RocknRoll

It Was Twenty Years Ago Today

So began the first track on the first side of what is considered by many to be the best pop music album of the 1960s and possible the most original rock album of all time.

Everything about this album or L.P. (Long Playing Record) as we called them in the U.K. at that time was revolutionary and innovative.From its record sleeve design and packaging to the songs themselves each of which was original and bridged the cultural divide between popular music and high art while reflecting the interests of contemporary youth and the counterculture.

When it was released in May 1967 the effect was one of the defining moments in pop culture heralding in the ‘Album Era’ and the 1967 ‘Summer of Love’.

And what amazed everyone, including myself who was there at the time, was just how far the four young musicians behind the album had travelled in less than five years from their home city on the banks of the River Mersey…