For a movie that was lauded as being the late 1970s’ generation’s Gone with the Wind, the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film proved to be less “Academy Award-winning cinematic masterpiece” and more “Stinkers Bad Movie Awards-nominated kitschy hodgepodge.”
Videos by American Songwriter
Not exactly the reaction the cast and crew were anticipating, to be sure—but at least they got their money back, saving them from extra salt in the wound.
The ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’ Film
On paper, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the jukebox musical, was a clever blend of Beatles nostalgia, chart-topping stars from the late 1970s, and psychedelic whimsy. The film starred Peter Frampton and the Bee Gees as the Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the rest of the cast is no less famous. Other actors and special guests included Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Donovan, Tina Turner, Etta James, and countless others who signed on to be a part of what the Bee Gees’ Robin Gibb claimed would overshadow the Beatles’ legacy only eight years after their official split.
“Kids today don’t know the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper,” Gibb said in a rather confident Playboy interview, per The Telegraph. “When those who do see our film and hear us doing it, that will be the version they relate to and remember. Unfortunately, the Beatles will be secondary. You see, there is no such thing as the Beatles. They don’t exist as a band and never performed Sgt. Pepper live. When ours comes out, it will be, in effect, as if theirs never existed. The only credit the Beatles got on the film is for songwriting.”
And while it’s true that some elements of the film have endured, like Aerosmith’s cover of “Come Together,” which they played while performing as the Future Villain Band. But the legacy of the 1978 film hardly surpasses that of the 1967 album, as proven by the fact that many people who read this won’t know what we were talking about in our headline about a “new” Sgt. Pepper.
Even The Beatles Knew It Wasn’t Going To Work
Unsurprisingly, the Beatles all had strong opinions about the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film, save for John Lennon. (Although, we’re fairly certain he had an opinion on the film whether or not he uttered it to the press.)
George Harrison looked at the cast in pity. Speaking to Rolling Stone in 1979, he said, “I just feel sorry for Robert Stigwood [producer], the Bee Gees, and Pete Frampton for doing it, because they had established themselves in their own right as decent artists and suddenly…it’s like the classic thing of greed. The more you make, the more you want to make, until you become so greedy that ultimately you put a foot wrong. I think [the film] damaged their images, their careers, and they didn’t need to do that.”
Decades later, Paul McCartney reflected on the Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band film and explained why he knew it was going to be a relative flop. “When they came to film Sgt. Pepper with the Bee Gees, I said, ‘This is never going to work,’ because everyone has their own image from Sgt. Pepper, the album. So, if you select one image, that’s never going to be enough. Your vision is different from mine.”
Ultimately, the film turned a profit, which is all any production company can ever hope for. But with a legacy that is more laughable than lauded, one could hardly claim that the 1970s whimsical fever dream was that generation’s Gone With the Wind.
Photo by Michael Putland/Getty Images
Leave a Reply
Only members can comment. Become a member. Already a member? Log in.