Paul McCartney reveals he came up with the name ‘Sgt. Pepper ‘when he misheard someone say’ skip the salt and pepper ‘

According to Paul McCartney, one of the most iconic album tracks in history was born out of a fanciful misunderstanding.

In the new Hulu docuseries “McCartney 3,2,1”, which premiered Friday, the rocker happily dissects the music and legacy of The Beatles. In the first episode, “These Things Bring You Together,” he tells the story of “Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band,” perhaps the band’s most famous album.

“I was on a plane with our roadie and we were eating, and he said, ‘Can you skip the salt and pepper?’ I thought he said ‘Sergeant Pepper’, ”says McCartney. “We had a good laugh about it. And the more I thought about it, Sergeant Pepper, he’s a pretty cool character.”

McCartney says the concept of “Sgt. Pepper,” the group’s eighth studio album released in 1967, was immune to expectations.

“I said it would be great to make an album like we’re alter-egos to ourselves,” he told docusery producer Rick Rubin. “So we don’t have to think, ‘It’s the Beatles making an album.’ There is no pressure of “What the Beatles have to do now?” It’s just another band. “

According to legend, McCartney and his three band mates – John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr – had reached a breaking point after the release of their seventh album “Revolver”.

“We were fed up with being The Beatles,” recalls McCartney, according to Rolling Stone. “We really hated that approach of those goddamn four little boys on the mop. We weren’t boys, we were men. It was all gone, all those boys, all those screaming, we didn’t want more.”

The story continues

When the group ended their tour in 1966, they took some time apart to pursue other passions. McCartney set off on his journey alone, often wearing a mustached disguise.

“No one recognized me at all. It was good, it was quite liberating for me,” he told biographer Barry Miles for the 1997 book “Many Years From Now”. “I was a lonely little poet on the road with my car.”

The anonymity inspired McCartney to approach their next album from a different perspective. “Sgt. Pepper” is generally more avant-garde and complex than the group’s previous work, reminiscent of the Beach Boys’ “Pet Sounds,” which McCartney cites in the episode as a major influence.

“There was a little intercontinental rivalry,” he says of the American rock band, especially frontman Brian Wilson. “We heard ‘Pet Sounds’ and thought, ‘Okay, we’ve got to do something better than that.'”

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