I got this press release that the
Beatles documentary
It Was Fifty Years Ago Today! The Beatles: Sgt Pepper & Beyond came out on Video on Demand, DVD and Bluray today (September 8th). You can grab a copy at
amzn.to.
You may remember George Perez drew The Beatles Story and the
unpublished (at least in America) Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
comic book.
>>>
BFD (distributed
by The Orchard) is pleased to announce that it will release the all new highly
anticipated Beatles documentary
IT WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY! THE
BEATLES: SGT. PEPPER & BEYOND on VOD & DVD across the USA on September
8th 2017.
From the Emmy nominated director of
Monty
Python: Almost The Truth,
Alan G. Parker (Rebel Truce: The Story
of The Clash, Hello Quo, Never Mind the Sex Pistols, Who Killed Nancy) and
produced by
Reynold D’Silva and
Alexa Morris, the film features
incredible rare archival footage unseen since the 1960s. The film also features
rare interviews with The Beatles’ original drummer
Pete Best, John
Lennon’s sister
Julia Baird, Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein’s secretary
Barbara
O’Donnell, Steve Diggle of the Buzzcocks, Beatles associate
Tony
Bramwell, Pattie Boyd’s sister
Jenny Boyd,
Hunter Davies, Simon
Napier-Bell, Ray Connolly, Bill Harry, Philip Norman, Steve Turner, Andy
Peebles, Freda Kelly and
The Merseybeats.
IT WAS FIFTY YEARS AGO TODAY! THE BEATLES: SGT. PEPPER & BEYOND
examines the year 1967, the year that would
arguably be the most crucial in the band’s career, a year in which they stopped
being the world’s number one touring band and instead became the world’s most
innovative recording artists, pushing the boundaries of what could be achieved
in the studio. Unable to hear themselves perform and mired by controversy, the
band decided to stop touring in August 1966. What followed was a period of
extreme creativity and rebirth during which they embraced Swinging London, the
‘avant-garde’, LSD and the advent of the Summer Of Love. The result was the
creation of their new alter ego, Sgt. Pepper, with the desire to create a pop
music first, the concept album.
A devoted fan since the age of nine, the
film’s director Alan G. Parker has set out to explore this period by
filming interviews with former employees, fellow musicians, family member and
journalists, all of whom were there at the time. These stories are in turn
supported by a vast array of impressive archival footage, much of it not seen
since first transmission. The result is a detailed examination of why the band
stopped touring, how the album was conceived and its recording at EMI's Abbey
Road Studios, its lyrics, the creation of its sleeve and finally its release.
All this is set against a background of the band’s changing relationship with
their manager, Brian Epstein and the tragedy of his death, the creation of
Apple and the powerful influence of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.
Director Alan G. Parker said: “We’re
combining first-hand accounts of the events that allowed ‘Sgt. Pepper’ to
happen with rare and unseen footage that we’ve forensically unearthed from
mainstream archives and private collectors. The last days of touring.... the
execution of the album.... and the aftermath that it left behind will, I hope,
give the audience an intimate sense of the band, the time and the impact of
this extraordinary album”.