What was the first album to print the lyrics on its sleeve?
It’s almost common practice now to include a lyrics sheet with album releases, but that wasn’t always the case.
Have you ever been singing along to one of your favourite songs in the car, only to realise later you’d got it wrong all along? It can be one of the best or one of the worst feelings, like either you’ve somehow just uncovered a hidden truth you weren’t previously aware of or somehow shattered an illusion you didn’t want shattered. But lyrics, no matter what anybody says, are a vital component, arguably more so than any other part of the music itself.
For instance, there’s little that comes close to the satisfaction of getting a new record and browsing through the lyric sheet as it tinkers away in the background, following the stories and emotions with something that feels as close to the art being a tangible thing as it possibly could, like the words have been personally gifted to you, even if it’s just another semi-automated booklet in the hands of countless other listeners.
But as always, the experience varies from artist to artist, person to person. For instance, listening to Joni Mitchell’s Blue armed with a lyrical handbook feels almost like studying one of the greatest poets to ever live, feeling what she felt, that uncertainty during such a transitional period when everything, from the outside world to what she thought she felt in her heart, wasn’t always what it seemed. And on the other side, there’s something poignant about sticking to The Last Shadow Puppets’ Everything You’ve Come To Expect, and finding new meaning from literal words on the page, ones like, “Sunlight banging on the wall / Begging me for more promises.”
It’s fun out loud, but even more special written down. It’s like how, when listening to arguably the best record of all time, Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours, it becomes an even more mystical experience the moment you follow along with some of the greatest lines of all time. Like ‘Dreams’, when Stevie Nicks wins the lifelong battle of the hearts with the one part that changed it all, “It’s only me who wants to wrap around your dreams / And have you any dreams you’d like to sell? / Dreams of loneliness”.
What was the first album to have lyrics on printed on its sleeve?
But where did this trend come from? And why hadn’t artists thought of it sooner than the Fab Four in 1967? Because, let’s be honest – anything so obviously revolutionary will almost always come from the Liverpudlian group who actually knew the meaning of the word enough to take the fan experience to the next level. And another of their reinventing antics occurred with the release of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
Reportedly, it was Paul McCartney who pushed for such an industry game-changer, wanting the record to have a more holistic entertainment offering than any other they or anyone else had put out before. At the time, sales of sheet music were also waning, but McCartney’s idea offered an adaptive answer to this issue with something that made the record itself more than just the music, with a lyric sheet, as well as additional fan keepsakes inside, like badges.
Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time McCartney initiated something that others would soon adopt in their own art and artwork. Along with pushing to include lyrics, he’d also championed subtle changes that we now see as genius or innovative, like thicker sleeves, cover artwork variations, and even the cover artwork itself, pushing back with ones like Sgt. Pepper when their label worried that it wouldn’t be received all that well. But more often than not, these risks paid off.
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