US album release: Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

De Lane Lea Recording Studios, London

Engineer: Dave Siddle

On the evening that the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album had its UK release, The Beatles went to De Lane Lea Studios at 129 Kingsway, London, where between 10.30pm and 3.30am they recorded a number of instrumental jams.

The group had used the independent studio for the recording of It's All Too Much on May 25 and May 31st, 1967. For those sessions producer George Martin was not present, but he did attend this session.

The results of this session have never been officially released, and the most detailed description was provided by Beatles historian Mark Lewisohn:

On this day, 1 June 1967, perhaps the most celebrated day in their career, The Beatles went into the studio and recorded nothing but untitled, unplanned, highly tedious and - frankly - amateurish instrumental jams, with a bass guitar, an organ, lead guitar with reverb, guitar strings being scraped, drums and tambourine. the single-minded channelling of their great talent so evident on Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band did seem, for the moment, to have disappeared.

The Beatles returned to De Lane Lea on the following day to continue work on It's All Too Much, and also filled two more tape reels with untitled jamming.

De Lane Lea Recording Studios, London

Back to Kingsway for a 7:00 to 12:00 pm session (George Martin still absent; the May 26th team operative again) in which George's lead vocal, John and Paul's backing vocal, additional percussion and handclaps were overdubbed onto a new reduction mixdown of "It's All Too Much". (This session was incorrectly reported in the Recording Sessions book as May 26th).

The Beatles in-between recording at De Lane Lea Recording Studios in London.

Actress Jane Asher and boyfriend Beatle Paul McCartney pictured at Heathrow Airport.

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

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.

It’s All Too Much

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.