Sgt. Pepper and Mr. Kite go way back!

On Thursday afternoon I got a text from Mr. Waterbaby's father inviting me to accompany him to a lecture at the Crest Theatre. He had just heard about it via e-mail, from a friend, and thought that I might be interested in the subject matter. Turns out the presentation was about one of the best Rock and Roll groups of all time: the Beatles. And more specifically their incredibly influential album: Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Needless to say, I was totally in! (Warning: lots of pictures!)

The lecture is part of a series done by a man by the name of Scott Freiman.  He conducts these types of talks all around the country.  In fact the very next evening he was setting up for an appearance in Grass Valley, CA about the "white" album.  I am way interested in learning more about that last album...

The presentation was so fun. We learned so many intriguing facts on the creative process of John and Paul. How they collaborated and wrote each song, and even the recording and re-recording process they went through with George R. Martin, their producer. Also the lecturer isolated certain tracks so we could hear the layering of the different instruments with the background vocals as well as the leads. Totally cool!

I couldn't believe that all of these different instruments were in just one song. (What was blocked by the person's head in front of me, were violins, violas and cellos)  Mr. Freiman talked a lot about how this album was created around the time that George especially, was influenced by Indian musical rhythms and instruments.  This is one of the first full albums in which you can definitively hear that influence.

This is one of my very favorite Beatles songs.  It played at my daddy's funeral and always makes me think of my parents and their enduring love. I hope Mr. WB and I can look back after years together with love when we're sixty-four! 

At the end of his presentation, Mr. Freiman showed this quote he'd unearthed in his tireless research.  I thought it was so cool to hear how influential the group had been in its heyday.  I know that they are still popular to this day and how just a few years ago they even go thier own video game!  I remember my parents, my dad especially, telling me about how fun it was to wait for their next album and how everyone stopped to watch them on the Ed Sullivan show.

The presentation was really fun and informative.  Walking back to the car afterward we remarked to each other how excited were were to listen to the album again and how much more we understood their music and even how much more we liked the group (as if THAT was possible ;)). I am totally interested in seeing another presentation by this lecturer especially the one he's put together on Abbey Road! Come back to Sacramento, Scott Freiman!

The credit definitely goes to the awesome lecturer Scott Freiman for the slides and the quotes at the end. If you are looking for more info on his work you can find them at his website: http://beatleslectures.com/. The words are all mine.