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It was 40 years ago today, “Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play” and on August 10 and 11, The Hollywood Bowl Orchestra presents a celebration of the seminal Beatles album with special guests “Cheap Trick” (the evening’s very special house band), and guest vocalists Aimee Mann, Joan Osborne, Ian Ball, Rob Laufer, and Al Jourgensen – recreating the classic album. The conductor is Edwin Outwater, the newly appointed music director of the Kitchener Waterloo Symphony in Ontario, Canada. They’ll perform songs from “When I’m Sixty-Four” to “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” as well as other Beatles favorites to open the show.

It has just been officially announced that Geoff Emerick, The Beatles original engineer on “Sgt. Peppers,” as well as “Revolver” and “Abbey Road” has come on board as the special guest musical consultant. He worked along with the legendary Sir George Martin, The Beatles producer, who also provided orchestral arrangements. “Sgt. Peppers” was released on June 1, 1967, which was also the opening day of the “Summer Of Love.” It was and still one of the most important albums of the modern music era and its effect on pop culture is a seminal as its musical influence.

Sir George Martin and Geoff Emerick have worked with Cheap Trick before on the 1980 album “All Shook Up” and Martin has called them “a healing force in music.” The man behind the special “Sgt. Peppers” event is Arvind Manocha, chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Philharmonic Association. The members of “Cheap Trick,” Bun E. Carlos, Rick Nielsen, Robin Zander, and Tom Petersson are all major Beatles fans and are looking forward to this weekend’s performances. “In August of 1980, Bun E. and myself were requested to work on a ‘secret’ project which ended up being two of the tracks on “Double Fantasy” with John Lennon and Yoko Ono,” remembered Rick Nielson.

“Producer Jack Douglas, who had produced our first album, felt we could really add to the musical chemistry of John’s comeback album. What a thrill.” Nielsen continued, “we’re touched to have been chosen to be your electrical musical interpreters of some great, great music. This is music we grew up on, and though we all know it, I’m really just now appreciating how well these songs and arrangements have held up.” Nielsen went on, “The Beatles, ‘Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’, the Hollywood Bowl, the Hollywood Bowl orchestra, arrangements from Sir George Martin, and Cheap Trick – it’s a dream come true.” The August 10 performance is sponsored by Sunset Marquis Hotel & Villas, while Lexus passionately sponsors August 11.

There’s a rumor circulating that some very special guests may attend, and who knows? Billy Shears, (a.k.a. Ringo Starr) lives mostly in L.A and perhaps Cheap Trick will rock the house with “a little help from their friends”…

Fuente: Kat Kramer