Cover shoot for “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band”

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The Beatles already had a cover designed by a Dutch group called The Fool, but my gallery dealer, Robert Fraser, said to Paul, ‘Why don’t you use a “fine artist”, a professional, to do the cover?’ Paul rather liked the idea and I was asked to do it.”

Peter Blake – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Originally, the cover was going to be us dressed as this other band in crazy gear. It was going to be stuff that we had always wanted to wear. All the stuff that we had secretly really liked and we were going to have photos on the wall, which were all our heroes, like Marlon Brando in his leather jacket. Anybody who we have thought, ‘Oh! He’s good!’ It was going to be this band and all their cult heroes and we kind of put this other identity on them. The cover got changed a lot in the process. But that was the basic idea behind it, a kind of fantasy show.

Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

What I offered to it was the idea that if they had just played a concert in the park, the cover could be a photograph of the group just after the concert with the crowd, who had just watched the concert, watching them. If we did this by using large cardboard cutouts, it could be a magical crowd of whomever they wanted. So, I then said to each of The Beatles, ‘Make a list of the people who you would like most.’ It was a kind of opportunity to show off and then have the audience that you’d choose to be your favourite audience. This was the idea. I also made a list; Robert Fraser made a list, so there were six lists. George’s list was all gurus, and Ringo said, ‘Whatever the others say is fine by me,’ because he didn’t really want to be bothered. But, it was John’s that I remember the most. Amongst a great number of people, he chose Hitler and Jesus. Neither of which made the final sleeve.

Peter Blake – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Jesus and Hitler were on John’s favourites list, but they had to be taken off. John was that kind of guy, but you couldn’t very well have Hitler and so he had to go. Gandhi also had to go, because the head of EMI, Sir Joseph Lockwood, said, ‘In India, they won’t allow the record to be printed.’ There were a few people who just went by the wayside.

Paul McCartney – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

There’s one or two on there that a lot of people would not even know. There’s the obvious ones, like Marilyn Monroe, and there’s an old singer on there called Izzy Bon …

Alistair Taylor – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

There is a hand above Paul’s head, which is a symbol of death. But, in fact, this hand belongs to Izzy Bon, and, in the photograph, he is waving to his fans. It was just pure coincidence that his hand was above Paul’s head. We got all the photographs together and had life-size cutouts made onto cardboard. EMI realised that, because many of the people we were depicting were still alive, we might be sued for not seeking their permission. So, The Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, who was very wary of all the complications in the first place, has his assistant write to everyone.

Peter Blake – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

We had to get permission and pay a royalty to everyone on the sleeve. In fact, a lovely lady, called Wendy Hanson, Brian’s PA, had to find all these people and pay them a half penny.

Alistair Taylor – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Brian asked me to try and get legal clearances from everybody within a week. EMI wasn’t keen on the cover, but Paul wanted to do it. It was an incredible job. I spent many hours and pounds on calls to the States. Some people agreed to it, but others wouldn’t. Fred Astaire was very sweet and Shirley Temple wanted to hear the record first. I got on famously with Marlon Brando, but Mae West wanted to know what she would be doing in a lonely hearts club.

Wendy Hanson, Brian Epstein’s personal assistant – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Mae West replied, ‘No, I won’t be in it. What would I be doing in a lonely hearts club?’ So, The Beatles wrote her a personal letter and she changed her mind.

Peter Blake – From “The Beatles: Off the Record” by Keith Badman, 2008

Last updated on March 19, 2023