The Act You've Known for All These Years : The Life, and Afterlife, of Sgt Pepper

In 1967, The Beatles unleashed their seminal album on an unsuspecting world. The Act You've Known For All These Years explores the huge impact the album had on The Beatles and their contemporaries—Bob Dylan, The Beach Boys, Pink Floyd and The Rolling Stones. It was part of the reappraisals of Sgt. Pepper's cultural impact during 2007's fortieth anniversary, and the considerable press coverage that generated.

Clinton Heylin reveals the inspirations and explodes the myths behind the album—and the 'Summer of Love' itself. The book also explores the history of the album as a cultural phenomenon, and reappraises its status as one of the classic albums of all time, from 1967 to the present day. Features interviews with those who were there at the time and those who followed in The Beatles' wake.

Praise for The Act You've Known for All These Years:

'Rather than settle for the bog-standard making-of, Heylin takes a couple of steps back and assesses the broader cultural landscape of the times.'

Record Collector

'The shift from pop to Rock, from entertainment to art signposted by Sgt. Pepper was a fraught and exciting period in popular music. Clinton Heylin gleefully resurrects all the old arguments and discussions that accompanied the transition, which was by no means a smooth one…Like reading a personal diary of the time.'

Barry Miles

'If you want a dispassionate voice to separate the hoopla, myth and mystique from the actual Sgt Pepper recordings. His is as articulate, intelligent and reasonable as any I've read.'

Mail On Sunday