Who was on the cover of the Sgt. Pepper Lonely Hearts club Band album is a question that I have tried to figure out the answer to this question every time I picked up the album or looked at a picture of it on line. I’ve looked at this great album for years trying to figure this who was on it and it was always fun to guess but now I’ve finally found out who is who!
To view this classic album cover, check out this link for a great picture and test your musical knowledge, without using the references below!
Top row left to right
- Sri Yukteswar Giri (Hindu guru)
- Aleister Crowley (occultist)
- Mae West (actress)
- Lenny Bruce (comedian)
- Karlheinz Stockhausen (composer)
- W. C. Fields (comedian/actor)
- Carl Gustav Jung (psychologist)
- Edgar Allan Poe (writer)
- Fred Astaire (actor/dancer)
- Richard Merkin (artist)
- The Vargas Girl (by artist Alberto Vargas)
- Huntz Hall (actor)
- Simon Rodia (designer and builder of the Watts Towers)
- Bob Dylan (singer/songwriter)
Next row down left to right
- Aubrey Beardsley (illustrator)
- Sir Robert Peel (19th century British Prime Minister)
- Aldous Huxley (writer)
- Dylan Thomas (poet)
- Terry Southern (writer)
- Dion (singer)
- Tony Curtis (actor)
- Wallace Berman (artist)
- Tommy Handley (comedian)
- Marilyn Monroe (actress)
- William S. Burroughs (writer)
- Sri Mahavatar Babaji (Hindu guru)
- Stan Laurel (actor/comedian)
- Richard Lindner (artist)
- Oliver Hardy (actor/comedian)
- Karl Marx (political philosopher)
- H. G. Wells (writer)
- Sri Paramahansa Yogananda (Hindu guru)
- Sigmund Freud (psychiatrist) – barely visible below Bob Dylan
- Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)
Next row down left to right
- Stuart Sutcliffe (artist/former Beatle)
- Anonymous (hairdresser’s wax dummy)
- Max Miller (comedian)
- A “Petty Girl” (by artist George Petty)
- Marlon Brando (actor)
- Tom Mix (actor)
- Oscar Wilde (writer)
- Tyrone Power (actor)
- Larry Bell (artist)
- Dr. David Livingstone (missionary/explorer)
- Johnny Weissmuller (Olympic swimmer/Tarzan actor)
- Stephen Crane (writer) – barely visible between Issy Bonn’s head and raised arm
- Issy Bonn (comedian)
- George Bernard Shaw (playwright)
- H. C. Westermann (sculptor)
- Albert Stubbins (soccer player)
- Sri Lahiri Mahasaya (guru)
- Lewis Carroll (writer)
- T. E. Lawrence (“Lawrence of Arabia”)
Finally the front row left to right
- Wax model of Sonny Liston (boxer)
- A “Petty Girl” (by George Petty)
- Wax model of George Harrison
- Wax model of John Lennon
- Shirley Temple (child actress) – barely visible, first of three appearances on the cover
- Wax model of Ringo Starr
- Wax model of Paul McCartney
- Albert Einstein (physicist) – largely obscured
- John Lennon holding a French Horn
- Ringo Starr holding a trumpet
- Paul McCartney holding a Cor Anglais
- George Harrison holding a flute
- Bobby Breen (singer)
- Marlene Dietrich (actress/singer)
- An American legionnaire[1]
- Diana Dors (actress)
- Shirley Temple (child actress)
If you cannot make out who is who in my description then check out this link and I hope that it will make it a little clearer!
Keep on Jammin’
Vintage Bass Guitars says
Jeez, I must be too young because I couldn’t even guess half of them. Oh well, I still dig the album.
-Mark
Sirkka says
Nice job Detective :o)
Chris says
Hey Vintage Bass, it took me a quite a while to figure out who was on this album as well! Remember, this was well before the internet was readily available to most people. consider yourself one of the lucky ones my friend!
Keep on Jammin’ brother.
Chris says
Watching the Detective(s) are ya Sirkka?!