Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band

The Beatles

Capitol, 1967

the beatles’ most ambitious and imaginative album, Sgt. Pepper christened the Summer of Love with the lavish psychedelic daydream “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” the jaunty Ringo Starr-sung communality anthem “With a Little Help From My Friends,” and the multilayered masterwork “A Day in the Life.” “We were fed up with being Beatles,” recalled Paul McCartney, who came up with the idea of adopting alter egos for the project.

“It liberated you,” he said. “You could do anything.”