The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover
Feature

Celebrating The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's' 50th Anniversary

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From the songs and production to the artwork and mixing, an all-star panel of GRAMMY winners and nominees reflect on a monumental album that marked a sea change in music and inspired generations of musicians
Paul Zollo
GRAMMYs
May 25, 2017 - 10:00 am

If ever there was one album every music lover should have in their collection, it would be the Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Released in the United States on June 2, 1967, the album marked a sacred moment for music. Spanning 13 tracks at nearly 40 minutes, it represents the Beatles at their most creatively ambitious. The songwriting, musicianship, performances, arrangements, album artwork, production, and the mixing all combined to make a bold statement, one which many argue legitimized the album as a true art form.

The LP ultimately took home the Album Of The Year GRAMMY, the first in an endless string of album accolades that has included induction into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame and the prestige of the top spot on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time list.

A half-century after its release, Sgt. Pepper's … is getting the deluxe edition treatment, affording fans an opportunity to rediscover the seminal album all over again. The golden anniversary also doubles as a time to reflect on this influential work that continues to impact songwriters, musicians, artists, and studio technicians across multiple generations.

Following, a panel of GRAMMY-winning and -nominated musicians and studio professionals examine the profound and lasting impact of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, united by their reverence and ongoing awe for the achievement of this timeless work.

Steve Lukather (GRAMMY-winning guitarist: Toto, Ringo Starr All-Starr Band): I was 11 the first time I heard it. It was like in The Wizard Of Oz, where it goes from black-and-white to color. My mouth was open the whole time. We'd never heard otherworldly sounds like this. People have to remember: It's 2017 now and everyone's jaded. It was unlike anything we'd ever heard on this planet, like aliens had landed in the backyard.

Nancy Wilson (GRAMMY-nominated guitarist/vocalist: Heart, Roadcase Royale): I was 13 when Sgt. Pepper came out, a tender young teenager.  [My sister] Ann and I were totally swept into this cultural phenomenon that was going on with the Beatles since their first album. We didn't want to be the Beatles' girlfriends. We wanted to be them.

Butch Vig (GRAMMY-winning producer: Nirvana, Foo Fighters): I was 12 when it came out. My art teacher played it in our class. It had quite an impact on me. I knew of the Beatles but I'd never heard anything like it before.

Al Di Meola (GRAMMY-winning guitarist): I was 13 the first time I heard Sgt. Pepper. I was completely blown away. It was on constant rotation on my little record player in my room.

Ed Cherney (GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer/mixer, Recording Academy Producers & Engineers Wing Co-Chair): I was 17 when it came out. Me and my friends took a hit of acid, and went to our friend's bedroom because he had a hi-fi. We listened to it from beginning to end. Nobody said a word from the first needle drop. I remember my soul escaping from my body because I was so thrilled listening to this. When it was over, none of us spoke. We just turned the record over and listened to it again from side one. 

"It was unlike anything we'd ever heard on this planet, like aliens had landed in the backyard."

Bob Ezrin (GRAMMY-nominated producer: Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd): I was 18 when I first heard it. I was already married with an infant son. Suddenly, the universe was shrinking around me; my teenage years were over, and no longer was life a wide open expanse of possibility. But in June of 1967 I could put on this album and escape into a fantastical, technicolor land of wondrous characters, curious places and complex emotions, with music that bore all the tastes and smells of the whole wide world.  

Rick Nielsen (guitarist, Cheap Trick): I was 18 the year it came out. It was exciting. I remember thinking, "Holy cow!" [They] had gone from "I Want To Hold Your Hand" to this stuff. This wasn't their first album; the previous ones were all extraordinary. But this was a step forward, this was different.

Joe Walsh (GRAMMY-winning guitarist, Eagles): I was 20 when Sgt. Pepper came out. I lived with two other guys, each of us in different bands that played downtown Kent, Ohio. Those were the wild and crazy days, so we set up two Marshall amplifiers in the living room, and hooked the turntable up to the amps. We laid down on the living room table between the two amps and listened to it all night. It blew our minds, and then became the only thing that mattered, listening to that, for many weeks.

Al Schmitt (GRAMMY-winning producer/engineer: Paul McCartney, Diana Krall): The first time I heard it I was in the studio with [fellow producer] Tommy LiPuma. I'd already been in the business for a long time, and I sure knew about the Beatles. But Sgt. Pepper, it was jaw-dropping. We thought, how did they do that? We were blown away. It was unbelievable. 

Vig: I bought it that week at the local record store and started listening to it with headphones, over and over again. It didn't sound like a band playing together in a room. Instead, each song took us into a completely new world.

The Beatles hold the 'Sgt. Pepper's' album cover

Wilson: Artistically, it was a sea turn. They had been working up to it and Sgt. Pepper was the ultimate big left turn for music at the time. And everybody went left. It was mind-blowing.

Lukather: I wondered where all these sounds came from. Where is the magical place where this can happen?

Cherney: I think it was the most powerful musical experience I've ever had, the first time I heard it. The rest of my life and career became trying to make things as exciting and as compelling as that.

Ezrin: This was the audio equivalent of Walt Disney's Fantasia: a momentous piece of work that pushed the boundaries of composition and technology and that opened people's ears, minds and hearts to a whole new level of fascination and connection with just sound.  

Wilson: The night before Sgt. Pepper came out, the entire record was played on the radio. It was a super event, being glued to the radio and hearing the whole album. It was a life-altering event for Ann and I. We had to be the first in line to pick up the album. So that very next day we had it in our hands. We put it on the family stereo in our family living room and just immersed.

Schmitt: It sounded amazing. So many effects that they used were great. I had my assistants try to figure out how they did certain things. It changed the way I looked at recording because of what they did, the chances they took. It was revolutionary.

Ezrin: While they demonstrated that almost anything could be done now in the studio, they also demonstrated that only certain things ought to be done to preserve and enhance the essence of each great song.

Cherney: It opened our eyes to music on so many levels, introducing us to vaudeville, show tunes, westerns, and Indian music. There's not a bad note, a bad lyric or anything out of place.

Lukather: Everything about the album, including the artwork, was amazing. These were the days when we would spend endless hours staring at albums, and now we got this, with all wild and colorful pictures, and the lyrics for every song printed out. It was a total statement. It was like taking a journey. It's a piece meant to be listened to from top to bottom.

"This was the audio equivalent of Walt Disney's Fantasia: a momentous piece of work that pushed the boundaries of composition and technology."

Nielsen: Sgt. Pepper changed everything in terms of recording. You couldn't just make an album with a guitar, a bass and a drum anymore. You needed more.

Wilson: Sgt. Pepper was, in its entirety, a cohesive piece of art from top to bottom. It took you through a journey. When you got through listening to it, you felt like you got to live in their world, and meet every character in it, and be part of their town. You got to live in Beatletown! For the duration of it. And each thing leads into the next, so the way they segued the songs and blended the colors into the next song, was ingenious.

Di Meola: The way they incorporated sounds and orchestration was so far ahead of anything that had ever been done before, and done so well. The mixing was brilliant, and especially helpful for me. The production ideas forever impacted me. I'd always think about how the Beatles would mix and pan certain sounds.

Walsh: They didn't really know what they were doing. And because of that, they had no boundaries. George Martin would tell them, "No, you can't do that." But they would insist, and experiment. They broke tradition and all the norms, and changed the way people made albums from then on.

Lukather: We had Brian Wilson and [the Beach Boys'] Pet Sounds on this side. Everyone was trying to one up one another, and that was a positive thing, because nobody's record sounded the same.

Wilson: Pet Sounds inspired and informed Sgt. Pepper. It was all about experimentation and pushing the limits. Everything was culturally at such a peak, and there was so much to push against, that the young generation was trying to push against the old stodgy cultural mores and limits. It was a lot more stodgy in those days. The Beatles were really brave, and at the helm of something completely uncharted. And they got there.

Lukather: Even if you took away the production, it is amazing. The performances of each individual player, and the songs and the vocals, were all magical. There's a reason these guys were the Beatles. They were really good. They weren't flashy and shredding. What they have is songs and creativity that have yet to be matched. This is still the standard that we all look to.

Vig: We take for granted that they were fantastic musicians, and the performances on Sgt. Pepper are stellar. Besides John, Paul and George bringing in great songs, they were also contributing arrangement ideas. Between them, their producer and engineer, they were in a perfect creative storm.

Lukather: Ringo was an amazing drummer. He invented these crazy-a** drum parts and drum fills that, prior to that, never had been done. He invented the whole way modern drummers play.  He is so creative, and the way he plays, it swings, it grooves. He invented the way people perceive the drums, especially in early rock and roll.

Walsh: Because this was four-track, the Beatles played together as a band. It was about getting a performance and building on that. Very rarely now do a bunch of people get in the room together at the same time and play together. Nowadays it's just one guy on a computer making it perfect. But perfect music doesn't sound good. There's no mojo.

Lukather: George's playing was everything to me. More than the songs or the singing, it was about the sound of his guitar. He played for the song. He came up with great parts, and wrote beautiful music. He had a very distinctive sound. His economy of notes, and the way he played, the finesse of it, is something you can't learn. You can learn the notes. But there's a certain touch and feel and heart that goes into it.

"Sgt. Pepper changed everything in terms of recording. You couldn't just make an album with a guitar, a bass and a drum anymore."

Walsh: It is when Lennon and McCartney broke on through with their songwriting. They had no boundaries. They'd come off the road, and didn't want to be the Beatles anymore. They wanted to reinvent themselves. They couldn't play live anymore, couldn't hear themselves with all the people screaming. So they invented a new band: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. And by doing this, they changed the way songs were written. I mean, "A Day In The Life" is more than a song. It's a collage of songs.

GRAMMYs

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"A Day In The Life"

Schmitt: "A Day In The Life" was, for me, the number one cut on the album. It was incredible. What they did with the orchestra on that was amazing. A lot of that credit goes to George Martin for being able to do the orchestrations for that and for recording it, and the Beatles for allowing it. They were into anything at that point. If someone said they should try something, they would go for it.

Ezrin: "A Day In The Life" may be the greatest piece of writing and production in the history of modern recording. It is flawless in its storytelling, from the perfect lyric and melody to the truly moving performance to the unrestrained brilliance of the arrangement, to the sound of everything, especially the voice. I listen with my jaw open and eyes wide every time I hear it, and I'm still deeply moved by it after 50 years of listening.  

Wilson: I loved "Within You Without You" [by George] so much. It was like walking into the temple with George. He's sitting cross-legged playing his hurdy-gurdy. I remember thinking, "Now, I know George more deeply." Up to then I thought he was just giving lip service to spirituality and God. But here was this song that brought you straight into [his] deeper vibration. It was so beautiful how it created this mood of a chant and a meditation inside the song. And at the end of this very dark, heavy and personal song, there is laughter. As if to say, "Wow, that was fun. Now let's get a back to the program at hand!"

Nielsen: Musically, a lot of these songs are quite complex. "For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite," which John wrote, is really odd musically. It is complicated to play. But I love it.

Wilson: "When I'm Sixty-Four" is that music-hall style, which Paul did so well. But it's only one style he did so well. The range of that is really impressive.

Di Meola: "She's Leaving Home" is a beautiful song. That melody, even without the lyrics, stands on its own.

"It is when Lennon and McCartney broke on through with their songwriting."

Wilson: "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" mirrors exactly what it felt like in those days to be tripping, or to take some mind expansive thing. If you had that album cued up, and you were high, it made even better sense.

Di Meola: Having Ringo sing "With A Little Help From My Friends" was a show of camaraderie. Such a strong song, you think they would want to do it on their own. It sounds tailor-made for Ringo, but it wasn't. It was just an idea to have him try it, and it worked.

Wilson: "Fixing A Hole" is one of my favorite Paul moments ever. He has an uncanny capability to write something that seems light-weight at first, but then you realize there is more there than you knew. It is so melodic. A beautiful thing about what he does, as a songwriter, is that he's got a wink and a nod, and yet he speaks of something painful, having a hole where the rain gets into your own life. He's a master at deceptive simplicity. 

Walsh: The technology, the whole concept of stereo, and multitracking, was just starting to explode, and that collided with them using everything they had used so far. In the old days, you would record the whole band at once. We'd just gone from Sun Records, one track, to this. If the drummer was too loud, you moved the mike. Now anything was possible, and nothing was ever the same again.

Di Meola: It has impacted me my whole life, though I am a jazz player, because of the emphasis on melody and composition. I relate more to the Beatles than anything in jazz.

Cherney: I think it made me want to spend a life trying to be in the studio and make music like them. I can point to a lot of my peers, and know it did the same thing to them.

Di Meola: This music became more intricate and interesting than before. The lyrics became psychedelic, romantic and more dreamy. When I hear it, it is so nostalgically beautiful, but it's also music that I listen to still today. And I love it. I'm crazy about it.

Vig: Anyone who makes modern recordings, at some point, has borrowed their ideas.

Lukather: Look at what they did in just a handful of years: the growth of the creativity, the songwriting, the performances, the uniqueness, and the message. They transformed the whole world. They made us think different.

Vig: Sgt. Pepper raised the bar. The songs were great but the production took it to a completely new level. It revolutionized modern studio recording.

Lukather: If there were no Beatles, there wouldn't be anybody else.

Ezrin: It was a watershed moment in human culture. It was a time when technology was just about to burst its restraints and the world was suddenly united by popular culture.

Cherney: It touched us all so deeply, and in a way I don't think music or art has ever really touched us before.

Ezrin: It wasn't an album. It was a magic door into the imagination, and it was all done with music and sound.

Cherney: Last night I listened to it all the way through. I remember every note, every solo, every lyric, every word, every part, every Ringo fill. It's wild. It's the greatest rock and roll record of all time. It opened my eyes.

The Beatles photographed in 1967

Walsh: Every now and then, when I get tired of what I hear on the radio, I put on Sgt. Pepper. And I am reminded of just how great it can be.

"Sgt. Pepper raised the bar. The songs were great but the production took it to a completely new level. It revolutionized modern studio recording.​"

Wilson: The whole album is embedded in my DNA.

Lukather: It's one of the greatest albums ever made. They're going to be writing about the cultural effect of the Beatles on the planet earth, and about Sgt. Pepper, for centuries.

Walsh: It changed everything. In terms of what was possible. It made everybody look at what we had been doing, and made it seem prehistoric.

Cherney: Compared to Sgt. Pepper, modern music sounds like it was made through a kazoo. 

More Sgt. Pepper's: Jack Antonoff explains how the album impacted him

(Writer Paul Zollo is the senior editor of American Songwriter and the author of several books, including Songwriters On Songwriting, Conversations With Tom Petty and Hollywood Remembered. He's also a songwriter and Trough Records artist whose songs have been recorded by many artists, including Art Garfunkel, Severin Browne and Darryl Purpose.)

GRAMMYs

Heart's Ann Wilson

Photo: Jay West/WireImage.com

Video

Ann Wilson: The Beatles On Ed Sullivan "Changed My Life"

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Heart frontwoman recalls the enormous impact of watching the Beatles' debut on "The Ed Sullivan Show"
Ann Wilson
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

"The Beatles: The Night That Changed America" Promo

(On Feb. 9 The Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS will present "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A GRAMMY Salute." The two-and-a-half-hour special will celebrate the legacy of the Beatles and their groundbreaking first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" exactly 50 years to the day, date and time of the original event.)

(As told to Paul Zollo)

I saw the Beatles on Ed Sullivan that first time. Like so many American kids, Nancy and I, and our other sister Lynn, were seated cross-legged in front of the TV. I was 12, Nancy was 8. So we were just little girlies watching that thing. And it changed our lives. There was something about it that really messed with our minds, and we were never the same after that! [laughs]

It wasn't because they were sexy. It was because Nancy and I were budding musicians, so it was more about the music — mixed in with their characters. And that came out on that show, in that short time that they had to play.

Seeing that made us pressure our parents, and our grandparents, to help us get guitars. We didn't want to be the girlfriends of the Beatles, we wanted to be the Beatles! That's a different reaction than a lot of girls had. The day after the show we wanted to learn how to play an E chord, and play "P.S. I Love You" and all that stuff. From that time on, we were gone. We were goners!

But unlike a lot of parents who don't know what their kids are doing behind locked doors, our parents knew what we were doing up in our bedrooms. They could hear the guitars! We were in there learning.  

Singing in harmony, like they did, was a great inspiration for us. We always sang harmonies in the family, just for the fun of it. My older sister Lynn, who was 16 then, was probably the biggest Beatles fan of all. Nancy and I, thinking of ourselves as musicians, looked at what kinds of guitars they played, or if one of them broke a string, which we thought was cool.

I still love them so much. I have all their albums on vinyl, and I put one on the turntable, and wow, it's such amazing music.

So yes, that night changed my life. It got me here. 

(Alongside sister Nancy Wilson, Ann Wilson has reigned as the lead vocalist of Heart for nearly four decades. Heart have received four GRAMMY nominations to date, including Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for 1985's Heart. The group will release a new live album/DVD, Fanatic Live From Caesars Colosseum, on Feb. 24. Heart were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2013.)

(Paul Zollo is the senior editor of American Songwriter and the author of several books, including Songwriters On Songwriting, Conversations With Tom Petty and Hollywood Remembered. He's also a songwriter and Trough Records artist whose songs have been recorded by many artists, including Art Garfunkel, Severin Browne and Darryl Purpose.)

News

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr To Perform Together

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GRAMMY salute to the Beatles will also feature reunited Eurythmics, Dave Grohl, John Mayer, Katy Perry, Pharrell Williams, and more
Tim McPhate
GRAMMYs
Dec 2, 2014 - 4:06 pm

"The Beatles: The Night That Changed America" Promo

Eurythmics Perform The Beatles' "The Fool On The Hill" (Excerpt)

(Editor's Note: "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A GRAMMY Salute" averaged an impressive 13.95 million viewers, peaking at nearly 14.8 million during the final half hour, during its original broadcast on Feb. 9. CBS will present a special encore broadcast on Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 8:30 p.m. ET/PT.)

Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr will perform together on "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A GRAMMY Salute," airing Sunday, Feb. 9, 8–10:30 p.m. ET/PT on the CBS Television Network. The all-star lineup for the historic event will also feature performances and/or presentations by "The Beatles Love" by Cirque du Soleil, Kate Beckinsale, Jeff Bridges, Gary Clark Jr., Johnny Depp, Dave Grohl, Eric Idle, Imagine Dragons, Alicia Keys & John Legend, Anna Kendrick, David Letterman, LL Cool J, Jeff Lynne, Maroon 5, John Mayer & Keith Urban, Brad Paisley & Pharrell Williams, Sean Penn, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, Joe Walsh, Stevie Wonder, and a one-night only reunion of Eurythmics' Annie Lennox and Dave Stewart. 

The house band for the event includes notable musicians Kenny Aronoff (drums), Lenny Castro (percussion), Chris Caswell (keyboard), Peter Frampton (guitar), Rami Jaffe (organ), Steve Lukather (guitar), Greg Phillinganes (keyboard), and Don Was (bass), who also served as musical director.

The primetime entertainment special — presented by The Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS — will celebrate the remarkable legacy of the seven-time GRAMMY-winning group the Beatles and their groundbreaking first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show." The show will be broadcast in HDTV and 5.1 surround sound and airs exactly 50 years to the day, date, and time of the original event. Originally slated to be a two-hour event, the special has added an additional half-hour given the overwhelming success of the taping, a wealth of archival material, and new interviews. 

The special will feature David Letterman interviewing Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr at the iconic Ed Sullivan Theater on Feb. 4, recollections from three fans who were in the audience for the Beatles' first performance on "The Ed Sullivan Show," and interviews with three people who worked at the show and were there the night this milestone event took place.

The Beatles' first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" was one of the most watched television events ever — with 74 million people tuning in to watch the group perform five songs during the variety hour. It is considered by many historians and critics as one of the most important moments in music and television.

Performances set for the special are:

  • Maroon 5, "All My Loving" and "Ticket To Ride"
  • John Mayer & Keith Urban, "Don't Let Me Down"
  • Ed Sheeran, "In My Life"
  • Imagine Dragons, "Revolution"
  • Stevie Wonder, "We Can Work It Out"
  • Alicia Keys & John Legend, "Let It Be"
  • Katy Perry, "Yesterday"
  • Eurythmics, "The Fool On The Hill"
  • Dave Grohl & Jeff Lynne, "Hey Bulldog"
  • Brad Paisley & Pharrell Williams with "The Beatles Love" by Cirque du Soleil, "Here Comes The Sun"
  • Dhani Harrison, Jeff Lynne & Joe Walsh, "Something"
  • Gary Clark Jr., Dave Grohl & Joe Walsh, "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
  • Ringo Starr, "Matchbox," "Boys" and "Yellow Submarine"
  • Paul McCartney, "I Saw Her Standing There," "Get Back" and "Birthday"
  • All-star cast finale, "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "With A Little Help From My Friends" and "Hey Jude"

"The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A GRAMMY Salute" is produced by AEG Ehrlich Ventures, LLC. Ken Ehrlich is the executive producer, Rac Clark is co-executive producer, Gregg Gelfand is director, and David Wild and Ken Ehrlich are the writers.

Giles Martin, The Beatles The White Album

Giles Martin

Photo: Rebecca Sapp/WireImage

News

Giles Martin On Reissuing The Beatles' 1968 Enigma 'The White Album'

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A rocking enigma when it came out 50 years ago, 'The White Album''s mysteries and musical splendor deepen with unearthed additional takes and sessions
Philip Merrill
GRAMMYs
Nov 19, 2018 - 2:46 pm

Stories about The Beatles' The White Album seized national attention when it was released on Nov. 22, 1968. Now, nearly 50 years later, a remixed reissue arrives with more than 75 previously unreleased tracks produced by Giles Martin, who has been sharing stories of his unexpected encounters with The Beatles' original sessions.

Album sales for the week ending Nov. 15 placed The White Album at No. 6 on the Billboard 200. The 6-CD set Super Deluxe Edition provides the most perspective ever on this musical package that was an enigma when it first came out, produced by George Martin, Giles' father. Perhaps the most unexpected take of them all was Giles' takeaway from his personal encounter with the recordings.

"All I have to go on is what's on tape," he told Variety. "The sessions are the sessions, and the sessions are a band recording." This flies in the face of what became the conventional consensus that the original 30 tracks were all over the place because of a lack of togetherness.

A 3-CD Deluxe reissue is also available, and the advanced lore surrounding the work's many details is not required for enjoyment.

"It's not for people that are going to buy it and listen to it over and over and have theories and write books," Giles Martin said. "It's for a generation that's never heard a Beatles song." He believes new ears will get with the sound that came together "on the live floor" for example when George Harrison asked how fast he should kick off "Sexy Sadie" and John Lennon replied, "Whatever you want, George, you can just feel it."

While Martin's impressions encourage a re-listen, and the album always had its own fresh charm, here are a few of the details that made it so challenging to accept in 1968.

Conceived from new songs written during a spiritual sojourn in India, the album was actually called The Beatles and was released with no promotional artwork — a startling anti-commercial statement in 1968.

The enthusiasm of its lead track, "Back In The U.S.S.R.," was attacked as anti-American. "Happiness Is A Warm Gun" was attacked as inappropriately pro-violence, while meanwhile Americans were being drafted into the war in Vietnam. "Why Don't We Do It In The Road?" was broadly perceived as obscene. These reactions suggest that in 1968 there was very limited mainstream tolerance for experiments in irony, because the cultural commentary seems more straightforward in 2018.

While mysteries such as the sound collage of "Revolution 9" were too way-out for most listeners 50 years ago, the saddest and weirdest interpretation of a track off the album was given to "Helter Skelter" by murder-cult leader Charles Manson, who considered it coded prophecy.

All of this suggests that the strains of what was conventionally considered "America" were being stretched or even broken in ways people found intimidating and offensive. As cultural icons and bestselling superstars, The Beatles released their unconventional collection, causing many to assume the band was falling apart. These new recordings offer perhaps a new perspective.

Martin attributed the reissue's main motivation to "inspiring generations" because he believes the songs can go head-to-head with new 2018 tracks, hits and artists. Outside of the history, that is a wonderful premise. But historically, it is also redeeming to know that the creative rock quartet that made such a mark on the world were not just a band at odds with each other while recording. Their experiments and explorations were a musical coming together, according to Martin, not a breaking apart.

Celebrating The Beatles' 'Sgt. Pepper's' 50th Anniversary

The Beatles, circa 1960s

The Beatles

Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Stringer/Getty Images

List

50 Beatles Milestones: Chart Hits, GRAMMYs And 'Time'

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From No. 1 hits to GRAMMY wins and magazine covers, read our timeline of 50 of the Beatles' most impressive achievements
Paul Grein
GRAMMYs
May 15, 2017 - 2:36 am

"The Beatles: The Night That Changed America" Promo

(On Feb. 9 The Recording Academy, AEG Ehrlich Ventures and CBS will present "The Beatles: The Night That Changed America — A GRAMMY Salute." The two-and-a-half hour special will celebrate the legacy of the Beatles and their groundbreaking first appearance on "The Ed Sullivan Show" exactly 50 years to the day, date and time of the original event.)

America has been in love with the Beatles for 50 years. The sheer numbers are staggering: 20 No. 1 singles, 19 No. 1 albums and 15 recordings in the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame (all record-setting tallies). And that doesn't even count the members' post-Beatles activities.

Here are 50 of John, Paul, George, and Ringo's most impressive achievements — together and on their own.

Feb. 1, 1964: "I Want To Hold Your Hand" reaches No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, displacing Bobby Vinton's "There! I've Said It Again." The smash later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Record Of The Year. It is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1998.

Feb. 15, 1964: Meet The Beatles! hits No. 1 on The Billboard 200. The album is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2001.

April 4, 1964: The Beatles hold down the top five positions on the Hot 100 (an unequalled achievement) with "Can't Buy Me Love," "Twist And Shout," "She Loves You," "I Want To Hold Your Hand," and "Please Please Me."

April 13, 1965: The Beatles win their first two GRAMMYs: Best New Artist Of 1964 and Best Performance By A Vocal Group for "A Hard Day's Night." That John Lennon/Paul McCartney composition is also nominated for Song Of The Year. The A Hard Day's Night soundtrack is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2000.

Sept. 11, 1965: The Help! soundtrack zooms to No. 1. It later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year. The title song is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2008.

Oct. 9, 1965: "Yesterday" reaches No. 1. The instant classic receives GRAMMY nominations for Record and Song Of The Year. It is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1997.

Aug. 8, 1966: Revolver is released, just eight months after Rubber Soul. Both albums fall into the eligibility year for the 9th Annual GRAMMY Awards. Revolver receives an Album Of The Year nomination. Both albums are later inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.

March 2, 1967: Lennon and McCartney win a GRAMMY for Song Of The Year for "Michelle." McCartney wins a second award for Best Contemporary (R&R) Solo Vocal Performance — Male Or Female for "Eleanor Rigby." That poignant ballad is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2002.

March 18, 1967: "Penny Lane" reaches No. 1. Both "Penny Lane" and its B-side, "Strawberry Fields Forever," are later inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame. This is one of only two singles with both sides separately inducted into the Hall. The other is Elvis Presley's 1956 smash "Don't Be Cruel"/"Hound Dog."

July 1, 1967: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band hits No. 1. It stays on top for 15 weeks, longer than any other Beatles album. Eight months later, it becomes the first rock album to win a GRAMMY for Album Of The Year. It also wins a second award as Best Contemporary Album. It is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1993.

Sept. 22, 1967: The Beatles make the cover of Time, a rarity for a pop or rock artist at the, er, time.

Jan. 6, 1968: The soundtrack to the Beatles' BBC special Magical Mystery Tour reaches No. 1. It later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year.

Sept. 7, 1968: Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's sleek remake of "The Fool On The Hill" becomes the first Beatles song to reach No. 1 on the Easy Listening chart (as the Adult Contemporary chart was then called). It remains on top for six weeks. Incredibly, the Beatles themselves hadn't yet cracked that chart.

Sept. 28, 1968: "Hey Jude" hits No. 1. The epic stays on top for nine weeks, tying Percy Faith And His Orchestra's "The Theme From A Summer Place" for the longest run at No. 1 by any single in the '60s. "Hey Jude" receives GRAMMY nominations for Record and Song Of The Year. It is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2001.

Dec. 28, 1968: The Beatles, better known as the White Album, reaches No. 1. The album is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2000.

July 26, 1969: Plastic Ono Band's "Give Peace A Chance" enters the Hot 100. It's the first outside project by any of the Beatles to appear on this chart. Lennon and his wife, Yoko Ono, produced the single, which makes the Top 15.

Nov. 1, 1969: Abbey Road hits No. 1. The album later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year. This is the fifth consecutive year that the group are nominated in that category — an unmatched streak. The album is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1995.

Nov. 1, 1969: "Something" becomes the first Beatles single to crack the Easy Listening chart. (It's about time.) George Harrison wrote the ballad, which is covered by such legends as Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. The song reaches No. 1 on the Hot 100 four weeks later when it is double-listed with Lennon/McCartney's "Come Together."

March 21, 1970: "Let It Be" enters the Hot 100 at No. 6, the highest entry (to that point) for any single since the chart was introduced in August 1958. The pop hymn reaches No. 1 three weeks later. It receives GRAMMY nominations for Record and Song Of The Year. It is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 2004.

May 23, 1970: McCartney's McCartney becomes the first album by a former Beatle to reach No. 1. No singles are released from the album, but a live version of the album's most prized song, "Maybe I'm Amazed," becomes a top 10 hit in 1977.

June 20, 1970: The Beatles make their final appearance at No. 1 on the Hot 100 with "The Long And Winding Road." This brings their total number of weeks at No. 1 on this chart to 59. That remains the record for a group or duo.

Dec. 26, 1970: Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" becomes the first single by a former Beatle to reach No. 1. It receives a GRAMMY nomination for Record Of The Year. One week later, Harrison's triple-disc album All Things Must Pass reaches No. 1. It receives a nomination for Album Of The Year. The album is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame this year.

March 16, 1971: The Beatles win a GRAMMY for Best Original Score Written For A Motion Picture Or A Television Special for Let It Be. McCartney, accompanied by his wife, Linda, accepts the award on what is the first live GRAMMY telecast. On April 15, the Beatles win an Oscar for Original Song Score for Let It Be.

Oct. 30, 1971: Imagine by John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band reaches No. 1 on the album chart. The title track is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame in 1999.

March 14, 1972: The Beatles are awarded a Trustees Award by The Recording Academy. That same night, McCartney wins a GRAMMY for Best Arrangement Accompanying Vocalist(s) for his work on his and Linda's No. 1 hit "Uncle Albert/Admiral Halsey."

March 3, 1973: The all-star The Concert For Bangla Desh, which was spearheaded by Harrison, receives a GRAMMY for Album Of The Year. Among the stars on the triple-disc album: Ringo Starr, who accepts the award.

June 23, 1973: Harrison's Living In The Material World replaces Paul McCartney & Wings' Red Rose Speedway at No. 1 on the album chart. One week later, Harrison's "Give Me Love — (Give Me Peace On Earth)" replaces Paul McCartney & Wings' "My Love" at No. 1 on the Hot 100. On both charts, it's the only time that one former Beatle bumped another out of the No. 1 spot.

Jan. 26, 1974: Starr lands his second No. 1 hit in a row with his remake of Johnny Burnette's 1960 hit "You're Sixteen." "Photograph" had reached the top spot nine weeks earlier. Surprisingly, this marks the only time that a former Beatle reached No. 1 with back-to-back single releases.

February 1974: Paul and Linda McCartney receive an Oscar nomination in the Song category for "Live And Let Die." It's the first song from an official James Bond movie (those produced by Eon Productions) to receive an Oscar nod.

April 13, 1974: Paul McCartney & Wings' Band On The Run hits No. 1. It later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year. The album's staying power is made clear in 2012 when a deluxe reissue wins Best Historical Album and again in 2013 when the original is inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame.

Nov. 16, 1974: Lennon (with the Plastic Ono Nuclear Band) lands his first No. 1 single with "Whatever Gets You Thru The Night." Elton John sings a backing vocal. Seven weeks later, Elton John's cover of the Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" reaches No. 1. Lennon plays guitar on John's smash.

Sept. 23, 1978: Earth, Wind & Fire's inventive remake of "Got To Get You Into My Life" becomes the first Beatles song to reach No. 1 on Hot Soul Singles (as the R&B chart was then called). The single is the biggest hit from the ill-fated film Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

Dec. 27, 1980: John Lennon/Yoko Ono's Double Fantasy hits No. 1 on the album chart, just three weeks after Lennon's murder. It stays on top for eight weeks, making it the longest-running No. 1 album by a former Beatle.

June 13, 1981: Harrison's "All Those Years Ago," a heartfelt tribute to Lennon, cracks the Top 10. Paul and Linda McCartney and Starr appear on the track.

Feb. 24, 1982: Double Fantasy wins a GRAMMY for Album Of The Year. Yoko Ono, accompanied by her son, Sean, accepts the award. The album's No. 1 hit "(Just Like) Starting Over" is nominated for Record Of The Year.

May 15, 1982: Ebony And Ivory" by McCartney with Stevie Wonder hits No. 1. The brotherhood anthem stays on top for seven weeks, making it the longest-running No. 1 single by a former Beatle. The smash goes on to receive GRAMMY nominations for Record and Song Of The Year.

June 12, 1982: McCartney's album Tug Of War logs its third and final week at No. 1. It's the most recent No. 1 album by a former Beatle. It later receives a GRAMMY nomination for Album Of The Year. (Two subsequent McCartney albums — 1997's Flaming Pie and 2005's Chaos And Creation In The Backyard — are also nominated in that category.)

Jan. 16, 1988: Harrison's "Got My Mind Set On You" reaches No. 1 on the Hot 100. It's the most recent No. 1 single by a former Beatle.

April 16, 1988: Tiffany's "I Saw Him Standing There" cracks the Top 10. It's the first remake of a Beatles song by an artist who was born after the Beatles' breakup to reach the Top 10.

April 23, 1988: The Beatles are inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame. Lennon, McCartney and Harrison are subsequently inducted on their own (in 1994, 1999 and 2004, respectively).

Feb. 21, 1990: McCartney accepts a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy. Meryl Streep MCs the tribute, which includes performances by Ray Charles and Stevie Wonder. That same night, Harrison is awarded a GRAMMY for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal for the all-star collaboration Traveling Wilburys Volume One.

Feb. 20, 1991: Lennon receives a posthumous Lifetime Achievement Award from the Recording Academy. Richard Gere MCs the tribute, which includes performances by Aerosmith and Tracy Chapman. Yoko Ono accepts the honor.

Dec. 9, 1995: Anthology 1 becomes the Beatles' first No. 1 album since 1973. (Two subsequent Anthology volumes also reach No. 1.) Three weeks later, "Free As A Bird" becomes the band's first Top 10 single since 1976. All four former Beatles are credited as co-writers.

Feb. 26, 1997: The Beatles win three GRAMMYs. "Free As A Bird" takes Best Pop Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal and Best Music Video, Short Form. The Beatles Anthology wins Best Music Video, Long Form.

Feb. 3, 2001: The Beatles make their final appearance at No. 1 on the album chart (to date, anyway) with the hit-studded collection 1. This brings their total number of weeks at No. 1 on this chart to 132. That's nearly twice as many as any other artist.

Feb. 8, 2004: Harrison wins a GRAMMY for Best Pop Instrumental Performance for "Marwa Blues," a track from his album Brainwashed. Harrison, who died of cancer in November 2001, is the second former Beatle to win a posthumous GRAMMY.

June 2, 2010: McCartney receives the Gershwin Prize for Popular Song in a ceremony in the East Room of the White House. He is, to date, the only songwriter who was born outside of the United States to receive the award. Six months later, McCartney is back in Washington, D.C., to be feted at the Kennedy Center Honors.

Feb. 13, 2011: The Beatles (The Original Studio Recordings) wins a GRAMMY for Best Historical Album.

Feb. 10, 2013: McCartney wins a GRAMMY for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Kisses On The Bottom, two years after he won Best Solo Rock Vocal Performance for a live rendition of the Beatles' "Helter Skelter." McCartney is the only artist in GRAMMY history to win in both the Traditional Pop and Rock fields.

Jan. 25, 2014: The Beatles receive a Lifetime Achievement Award from The Recording Academy. A day later, at the 56th GRAMMY Awards, McCartney wins two GRAMMYs: Best Music Film for Live Kisses and Best Rock Song for "Cut Me Some Slack," which he co-wrote with Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic and Pat Smear for Sound City — Real To Reel.

(Paul Grein, a veteran music historian and journalist, writes for Yahoo Music.)