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| June 1 or May 26? |
On 1 June 2017, most people around the UK will be celebrating the 50th anniversary since the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’s a little-known fact however, that the release date was actually brought forward by EMI to the 26 May, 1967.
The iconic album was originally scheduled for release on 1 June in the UK, but on the 26 May 1967, Sgt. Pepper was given a rushed release. The US release followed on 2 June.
Leading Beatles authority Mark Lewisohn confirms:
"The UK release of Sgt Pepper was brought forward from June 1 to May 26 1967, and I know that copies were in some shops in London the day before this, May 25".![]() |
| Confirming the rush-release is this news item from NME on June 3, 1967. |
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| Published in NME June 3,1967 but compiled from data with a Tuesday May 30 deadline. |
In 2017, according to a mid week update from The British Chart Company, Sgt Pepper (24,385 sales as of yesterday) is currently at No.1 in the albums chart, ahead of Ed Sheeran’s ÷, which is at No.2 on 16,952 sales. Rag’N’Bone Man’s Human is at No.3 on 11,702 sales, with The Charlatans Different Days a new entry at No.4 on 10,190 sales. Harry Styles’ self-titled debut is at No.5 having sold 6,977 copies so far this week. These figures were all published yesterday.
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| Still haunting the Fabs: Engelbert Humperdinck |
Over at Amazon.com, the four constellations of the Sgt Pepper album are all in the top 10 best selling CD and vinyl albums list, with the super deluxe at #1.
