The Psychadelic Years

To me this is the most interesting period of The Beatles' career so naturally I find it very interesting to read about. Srgnt. Pepper's is my favorite album of theirs and it's very cool to learn a little bit more about how it came into creation. As the story goes Paul McCartney came up with the idea of having an alter-ego band called Srgnt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band while on an airplane. He then pitched the idea to the rest of the band and thus the first semi-operatic rock record was born. At this time The Beatles had begun to get very adventurous in the studio, using all kinds of strange experimental arrangements. This is what makes this music so appealing to me, it was a departure from their usual pop structure. Of course they had also began to experiment with other things outside of the studio at this time. In particular John Lennon, the band's tortured genius, had fallen hard into a pattern of drug abuse. While the music may have been ground breaking and excellent to listen to this is also when the band started having real problems with infighting. It was the beginning of the end, and what a sad and nasty end it would be.