Over the weekend, eagle-eyed Beatles fans will have noticed the band’s social media accounts, plus those of George Harrison’s estate and Ringo Starr, posted four colour bars which match the four outfits worn by the Beatles on the cover of their 1967 magnum opus Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.

June 1 will mark the album’s fiftieth anniversary, and the Times have reported that a big reissue is in the works (we’d be shocked if such a momentous date came and went without one, to be honest). While there is talk of inserting the band’s double-A single recorded during the Pepper sessions — ‘Strawberry Field Forever’ and ‘Penny Lane’ — into the album’s official tracklisting (which is a bad idea), it would appear that the audio has been remastered in a way that pleases Ringo Starr.

Keith Allison played bass in ’60s band Paul Revere and the Raiders, and has worked with Starr in the years since. He shared a fascinating story on his social media, in which Ringo played him the newly remastered copy of Sgt. Pepper, an album Starr hadn’t listened to for decades.

Ringo’s thoughts? “He thought it was great!” Allison reveals. The reason? “Because it originally was recorded on a 4-track with a lot of overdubs, which buried the drums. Now, the drums have been lifted and come through as they should. He was pleased.”

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Allison also adds the album was remastered at EMI Studios, where it was originally recorded. Read the full story below.

https://www.facebook.com/keithallisonofficial/posts/759922520829268:0

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