Dfactor Sings Sgt. Peppers 3/27-3/28

It was 43 years ago that Capitol Records released the Beatles' LP called Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. Much has been written about it and I'm not here to write more. But over the years, I've sung along to the songs many times. So when an opportunity came up recently here in Phoenix to get involved in a live musical production of said LP (along with other Beatles' music), I auditioned to sing and captured a spot.

Paradise Valley Community College is hosting Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band LIVE!, its 2010 Fine & Performing Arts Scholarships Fundraiser on March 27-28 at the North Phoenix college. From the blurbsters:
"Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LIVE!, will feature The Beatles' iconic 1967 album performed live in its entirety. In addition, the performance will include 17 songs from the Beatles’ later years highlighting music from the albums Revolver, Magical Mystery Tour, The White Album, Abbey Road and Let it Be. The Sgt. Pepper’s LIVE band, which is made up of twenty five of the finest professional musicians in
the Valley, will be fronted by dynamic vocalists Dfactor, Steve Dahlgren and Eric Reyes."

Our team has already started rehearsals, and this week we start with the live band. That should be cool as I'm slated to sing (among others) Harrison's Within You Without You with a live sitar player. Cool. I've learned too that I don't know this Beatles' LP inside out. Being a lead singer, I tended over the years to sing the lead melodies most of the time, but there is a lot of background harmonies that have gone unheard to my ears, and we are recreating those. So I'm learning about the triad qualities of the Beatles' harmonizing that underpins many of the songs. It's an ongoing singing education. But hey, that's what going back to college is all about, right? Well, that and meeting girls.

Click here for more Beatles links that you could ever find on your own. And watch below as photographer Henry Grossman recounts his night taking pictures as "a friend" while they were working and recording on Peppers songs.