Robert Fraser (art dealer) first met John Lennon. Fraser art-directed the cover for The Beatles' 1967 LP "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" – he dissuaded the group from using the original design, a psychedelic artwork created by the design collective The Fool, instead suggesting the pop artist, Peter Blake, who created the famous collage cover design. Fraser also gave McCartney a small painting of an apple by René Magritte which is believed to have been the inspiration for the name and logo of the Beatles' record company, Apple Records. It was also through Fraser that Richard Hamilton was selected to design the poster
Concept album Moore says that "Even though previous albums had set a unified mood, it was on the basis of the influence of "Sgt. Pepper" that the penchant for the concept album was born." Adding to "Sgt. Pepper"s claim, the artwork reinforced its central theme by depicting the four Beatles in uniform as members of the Sgt. Pepper band, while the record omitted the gaps that usually separated album tracks. Author Bill Martin relates the assumed concept albums of the 1960s to progressive rock: "Popmatters" Sarah Zupko notes that while the Who's "Tommy" is "popularly thought of as the first rock opera,