SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND

Some say SGT. PEPPER'S by BEATLES is one of the best proto prog albums of all time. Though it is a conceptual album and progressive in many ways like the introduction of the Mellotron should it be considered in the same realm as bands like Barclay James & Harvest or Asgard (the UK band) also considered proto prog bands

Tags: Power Of Prog, Proto Prog, SGT. PEPPER'S LONELY HEARTS CLUB BAND, the Beatles

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Permalink Reply by Gravity Tree on October 9, 2010 at 11:37am

We've heard much debate about Sgt. Peppers and its place in prog or proto-prog. Even if you can't acknowledge that much, you have to say it was very influential to those who first launched the genre. 'Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite' is an excellent example from the record.

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Permalink Reply by Melodic Revolution Records on October 9, 2010 at 12:06pm

I tend to agree this album did influence many artist to follow in the footsteps of progressive music and even it's many sub-genres. That said this will be a subject of debate for years to come.

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Permalink Reply by Gene Williams on October 17, 2010 at 2:33am

I don't see what the debate is about... Sgt. Pepper influenced practically every artist of every genre. With the exception of 'Pet Sounds' which influenced Sgt. Pepper..it's safe to say nothing like it had been done before..Which makes it 'progressive' in my book. What's the debate about? The fact that it was 'popular'? The inclusion of eastern instrumentation in 'Within you Without you'....Even a few odd meter turn arounds here & there, and the orchestrations on 'A day in the Life'. Whatever your definition of Prog or Fusion is... This is it, man! One of my all time favorites!

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Permalink Reply by Matt Stevens on October 20, 2010 at 10:37am

I think there is a direct line from Sgt Peppers to the first Crimson record

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Permalink Reply by John Sposato on November 15, 2010 at 3:33am

It's fair to say that Sgt Pepper helped plant the seed. I believe Frank Zappa did as well.

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Permalink Reply by Somewhere on November 22, 2010 at 5:35am

Barclay James AND Harvest? I think not.

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Permalink Reply by InsideRock on December 11, 2010 at 12:04pm

Answer is no. They opened and they showed the way but they weren't enough virtuosos themselves to really play (proto)progressive rock. Their influence on so many bands since their debut till today is obvious. Hundreds of bands list The Beatles among their influence. They were probably the first to use Mellotron (end of 1966) and probably also one of the first band(1) to create concept album (in 1967). Therefore we can say that The Beatles are a kind of origin point of rock music researches in the late 60s and by extension of the proto-prog birth during 1967, 1968 and 1969 years.

(1)We have to consider "Pet Sounds" (The Beach Boys) as a concept album released in may 1966.

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Permalink Reply by David Seddon on January 12, 2011 at 2:49pm

I personally wouldn't say this was a prog album. Some elements maybe. I particularly think "A Day in the life" would fit into the genre and you certainly here the influence of "Lucy in the sky with diamonds" in other prog material. But I would have to say there was also a lot of rubbish on the album "When I'm 64", "Fixing a hole", "With a little help from my friends" - rate pretty lowly in my view, even as pop songs. So to say the album was "prog" is pushing it a bit.