The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967, Los Angeles Pressing)

1967 US stereo pressing, Capitol SMAS 2653, pressed in Los Angeles

Capitol pressed its stereo Sgt. Pepper at more than one American factory in 1967, and this copy comes from the company's own Los Angeles plant. It carries the revised label, the one that prints the second song's full title, "With A Little Help From My Friends."

The object

The labels are Capitol's black design ringed with a color band, with no "subsidiary" wording in the rim print, and the "MFD by Capitol Records Inc." rim text begins at the eight o'clock position rather than nine. They give the catalog number as SMAS-2653 and the matrix numbers as SMAS-X-1-2653 and SMAS-X-2-2653.

The runouts are hand-etched SMAS-1-2653 on side A and SMAS-2-2653 on side B, each with a lacquer suffix. Where a stamped star follows the etching, it is the Los Angeles plant's own mark.

The gatefold jacket is thick board with a yellow "STEREO" strip along the top edge, manufactured by Capitol in Hollywood. The back cover prints SMAS 2653, while the spine and the inside of the gatefold print 2653 alone. Capitol issued this edition with a one-sided sheet of paper cut-outs, where the UK edition used card.

Context

Capitol's 1967 date on this pressing matches the album's own year. Sgt. Pepper was the first Beatles album released with the same track listing in the UK and the US, so this American stereo LP runs in the order Parlophone used. George Martin produced it, and the cover tableau was staged by Peter Blake and Jann Haworth and photographed by Michael Cooper.

The album

For the making of the record itself, see the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album page.

Tracklist

Side A

1. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band
2. With A Little Help From My Friends
3. Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds
4. Getting Better
5. Fixing A Hole
6. She's Leaving Home
7. Being For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!

Side B

8. Within You Without You
9. When I'm Sixty-Four
10. Lovely Rita
11. Good Morning, Good Morning
12. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
13. A Day In The Life

More from The Beatles

• The Beatles - The Beatles' Second Album
• The Beatles - Something New
• The Beatles - Beatles '65
• The Beatles - With The Beatles
• The Beatles - Help! (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
• The Beatles - Rubber Soul
• The Beatles - Yesterday And Today
• The Beatles - Revolver
• The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour
• The Beatles - The Beatles
• The Beatles - Abbey Road
• The Beatles - Let It Be
• The Beatles - 1962-1966
• The Beatles - 1967-1970
• The Beatles - Rock 'N' Roll Music
• The Beatles - The Beatles' Story
• The Beatles - Anthology 4