMMV.

 

Totally disagree, give me 'Within You Without You' over 'Rita Maid' and 'When I'm 64' anyday, Within you was such an important song for Pepper and The Beatles!!

 

I think Sgt Peppers would have been considered somewhat of a disappointment if it hadn't closed with the absolutely epic A Day in the Life.

 

I guess we have to agree to disagree on WYWY. At least we're simpatico on "When I'm 64".

 

WYWY is one of those songs that I'll usually skip past if I'm listening to individual tracks on random, but if I'm listening to the album I think it fits in well.

Side-track: are there any two Beatles songs that have the same abbreviation?

 

"R" and "R".

 

George was pre-occupied with meditation and exploring Indian music during that period. It was kinda the beginning of the end for The Beatles. The division and individuality directly feeding off that and blossoming in the groups 1968 trip to India.

 

Lovely Rita
With A Little Help
When I'm 64

IMO these are the weakest tracks on the album.

 

Getting Better and Good Morning are my least favorite (I do like them). Well, I now know what would go if "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields Forever" were included.

 

"GB" and "GB"