Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album carried on the childhood and Liverpool theme with its circus and fairground effects, its pervading atmosphere of the traditional northern music hall that was in both its main creators' [McCartney and Lennon's] blood." "Sgt. Pepper" album cover was designed by the pop artists Peter Blake and Jann Haworth. Blake recalled of the concept: "I offered the idea that if they had just played a concert in the park, the cover could be a photograph of the group just after the concert with the crowd who had just watched the concert, watching them. If we did this by using cardboard
Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band of Invention has also been cited as having influenced "Sgt. Pepper". According to the author Philip Norman, during the "Sgt. Pepper" recording sessions McCartney repeatedly stated: "This is our "Freak Out!"" The music journalist Chet Flippo states that McCartney was inspired to record a concept album after hearing "Freak Out!" Martin recalled that "Sgt. Pepper" "grew naturally out of "Revolver"", marking "an era of almost continuous technological experimentation". According to Geoff Emerick, the Beatles' recording engineer, the "major difference" between the two albums was that, with "Sgt. Pepper", there was no absolute deadline for completion. Sessions began on 24 November