The long and winding tribute to the Beatles. Part II: from Rubber Soul to Magical Mystery Tour (b)

[continued from the long and winding tribute to the Beatles. Part I: from Rubber Soul to Magical Mystery Tour (a)]
The rivalry between the Beach Boys and the Beatles resulted in both groups releasing their most important works. The Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds" was soon followed by the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely hearts Club Band". In Brian Wilson's words, with this lp the Beatles achieved the sound he was aiming for. "Sgt. Peppers" was a concept conceived by Paul McCartney, in which the band would perform impersonating another band, thus regaining the freedom to play whatever they wished for without being 'framed' by the Beatles fame.
With this album the horizon of pop music widened, and the boundaries between pop culture and high art blurred. A classical orchestra, playing their music, while wearing gorilla masks, in a live event recorded for "A Day in the Life', the cutting up and editing of different takes and in different speeds of the music, the sound effects used consciously in various occasions during the recordings, aiming to create specific moods to the listener, the technological restraints turned into creative solutions by George Martin and the technicians at Abbey Road Studios, the unique sleeve design by artist Peter Blake, upon which the Beatles demanded to be pictured among their heroes, in order to pay their tribute, everything about 'Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band' justifies its title as the pop Masterpiece.
George Martin still regrets leaving out of Sgt. Pepper's the dream-like revisiting of John Lennon's childhood memories of a Salvation Army orphanage called "Strawberry Fields Forever". This double A-side single, with a caleidoscopic carousel the listener takes a ride on, possibly positioned where the mentioned roundabout stands at "Penny Lane" on its other A-side, was the first one for the Beatles not to reach no 1 in the charts. Still, it seems it did make a lasting impression on us...
Having stopped touring and spending their time in the studio, the Beatles left little for their manager Brian Epstein to do, or so he thought. Unfortunately his frustrations got the best of him and he was found dead due to a pill overdose. The Beatles, unguided and most of all unprotected, for the first time in their career, decided to make a TV road-movie, a mix of music hall tunes/comedy, contemporary psychedelia, and musical set pieces by themselves. Magical Mystery Tour appeared in black and white on BBC during the Christmas holidays in 1967, but it was savaged by critics. However, Steven Spielberg, has mentioned noticing it as an art film, during his Studies. In any case, songs like "The Fool on the Hill", Hello Goodbye", "I'm the Walrus" stood the test of time.
The same year, the Beatles recorded and broadcasted live on TV for the first time ever, linking 24 countries, a song called "All you Need is Love".
Join us to find more about the Beatles during the third and last part of this tribute next Saturday at 12.