it was 42 years ago today... the beatles released "sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band"

on june 1, 1967, the beatles released the "sgt. pepper's lonely heart's club band" album. among its countless accolades, it is considered the first "concept" rock album - weaving together a string of songs focused on a particular theme. while commonplace today, when the beatles released "sgt. pepper's" it was a revolutionary concept.

not only was the themed album concept a departure from their earlier work, the music itself - with its elaborate production, variety of instruments, and studio sound effects - was a major change in direction for the group. "sgt. pepper's" was the first album released by the beatles following the group's decision to stop touring and focus on recording music in the studio (this album had a whopping 120+ day studio gestation period).

the album also saw the introduction of indian influences following george harrison's return from studying the sitar with ravi shankar. harrison's "within you without you" was the most notable display indian influence (the sitar) on the album. but he incorporated indian instruments and influences in a few other songs (including "lucy in the sky with diamonds") as well.

40+ years removed from its release, "sgt. pepper's lonely hearts club band" is consistently ranked as one to the greatest albums of all time.

celebrate its anniversary - listen to a few tracks today :D