The Beatles

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Learning Writing Lessons from Sgt. Pepper

Published June 1, 2022 by Philip Ivory

This morning, I woke up, fell out of bed, dragged a comb across my head … and remembered that on this date in 1967, the Beatles released the album that would dominate the charts and airwaves for much of the rest of the year, becoming the soundtrack of the “Summer of Love.” That album carried the peculiar title of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

A few years back, I wrote an essay pointing out insights about good writing that can be gleaned from this landmark of popular music. The folks at Bookends Review were kind enough to publish it. Take a look!

Sgt. Pepper at 50: What Can Writers Learn?

Thanks for reading.

Essay Published … Sgt. Pepper at 50: What Can Writers Learn?

Published September 12, 2017 by Philip Ivory

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the release of perhaps the single most influential rock and roll album of all time, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, a leap forward in the popular conception of what a long-playing record could be and a zenith in the Beatles’ creative output.

I thought it would be illuminating to write an essay exploring some of the writerly techniques used by the Beatles in composing the record’s amazingly eclectic array of songs, focusing on insights that writers might apply to their own work.

The essay has been published at The Bookends Review, an independent creative arts journal. Read it here:

The Bookends Review
Sgt. Pepper at 50: What Can Writers Learn?
by Philip Ivory

Thanks for reading. Please share any comments below. And as the Beatles would say, “Sit back and let the evening go!”