• Sheila Bromberg, Harpist on "Sgt. Pepper's," Dead at 92

    From Norbert K@21:1/5 to All on Sun Sep 12 08:42:40 2021
    "Sheila Bromberg was a busy harpist in British symphony orchestras when an agent called on March 17, 1967, to offer her a three-hour stint that night as a session musician at the EMI recording studio on Abbey Road in London.

    "The pay was 9 pounds -- about $17. With two young children to feed, she showed up at 8:30 p.m. to tune her harp and was handed a piece of sheet music. Only later did she learn that the notes she played were to be the intro on "She's Leaving Home" by
    the Beatles. The song was released months later on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which Rolling Stone magazine ranked in 2003 as No. 1 of the greatest 500 albums of all time.

    "Ms. Bromberg's harp intro and rhythm, backed by a full string section, set the poignant tone of the track before Paul McCartney (who recorded separately) began the lyric "Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock as the day begins.

    [Snip of detailed discussion of Bromberg's background]

    "Referring to her part in "Sgt. Pepper" in a 2011 interview with the Oxford Mail newspaper, she said, 'I feel very grateful to have been chosen to be on it. And I feel very proud that that piece of work has given such a tremendous amount of pleasure to
    everyone. But what amazes me, of all the music I've performed in, I'm noted for four bars of music. I find that a little bizarre.'

    -- Quoted from Bromberg's obituary in the Sunday Glove. The piece also notes, BTW, that Bromberg was the first female musician to have performed on a Beatles album.

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  • From Norbert K@21:1/5 to Norbert K on Sun Sep 12 08:54:25 2021
    On Sunday, September 12, 2021 at 11:42:42 AM UTC-4, Norbert K wrote:
    "Sheila Bromberg was a busy harpist in British symphony orchestras when an agent called on March 17, 1967, to offer her a three-hour stint that night as a session musician at the EMI recording studio on Abbey Road in London.

    "The pay was 9 pounds -- about $17. With two young children to feed, she showed up at 8:30 p.m. to tune her harp and was handed a piece of sheet music. Only later did she learn that the notes she played were to be the intro on "She's Leaving Home" by
    the Beatles. The song was released months later on "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," which Rolling Stone magazine ranked in 2003 as No. 1 of the greatest 500 albums of all time.

    "Ms. Bromberg's harp intro and rhythm, backed by a full string section, set the poignant tone of the track before Paul McCartney (who recorded separately) began the lyric "Wednesday morning at 5 o'clock as the day begins.

    [Snip of detailed discussion of Bromberg's background]

    "Referring to her part in "Sgt. Pepper" in a 2011 interview with the Oxford Mail newspaper, she said, 'I feel very grateful to have been chosen to be on it. And I feel very proud that that piece of work has given such a tremendous amount of pleasure to
    everyone. But what amazes me, of all the music I've performed in, I'm noted for four bars of music. I find that a little bizarre.'

    -- Quoted from Bromberg's obituary in the Sunday Glove. The piece also notes, BTW, that Bromberg was the first female musician to have performed on a Beatles album.

    "Sunday Globe," I meant.

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