Jan 5th in Pop History
On this day, January 5th in:
1967: Paul McCartney recorded the vocals for Penny Lane for the Beatles' upcoming album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.
As I looked more deeply into this beautiful song, I came to realize that all my life I have misunderstood some of the lyrics — as it turns out a common misunderstanding among Americans because of Paul’s Liverpool accent. For instance, I have always heard the lyric as “… a pretty lass is selling puppies from a train” (a strange image when you think about it). The actual lyric says “…a pretty nurse is selling poppies from a tray” (a common occurrence for poppies to be sold to honor British veterans and such). Paul McCartney found the American “hearing” of his song to be quite amusing. And peculiar.
Penny Lane is of course a song by the English rock band The Beatles that was released in February 1967 as a double A-side single along with Strawberry Fields Forever. It was written primarily by Paul McCartney by and credited to the Lennon-McCartney songwriting partnership. The lyrics refer to Penny Lane, a street in Liverpool, and make mention of the sights and characters that McCartney recalled from his upbringing in the city.
The Beatles began recording Penny Lane in December 1966, intending it as a song for their album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Instead, after it was issued as a single to satisfy record company demand for a new release, the band adhered to their policy of omitting previously released singles from their albums. The song was however added to the U.S. version of Magical Mystery Tour later in 1967 — no such policy applied it seems to their U.S. albums. Session musician David Mason played a piccolo trumpet solo for the songbridge section.
Penny Lane was a top-five hit across Europe and topped the US Billboard Hot 100. In 2021, Rolling Stone ranked the track at number 280 on its list of the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time.” In 2006, Mojo ranked the song at number 9 of "The 101 Greatest Beatles Songs.”
Hear it on Spotify:
Also, on January 5th…
1975: Elton John’s Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds hits # 1 in the US. The Beatles' original, released in 1967 on the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, wasn't released as a single
1985: John Lennon's son Julian had a Top 10 hit with Valotte
1991: Tom's Diner from the album D.N.A. by Suzanne Vega made it to # 5
2003: Avril Lavigne's debut album Let Go rose to the # 1 position
