Wednesday, 24 June 2009

The Messengers - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

Article from 1967


The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Messengers

The cover on a new LP album called Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is a photomontage of a crowd gathered round a grave. And a curious crowd it is: Marilyn Monroe is there, so are Karl Marx, Edgar Allan Poe, Albert Einstein, Lawrence of Arabia, Mae West, Sonny Liston, and eight Beatles.

Eight? Well, four of them, standing around looking like wax dummies, are indeed wax models of the Beatles as most people remember them: nicely brushed long hair, dark suits, faces like sassy choirboys. The other four Beatles are very much alive: thin, hippie-looking, mustachioed, bedecked in bright, bizarre uniforms. Though their expressions seem subdued, their eyes glint with a new awareness tinged with a little of the old mischief. As for the grave in the foreground: it has THE BEATLES spelled out in flowers trimmed with marijuana plants.

With characteristic self-mockery, the Beatles are proclaiming that they have snuffed out their old selves to make room for the new Beatles incarnate. And there is some truth to it. Without having lost any of the genial anarchism with which they helped revolutionize the life style of young people in Britain, Europe and the U.S., they have moved on to a higher artistic plateau.

Cunning Collages. Rich and secure enough to go on repeating themselves--or to do nothing at all--they have exercised a compulsion for growth, change and experimentation. Messengers from beyond rock 'n' roll, they are creating the most original, expressive and musically interesting sounds being heard in pop music. They are leading an evolution in which the best of current postrock sounds are becoming something that pop music has never been before: an art form. "Serious musicians" are listening to them and marking their work as a historic departure in the progress of music--any music.

Ned Rorem, composer of some of the best of today's art songs, says: "They are colleagues of mine, speaking the same language with different accents." In fact, he adds, the Beatles' haunting composition, She's Leaving Home--one of twelve songs in the Sgt. Pepper album--"is equal to any song that Schubert ever wrote." Conductor Leonard Bernstein's appreciation is just as high; he cites Schumann. As Musicologist Henry Pleasants says: "The Beatles are where music is right now."

Like all good popular artists, the Beatles have a talent for distilling the moods of their time. Gilbert and Sullivan's frolics limned the pomposities of the Victorian British Empah; Cole Porter's urbanities were wonderful tonics for the hungover '30s; Rodgers and Hammerstein's ballads reflected the sentiment and seriousness of the World War II era. Today the Beatles' cunning collages piece together scraps of tension between the generations, the loneliness of the dislocated '60s, and the bitter sweets of young love in any age. At the same time, their sensitivity to the absurd is sharper than ever.

More here

Monday, 22 June 2009

Thousands gather to welcome Summer Solstice at Stonehenge



Thousands of visitors were present for the dawn of the Summer Solstice yesterday at Stonehenge.

The event, which celebrates the longest day in the Northern Hemisphere, involved around 36,500 people gathering at the reputedly mystical South England landmark before sunrise, which occurred at 0458 BST.

Turnout at Summer Solstice has grown year on year at Stonehenge since a four mile exclusion zone around the site was taken off nearly a decade ago. This year, events marking the day included Druid ceremonies, Morris dancing, music and camping at the site.

Police presence was fairly strong at the Wiltshire landmark, though the event was said to be peaceful and enjoyable for the thousands of attendees spending their Sunday morning there.

According to the BBC, Superintendant Nick Ashley said: "The celebration has been peaceful and enjoyable for the majority who were present to celebrate in a safe manner."

Head of Stonehenge, Peter Carson, added: "We were expecting it to be busy this year, but we had ensured that it has been a peaceful and enjoyable solstice.

"There has been a great atmosphere and where else would you want to be on midsummer's day?"

Revellers ensured they arrived at the prehistoric monument in time for the sun rising, with 6,500 cars filling the car park two hours before the due time.

Just before the key event, Druid King Arthur Pendragon told the BBC: "It's a very nice atmosphere and everything's fine at the moment.

"There have been more police present this year, more security, but everything's passed off very jovially and everyone's in a good mood."

Sunrise 4:58am