The Beatles attend a party at Brian Epstein’s country house

The Beatles, minus Paul McCartney, attended a party at Brian Epstein's country house, Kingsley Hill in Warbleton near Heathfield in Sussex on this day.

Epstein had recently bought the house for £25,000, and the party was a joint housewarming and a celebration for the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The roads leading to the house were adorned with balloons for the occasion.

In addition to The Beatles and their wives, it was attended by a number of friends and celebrities including composer Lionel Bart and The Beatles' former press officer Derek Taylor.

This was Taylor's initiation to LSD; he was given the drug by John Lennon. The pair spent much of the party in Lennon's Rolls-Royce listening to Procol Harum's A Whiter Shade Of Pale. It was also Cynthia Lennon's third and final experience taking LSD.

Brian was having a party at the country house he'd bought in Sussex and John and I traveled down in the Rolls with a group of friends. On the journey everyone took LSD and I, against my better judgement but carried away by the jolly atmosphere in the car, decided to join in. Again, it was an awful mistake.

At Brian's house I followed John around, hoping he would comfort me as I went through what was, for me, a horrible experience. But he was not in a good mood: he glared at me and treated me as if I were a stranger. I felt desolate. Upstairs I found an open bedroom window and contemplated jumping out. For a few minutes, ending it all seemed like an easy solution: a chasm had opened between John and me, and I had no idea how to bring us back together.

Someone called my name, I turned back into the room and the fleeting thought passed. But I was low. For the first time I had to consider the very real possibility that my marriage might not survive.

Cynthia Lennon

John Lennon’s Rolls Royce, 27th May 1967

The Beatles masterpiece, “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” was released in the UK, one week before its American debut. The album took over 700 hours to record under the direction of George Martin and cost $75,000 to produce. A then state-of-the-art four track recorder was used to build each song layer by layer. The LP spent 22 weeks at the top of the UK albums chart and 15 weeks at number one in the US. The iconic album cover, depicting the band posing in front of a collage of celebrities and historical figures, was designed by English pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth based on a sketch by Paul McCartney.

Recording: It’s All Too Much

De Lane Lea Recording Studios, London
Engineer: Dave Siddle

The Beatles recorded away from EMI Studios once again on this day, moving to the independent De Lane Lea Studios, then situated at 129 Kingsway, London.

Following considerable rehearsals the backing track for It's All Too Much was recorded in four takes on this day, though at this point the song was known simply as Too Much. It featured organ, bass guitar, distorted lead guitar and drums. The session took place from 7pm-2.30am.

Work on It's All Too Much continued at De Lane Lea on May 31st and June 2, 1967.

Source: Beatles Bible

The Beatles watch Procol Harum perform in London

All four members of The Beatles went to the Speakeasy in London on this day to watch new band Procol Harum perform.

The Speakeasy was a nightclub situated in the basement of 48 Margaret Street, W1. Managed by Roy Flinn and Mike Carey, it opened on 4 January 1967, and The Beatles often visited.

Procol Harum's debut single A Whiter Shade Of Pale was released on 12 May 1967. John Lennon, in particular, was a big fan of the song.

The Beatles in-between recording

On May 22nd 1967 it was announced that The Beatles would represent the BBC (and ultimately England) in the World's first worldwide television satellite link-up, to take place on the 25th June. They would be shown working "live" on a new song.
At this time in May, the song hadn't even be written ... then just one month later a finished piece that encapsulated the Summer of Love, Flower Power, the entire period, and would be an anthem to the sixties.

First thing to note on the label, is the very first time George Martin received credit as the producer on a single.

During the recording of Sgt. Pepper, Brian Epstein spent time trying to kick his drug habit, including spells in the Priory in Putney, London. Today, Brian temporarily leaves Priory Hospital, in Putney, for an afternoon tea with his parents at 24 Chapel Street.

The BBC bans A Day In The Life

BBC disc jockey Kenny Everett gave the official preview of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band on this day, on the radio show Where It's At, broadcast on the BBC Light Programme from 4pm.

Where It's At was hosted by Chris Denning, but included a pre-recorded two-part feature by Everett about the album. This feature included pre-recorded interviews with John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

The feature sections were heard at the beginning and end of Denning's 90-minute show. Lennon spoke about the title track and Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, and mentioned the group's use of artificial double tracking (ADT) in the studio. Starr discussed The Beatles' past year, and McCartney spoke about why the album had taken so long to appear.

Extracts from every Sgt Pepper song were broadcast, apart from one. Everett was unable to play the album's final track - A Day In The Life as the corporation had banned it the previous day on the grounds that it promoted a permissive attitude towards drug taking.

Also on this day, John and Cynthia Lennon, George and Pattie Harrison and Brian Epstein took afternoon tea at Sunny Heights, the house owned by Ringo Starr and his wife Maureen.

Press launch for Sgt Pepper

Shortly ahead of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a press launch was held at Brian Epstein's house at 24 Chapel Street, London.

Epstein had bought the house on  December 20, 1964, and lived there until his death on August 27, 1967. He hosted many parties at the house, the best-remembered of which was this press party for The Beatles' masterpiece.

Around a dozen selected journalists and broadcasters were invited to attend the event. Several photographers were also present, among them Linda Eastman, who had met her future husband Paul McCartney just four days previously.

I took my portfolio over to Brian Epstein's office and left it with his assistant, Peter Brown... Peter Brown got back in touch and said that Brian had liked my portfolio and invited me to a press launch for Sgt Pepper at Brian's home.

Peter also said that Brian wanted to buy copies of two of my photos - one of Keith Moon wearing a lace cravat and one of Brian Jones at The Rolling Stones boat party.

So I went to the press launch where Sgt Pepper was played for the first time to the media, to take my first photographs of The Beatles. Because I was so used to working almost exclusively with black-and-white I didn't have any color film with me, and had to get some from another photographer. I eventually sold a color print of The Beatles from this session for $100 and I thought that I had it made!

The Beatles were photographed in Epstein's drawing room and on the steps outside the front door. The guests were served champagne, poached salmon and caviar. (Linda McCartney).