Would "Sgt. Pepper's" be a better album if.....

Actually I think Within You Without You is far and away the best song on the album and, in hindsight, one of the very best Beatles’ songs. That said, Sgt Pepper was an album that was more influential than good (compare the 1963 Beatles with the 1969 ones and note how far they pulled rock music up from the style of the 50s). Yes, there are some good tracks (WYWY, LSD, A Day In The Life) and some really bad ones (Rita and 64), and adding the wayward high spots from the US release of Magical Mystery Tour (The Fool on the Hill, I Am the Walrus, Hello, Goodbye, Strawberry Fields Forever, Penny Lane, All You Need Is Love) to WYWY, LSD and Life does create a far more consistent album that positively shines by comparison...in hindsight.

Agree with the guy above. Within You Without You is one of my favorite Beatles songs. George Harrison was a highly original songwriter.

Fixing a Hole and She’s Leaving Home also run close favorites from this particular album.

At least Yellow Submarine isn’t on Sgt. Pepper’s. No desire to hear that song again.

Interesting topic.  I beg to differ with the earlier comments about Squeeze.  I mean, the Beatles are the ones who essentially led the transformation of Rock to an art form going from rockabilly (Elvis, Bill Haley, etc...) to concept albums.  Heck, they even led the transformation of hairstyles and dress!  To say that Squeeze has had anywhere near that impact to Rock and music in general, is really missing the scope of the impact the Beatles had.  It's like a comparison of Beethoven to John Williams.   

Regarding Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane, it was always George Martin's greatest regret that they didn't make it to Sgt. Pepper's.  Certainly Strawberry Fields should have been on it.  To me A Day in the Life is the perfect ending to the album, so it seems to me that Strawberry Fields could have been the opening.  Penny Lane could have replaced Getting Better IMHO.  

The fact that theirs even discussion on it now says something????