I hope I don't take too much on myself if I'm reminded of Paul McCartney reporting the press reaction when the Beatles stopped touring and went almost a year from August of 1966 without releasing any album other than some oldies compilation.

"The music papers had been saying, 'What are The Beatles up to? Drying up, I suppose,'" Mr. McCartney smiled.

So they called the press conference, June 1, 1967, and asked "What do you think of this, then? We're calling it 'Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.'"

(Actually, producer George Martin says the album's autobiographical theme would have been furthered if he'd included "Penny Lane" and "Strawberry Fields," as originally planned — he didn't do so because they'd just been released on a single. So maybe he should re-build the album the way it should have been. They could do that with today's technology, couldn't they?)