"He looks just the same..."

 

Moments before history was made

 March 30, 1967 

Teaching the band to play

 

Choosing their colors

 March 3, 1967 -  The Beatles were brought swatches of fabric to see the colors of the Sgt. Pepper suits.  I wonder if each guy chose his own suit color or if it was randomly assigned.    I can't picture any of The Beatles wearing any other Sgt. Pepper suit than the one they wore.   Can you imagine Ringo in the blue suit and John in the pink??  

Father and son get a lucky break

Viewer of this site, Hermilo Borba, sent in these two photos of him and his son on stage with Paul along with this story on how it all happened.     Thank you Hermilo!  Congratulations!

In 2012 Paul Mccartney came to my city, Recife, Brazil. I've been a fan since 1977 and I've been at 26 Paul’s concerts. I went to the concert with my son Rafael (dressed in Sgt Peppers ) and did a baner: “ Paul you only call girls onstage, please, call us, dad and son.”. We were in the first row and it worked, Brian came and called us. I was shaking and crying, Paul asked to read the poster, asked our name and where we were from. After signing photos,he gave me a hug and at that moment I said: thank you for making our world better place to live with your music. I still don't believe it happened. A dream came true. son”.

Paul and the Little Peppers

How cute are these kids?   I have a strong dislike for dressing up in a Sgt Pepper suit, but even I have to admit that these kids are adorable!   

Sgt. Pepper suits

The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper suits have become some of the most iconic symbols and beloved symbols of the Beatles.    At every Beatles convention and fan gathering, there are people dressed in green, blue, orange and pink "Pepper" suits.  

But whenever you really think about it, the Sgt. Pepper suits weren't worn by the Beatles very often.   The Sgt. Pepper suits were originally designed by M. Berman Ltd.     They suits themselves are really unique.   They aren't just carbon copies in different colors.    Each suit has different patterns and designs.   George and Paul are wearing their MBE and John purposely isn't---instead he is wearing medals borrowed from Mona Best.     Great information about the ins and out of these suits can be found at this site (which even gives me a shout out!)


The first time the Beatles put the suits on was on March 30, 1967 during the Sgt. Pepper album photo shoot.

The only other time all four Beatles are seen wearing the Sgt. Pepper suits are in November 1967 when the did the promo film for "Hello Goodbye."

I have heard a story about John walking around London wearing his suit while tripping on LSD, but that is just a story and has never been confirmed.


All four suits are currently in possession of Paul, Ringo, Olivia and Yoko.    Yoko has loaned John's suit to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland right now.   Ringo and George's have been on display at museums in the past, but as far as I know they aren't right now.


George is the one Beatle that kept bringing his suit out after the Beatle years.

He wore it in the video for his song "Ding Dong"

And for the video for "When we was fab" in 1987--although it has been said that this is a copy and not the original 

The When we was Fab single even shows him wearing a Sgt. Pepper suit

Paul's suit is seen in the video for "My Brave Face," although the one the Japanese collector guy holds up is a copy.    Apparently Paul didn't want it being handled.

Ringo's suit was rumored to have been destroyed in a house fire in 1979.   Thankfully that was just a rumor and Ringo still has his pink suit.    Just a few days ago Ringo was pictured wearing one (is it the original?  I am not sure) to celebrate the Beatles 50th Anniversary.

The Sgt. Pepper suit has almost became bigger than the album.   I get it---I really do.   However, I would never wear one to a Beatles gathering.

It was 50 years ago today Sgt Pepper album cover was born!

50 years ago today--on March 30, 1967 the Beatles had the photo shoot for the Sgt. Pepper album cover.   That album cover has been of great interest to me and so these behind the scenes shots are really cool!

Picking out the colors

I just posted these photos on facebook, but I like them so much, that I am going to share them on the blog as well.

On March 3, 1967 the Beatles are photographed by BBM and in a few of the photos they are seen picking out the colors they want for their Sgt. Pepper suits.    Today we can't imagine anything but Paul in blue, John in yellow/green, George in orange and Ringo in pink.    That decision was made 50 years ago!

Adorable 2 year old on stage with Paul

Here is an article written by Simon Neville about a lucky Paul fan who happens to only be 2 years old who made it onstage with Paul during a recent sound check.

His music has been called timeless, spanning across generations.
And Sir Paul McCartney certainly lived up to his reputation when he invited a two-year-old fan to play alongside him on stage at a recent gig.
The 69-year-old former Beatle spotted two-year-old Ichiro decked out in an impressive replica of the costumes worn by the Fab Four on their iconic Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover.

The blue military-style outfit is the same colour worn by Sir Paul on the cover, and little Ichiro finished the look with a replica Hofner bass guitar – similar to the singer’s own guitar.

Sir Paul opted for a more casual look of grey jeans, blue shirt and dark sunglasses, and he struck a pose alongside the two-year-old.
The boy had traveled from Argentina with his Beatles-mad parents to the aging rocker’s latest concert in neighbouring Uruguay, South America.
Security guards spotted Ichiro, and his impressive outfit, during a sound check.

They informed Sir Paul, who insisted on bringing the child on stage for a jam together.
Whether Ichiro knew quite what was happening is unknown, but he attempted to play along on his guitar and pulling rockstar poses.
The pair played a version of The Beatle’s 1969 number one hit, Get Back, in front of Ichiro’s parents.
Father Pablo said: ‘Ichiro was a fan even before he was born.  This was an incredible moment.  No one is bigger than Paul McCartney.’

Fans in Pepper suits

If you are the type of Beatle fan that owns and wears a Sgt. Pepper suit, then this post is NOT for you. Not that I hate the Sgt. Pepper suit or even people owning them. But whenever I see people wearing them, I just cringe a little inside. They just seem so cliche. Like wearing those pointy ears at a Star Trek convention. The fact of the matter is that the Beatles themselves only wore those suits on two occasions (the Sgt. Pepper album cover photo shoot and the Hello Goodbye promo shoot). I think it would be so much cooler to show up at a Beatles convention wearing the a replica of Paul's "Joker" jacket or one of the outfits we saw the guys wear on a regular occasion. To me, the Sgt. Pepper suit is just a little too over the top. And that is part of the reason why this photo really was sweet to me. Paul overlooked the fans wearing those crazy Pepper suits and kissed their baby! He knows that they are going to make a little baby-sized orange Pepper suit and matching hat for the kid as soon as he/she starts to walk, (notice their older child in the pink suit!) and he doesn't seem to even care about this craziness! Paul McCartney kissed their baby! How many parents can say that? How many kids can grow up telling their friends, "yeah Paul McCartney kissed me. My folks were wearing crazy Sgt. Pepper suits and everything....but yeah....smooch by Paul....beat that!" McCartney kissed Their baby! How many parents can say that? How many Kids Can Grow Up Their telling friends, "yeah Paul McCartney kissed me. My folks Were Sgt Pepper wearing crazy suits and everything .... but yeah .... smooch by Paul .... beat that!"