Beatles' rare outtake from ‘Sgt. Pepper' sessions released

It was 50 years ago today …

Well, almost. As the 50th anniversary of the Beatles’ “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band” album draws near, Capitol Records is sharing an unreleased outtake from the band’s recording sessions.

The disc, ranked No. 1 in Rolling Stone's survey of its top 500 albums of all time, was originally released on June 1, 1967. The outtake is part of several bonus tracks that will be part of a four-disc, 50th anniversary edition of the album, outtake is just one of many, many bonus tracks coming out on a four-disc, 50th anniversary edition of the album, NPR reported. The original record has been remixed by Giles Martin, son of the late Beatles producer, George Martin, and has a May 26 release date.

The outtake includes some chat by John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. The clip, which was first premiered by The Guardian, is a bare-bones version of the album's opening — and title — track. It lacks the overdubbing of the horns, crowd noises and laughter that punctuated the track. Some of the guitar riffs are missing too, NPR reported.

About 2:08 into the track, McCartney can be heard repeating the phrase, “I feel it,” while Harrison mentions that “what you can do with the bits” is insert some brass. The horn section inserted during the album’s mixing gave the song a distinctive sound.

It’s a just another day in the life of how rock ’n’ roll’s greatest band created its music.

Cox Media Group