Sgt. Pepper, side 2

Culturally speaking, why was Sgt. Peppers Lonely Heart's Club Band such a big deal?
For one thing, the music has passed the test of time.
We'll speak more of that in a bit.

Another reason it mattered is on the technical side.
It changed the way that music was recorded and produced,
and it changed our expectations of how music had to sound to us.

The Beatles, and their brilliant producer Sir George Martin and
Ken Townshend, the EMI sound engineer were innovators.
They were always looking for new sounds, and new ways to
put those sounds on magnetic tape.

Bear in mind that in those ancient days of yore, 4 track equipment
was State of the Art.
There were no laptop computers, tube technology was the norm
in amps, and mikes were primitive by todays standards.

Many of the Beatles early recordings were done in one take, most
notable of these their cover of "Twist and Shout". (Isley Brothers)
(Made popular again in the movie "Ferris Bueller's Day Off")
John had just enough voice left for one take, after a night of recording.
Listen to his scream in the final track, and you can hear his voice break.

Techniques and technology we now take for granted were used for the first
time in Abbey Road studio during the making of this album.

Some notable 'Pepper' firsts; use of Dolby Noise Reduction,
use of D.I. (direct input, Paul plugged his bass right into the sound board,
bypassing his amp and mike), first use of 'bouncing down' technique, also called
dubbing down, which takes the four track technology and creates a virtual
multi-track sound comparable to today's 24 track and higher technology.

First use of the Mellotron, Wah-Wah and Fuzzbox (used by George Harrison).
Also ADT, which stands for Automatic Double Tracking on lead vocals.
This technique lends depth and strength to the voice, particularly where
a soft voiced singer is concerned.
The use of vari-speed and other similar innovations made it difficult for the
band to perform many of these pieces outside of the studio, even had they wanted
to continue live performances.

When I attended a Paul McCartney live concert in 2005, he was just then adding
some of their later Beatles hits to his play list.
It was a treat to hear "Golden Slumbers", "Carry That Weight" and "Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" live.

So the next time you pop in a modern CD, go to the movies, or even sit down to listen
to your TV through your sound system, thank Billy Shears and the boys!

Credit to Wikapedia, several excellent Beatles books I've read over the years, and 40 years
of following the Fab Four's music for the above information.