Showing posts with label Penny Lane. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Penny Lane. Show all posts

Saturday, April 4, 2009

Penny Lane

Of all Beatles facts associated with "Penny Lane" is that George Martin thought that the song, along with "Strawberry Fields Forever," should have been included on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band because it had the same feel as the other songs at the beginning of the Beatles' studio years. "Penny Lane" was the B-Side for "Strawberry Fields Forever" and is considered to be a McCartney response to the A-Side, much as "Paperback Writer" was a response to "Day Tripper." Penny Lane is a "bus roundabout" in Liverpool that still exists today. Both songs were about places the Beatles had encountered years earlier, and at one point, before the concept for Sgt. Pepper's emerged, the group considered using these two songs on an album about their childhood.

The song is primarily a McCartney composition, with Lennon having helped with a very few lyrics. It was recorded on December 29, 1966 at Abbey Road, with overdubs added over the following three weeks. The single was released in the UK on February 17, 1967, and in the U.S. on February 13, 1967. Neither "Penny Lane" nor "Strawberry Fields Forever" were issued on Parlophone's Magical Mystery Tour, but Capital included both songs on its release of the LP in the United States.

McCartney sang lead vocal, with Lennon providing harmony. McCartney played bass and flute; Lennon played piano, Harrison conga drum, Starr drums, George Martin piano, David Mason piccolo trumpet, and Philip Jones trumpet. Martin claims that McCartney's idea to use very high trumpet notes came from listening to Bach's Brandenburg concerti. George Martin transcribed McCartney's ideas into correct music notation for Mason and Jones.

McCartney admits to sneaking two obscenities into the lyrics that only the British might notice: "fish and finger pie" and "he keeps his fire engine clean."

As with "Strawberry Fields Forever," a promotional film was made for "Penny Lane." The two promos were shown in the U.S. for the first time on American Bandstand. The teens in the audience had mixed reactions to both the films and the songs, many feeling that they couldn't relate to the altered look and songs of the group, which represented sharp deviations from the standard rock and roll that had made the Beatles famous.

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Friday, February 13, 2009

Beatles History: "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" Released in the U.S.

The Beatles' "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" were released on February 13, 1964 in the United States by Capitol Records. The tracks were regarded with suspicion by many fans, who wanted to hear more "Yeah, yeah, yeah!" rock and roll. Factually, their heroes had changed, however, growing beards and starting an era of experimentation with different instruments and styles of music. George Martin has stated emphatically that both of these songs belonged on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. By the time that album was released, fans were used to the different style and marveled at the genius demonstrated by the group's first all-studio album.

Both of these songs were inspired by places in Liverpool where Lennon and McCartney had grown up. The placards next to the gates of Strawberry Fields, a Salvation Army orphanage, may be seen in the sidebar. They are now covered with graffiti.

Promotional videos, both psychedleic in nature, were shot for the two songs. The singles hit number one on the American charts despite the misgivings by some hardcore Beatles' fans.

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