March 18
PENNY LANE DAY
The Beatles went gold this day in 1967 -- receiving a gold record for the hit single, Penny Lane. This was not an unusual event for the Beatles. However, the recording of Penny Lane has left us with some interesting trivia.
According to Paul McCartney, Penny Lane is a bus roundabout in Liverpool; and there is a barber’s shop showing photographs of every head he’s had the pleasure to know -- no that’s not true, they’re just photos of hairstyles, but all the people who come and go stop and say hello. “It’s part fact, part nostalgia for a place which is a great place, blue suburban skies as we remember it, and it’s still there.”
There were at least two different endings to the song. Radio stations were furnished with a 45 rpm version that featured a trumpet solo of seven notes, sustaining on the final note into Ringo’s cymbal conclusion. Record buyers, on the other hand, heard the words “Penny Lane” at the end of the song, which then went into a sustaining note under Ringo’s cymbal. There was no trumpet fanfare.
The original version shows up on the Rarities album on Capitol Records. Those having the original ‘Promotional Copy’ of the song have quite a valuable find. Penny Lane is also included on the American release of the Magical Mystery Tour album, but not the British EP version. While a number one song in America, Penny Lane made it to number two in England, causing some to wonder “if the Beatles were beginning to slip,” according to The Beatles -- An Illustrated Record.
The ‘B’ side of the gold record was the popular Strawberry Fields Forever.
Those Were the Days, the Today in History service from 440 International
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