SGT. PEPPER EXPANDED FOR 50TH ANNI EDITION

A record long regarded as a pinnacle of rock music will receive its first-ever expanded edition in celebration of its 50th anniversary. On 5/26, Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe will release an edition of The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band that includes new stereo and 5.1 surround audio mixes by Giles Martin and Sam Okell, 33 previously unreleased takes and classic videos.

The album will be released in multiple formats: A CD of the new stereo mix; and a two-CD/ digital package of the new stereo mix and 18 previously unreleased complete takes of the album’s 13 songs plus a new stereo mix and a previously unreleased instrumental take of “Penny Lane” and the 2015 stereo mix and two previously unreleased complete takes of “Strawberry Fields Forever.” The two-LP package will include second LP with previously unreleased complete takes of the album’s 13 songs, newly mixed in stereo and sequenced in the same order as the album.

Beyond the new stereo mix, the six-disc boxed set features:

Two CDs with 33 additional recordings from the studio sessions, most previously unreleased and mixed for the first time from the four-track session tapes, sequenced in chronological order of their recording dates;

A new stereo mix of “Penny Lane” and the 2015 stereo mix of “Strawberry Fields Forever”;

Direct transfers of the album’s original mono mix and the “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane” singles;

Capitol Records’ U.S. promotional mono single mix of “Penny Lane”’

Previously unreleased early mono mixes of “She’s Leaving Home,” “A Day in the Life,” and “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”;

and two Blu-ray/ DVD discs, one with the 5.1 audio mix and the second with restored original promotional films for “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Penny Lane,” and “A Day In The Life” and 1992’s The Making of Sgt. Pepper. There is also a 144-page hardcover book. Details are at The Beatles store.

“It’s crazy to think that 50 years later we are looking back on this project with such fondness and a little bit of amazement at how four guys, a great producer and his engineers could make such a lasting piece of art,” Paul McCartney writes in the introduction for the anniversary edition.

Martin’s new stereo mix was sourced directly from the original four-track session tapes and guided by the original, Beatles-preferred mono mix produced by his father, George Martin.

On Record Store Day, 4/22, Apple Corps Ltd./Capitol/UMe will release a limited edition seven-inch vinyl single of The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane.”

Here's a trailer: