“Pepperland Laid Waste” is an instrumental track on The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine album from 1968. However, it is a George Martin composition from start to finish. In fact, George Martin created all the tunes for side two of the soundtrack album. They are all instrumentals, of course.
In Detail
Album
Recorded: 22nd-23rd October, 1968
Studio: EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London
Genre: Classical, orchestral
Track Duration: 2:19
Record Label: Apple
Composer: George Martin
Producer: George Martin
Co-producers: John Burgess and Ron Richards
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Performers
Yellow Submarine Album (1969)
Track Source
Pepperland Laid Waste
The mood producing sounds arranged by George Martin from The Beatles’ 1968 film”Yellow Submarine” make up side two of the resulting soundtrack album. Although separate tunes in their own right, they are basically long “incidental” music passages. These appear periodically throughout the animated film intermingled with Beatles’ songs.
Pepperland is an undersea world where happiness reigns and the inhabitants are all music lovers. But, the people live in fear of attack by the music-hating Blue Meanies.
One day, the Blue Meanies successfully attacked Pepperland and the place lay in waste. Indeed, the tune in question is the emotional orchestral piece for the part in the film when the music-hating meanies suspended Pepperland.
“Pepperland Laid Waste” is George Martin’s attempt to musically describe the destruction of the beautiful paradise it once was. Obviously, The Beatles came to the rescue!
Recording Studio
George Martin began conducting and recording a 41 piece orchestra in the EMI Studios, Abbey Road, London, on the 22nd and 23rd of October, 1968. The resulting orchestral pieces were for use in the Yellow Submarine cartoon film, of course. However, all side two of the soundtrack album contains these works.
This is unlike the Yellow Submarine Songtrack album in which all tracks are indeed songs from the film. In other words, it doesn’t contain the George Martin compositions.
