Sir Paul McCartney says Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper look was inspired by Butlin's band
Sir Paul McCartney has revealed that the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper look was inspired by a band he saw at Butlin’s.
The 81-year-old singer had been fascinated by groups in matching outfits since a childhood trip to the holiday camp.
When he, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr wanted to overhaul their image on 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, he thought of Butlin’s.
Sir Paul said: “This frock coat uniform look, with the little epaulets, it’s very Beatle-y. I always had an interest in that. This had come from an experience I’d had when I was 11 in Butlin’s, seeing this group wear identical clothes.
The band split in April 1970 (Getty Images)“They won the talent contest, and I still have a really crystal clear image of them walking to the pool and they were in grey crew neck sweaters, tartan flat caps – ‘tw*t hats’ as we’d call them – and tartan shorts. Each with a rolled towel under the arm, all five.”
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The memory stayed with Sir Paul and when The Beatles started, they wore uniforms on stage. Speaking on his A Life in Lyrics podcast, he explained: "When I was living in 20 Forthlin Road in Liverpool and The Beatles were going to Hamburg, we had a tailor next door to us, Mr Richards.
"I used to go next door to Mr Richards and say, 'Have you got some materials? Show us.' So he gave us a few, and I showed them to the guys, and we chose purple, sort of wool. Not the best material for stage wear — a little scratchy, a little warm. Anyway, we got purple jackets."
The matching look helped to give the band a distinct identity in the Sixties. Sir Paul added: “Mick Jagger would later call us 'the four-headed monster' - that all came from that. That whole sense of, 'Wow, if you do that, people are really going to notice you. And I bet it makes you feel homogenous.' So that happened with the Beatles."
The iconic album of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles (PA)Sir Paul admitted it was his idea to make the brightly coloured Sgt. Pepper's uniforms more dramatic than the band's usual attire.
He shared: “It was probably me pushing that. If you're going to pretend you are Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - a sergeant, military, epaulets, tassel things, buttons — to me it's what you do to get into character. It's somewhat theatrical.”
Sir Paul's comments come a day after it was revealed that he has been reunited with his bass guitar, which the Beatle used on famous tracks such as Twist And Shout and She Loves You, after it went missing more than 50 years ago.
A spokesperson for the former Beatle said he is "incredibly grateful" for those who were involved in helping to locate the Hofner bass guitar, which went missing in 1972. The Lost Bass Project launched a search to find the missing German violin-shaped bass in 2018, but traction picked up last year after further media attention.
The team, which included Nick Wass from Hofner and husband and wife team Scott and Naomi Jones, received more than 100 leads which they used to help track down the missing guitar. Speaking on his A Life in Lyrics podcast, he said the matching Beatles’ style gave them an identity. He said: “Mick Jagger would call us ‘the four-headed monster’.”
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