TOP 100 SONGS OF THE BEATLES ― 32

"Penny Lane” (McCartney – February 13, 1967)

Single  – "Strawberry Fields Forever" 

YouTube (Promotional video)

From Wikipedia, Rolling Stone,  About.com, and Google –

"Penny Lane" is a song by the Beatles, written primarily by Paul McCartney. It was credited to Lennon–McCartney.

Recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, "Penny Lane" was released in February 1967 as one side of a double A-sided single, along with "Strawberry Fields Forever". Both songs were later included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP (1967). The single was the result of the record company wanting a new release after several months of no new Beatles releases.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked "Penny Lane" at #456 on its list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Background –

The song's title is derived from the name of a street near Lennon's childhood home for his first 5 years (Newcastle Road, just off Church Road), in the band's hometown, Liverpool. McCartney and Lennon would meet at Penny Lane junction in the Wavertree area to catch a bus into the center of the city. At the time, in the 1960s, this was a significant bus terminus for several routes, and buses with "Penny Lane" displayed were common throughout Liverpool. The name Penny Lane is also used for the area that surrounds its junction with Smithdown Road, Smithdown Place (where the terminus was located) and Allerton Road, including a busy shopping area. Penny Lane is named after James Penny, an 18th century slave trader.

The street is an important landmark, sought out by many Beatles fans touring Liverpool. In the past, street signs saying "Penny Lane" were constant targets of tourist theft and had to be continually replaced. Eventually, city officials gave up and simply began painting the street name on the sides of buildings. This practice was stopped in 2007 and more theft-resistant "Penny Lane" street signs have since been installed, although some are still stolen.

Beatles producer George Martin has stated he believes the pairing of "Penny Lane" with "Strawberry Fields Forever" resulted in probably the greatest single ever released by the band. Both songs were later included on the US Magical Mystery Tour album in November 1967. In the UK, the pairing famously failed to reach No. 1 in the singles charts, stalling one place below Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me". In the US the song reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 for a week before being knocked off by The Turtles song "Happy Together".

History –

Lyrically, this song, written by Paul in the fall of 1966, was the product of two major inspirations. First was John's Rubber Soul ballad "In My Life," which began life as a nostalgic look back at places from the singer's early life, including Penny Lane itself (hence the opening line "There are places I'll remember / All my life, though some have changed"). The other guiding force behind the theme was Paul's own original concept for the next album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, which began life as a concept album about childhood. 

Penny Lane, like John's Strawberry Field, was and is an unremarkable "roundabout," or traffic circle, located in a Liverpool district of the same name. (While the other Beatles grew up near the district, only John can said to have lived in it, until the age of four; his first wife Cynthia and his mother Julia once worked in the roundabout, and Paul was a choirboy in a nearby church.) Paul's lyrics, in a style that would become his trademark, take otherwise mundane events and report on them in a way that reveals a shared humanity. John Lennon was responsible for much of the third verse (about the nurse and her poppies). 

Musically, this track was, by Paul's own admission, greatly influenced by the Beach Boys 1966 single "God Only Knows" in its heavily syncopated rhythm and excess orchestration. 

Several lyrical phrases in "Penny Lane" are very specific to England or even Liverpool, and require some translation for Americans. The "mac" never worn by the banker is short for "mackintosh," or a waterproof raincoat. The "pretty nurse" selling poppies from a tray is a reference to a common practice on England's Remembrance Day (their version of America's Veterans Day, also observed in Canada); blood-red poppies are sold to benefit veterans, the poppy being a symbol of sacrifice, specifically dating back to the poppy fields in Flanders during WWI. "Four of fish" is a popular order representing four pennies' worth of fish and chips, while "Finger pie" is a reference to a bit of sexual stimulation no doubt practiced by the locals in one of the district's nooks and crannies. (For months after the song's release, female chip shop employees in the area were propositioned with orders for "a four of fish and finger pie.") 

This song featured some of the more demanding recording sessions in the Beatles' history. Four piano tracks were used, one being fed through a Vox amplifier to produce the feedback that crops up from time to time. An outside bass player was brought in to add acoustic bass to Paul's electric, heard in the line about "the banker sitting waiting for a trim." Tracks featuring John and George on guitar were eventually edited out of the final mix, as was an arrangement for two oboes and its alto cousin, the cor anglais. Almost none of the piano or vocal tracks are left as is; McCartney's vocal is noticeably sped up, and most other tracks were recorded slower or faster than necessary and then adjusted to match, creating an surreal, day-dreamy feeling.  

The famous piccolo trumpet solo was an invention of McCartney's; after hearing David Mason play one in a live BBC performance of Bach's Brandenburg Concerto #2 only a few days earlier, he asked Mason to come in and play a solo, written by Paul. The original promo copy of "Penny Lane" featured a different mix where Mason plays a fanfare over the ominous ending; this mix (often thought inferior to the released version) was first made available to the public on 1980's Rarities LP. It can be found these days on Anthology 2.

Lyrics and music –

The song has a double tonic structure of B major verse (in I-vi-ii-V cycles) and A major chorus connected by formal pivoting dominant chords.[14] In the opening bars in B major, after singing "In Penny Lane" (in an F#-B-C#-D# melody note ascent) McCartney uses major 3rds (on "Lane" and "Pocket") and major 7ths (on "a fireman" and "a portrait") then switches to a Bm key involving flattened 3rd notes (on "Queen" with a i7 [Bm7] chord) and flattened 7th notes (on "engine clean" [with a ♭VImaj7 [Gmaj7] chord] and "clean machine" [with a V7sus4 [F#7sus4] chord]). This has been described as a profound and surprising innovation involving abandoning mid-cycle what initially appears to be a standard I-vi-ii-V Doo Wop pop chord cycle. To get from the verse "In the pouring rain - very strange" McCartney uses an E chord as a pivot, (it is a IV chord in the preceding B key and a V in the looming A key) to take listeners back into the chorus ("Penny Lane is in my ears..."). Likewise to get back from the chorus of "There beneath the blue suburban skies I sit, and meanwhile back..., McCartney uses an F#7 pivot chord (which is a VI in the old A key and a V in the new B key). The lyrics "very strange" and "meanwhile back" can be viewed as hinting at these complex tonal changes.

A feature of the song was the piccolo trumpet solo played by Mason. This is thought to be the first use of this instrument (a distinctive, specialty instrument, pitched about an octave higher than the standard B-flat trumpet) in pop music. Martin later wrote, "The result was unique, something which had never been done in rock music before." McCartney was dissatisfied with the initial attempts at the song's instrumental fill (one of which, featuring cors anglais, was released on Anthology 2), and was inspired to use the instrument after seeing Mason's performance on a BBC television broadcast of the second Brandenburg Concerto by Johann Sebastian Bach.

The song features contrasting verse-chorus form. Lyrically there are several ambiguous and surreal images. The song is seemingly narrated on a fine summer day ("beneath the blue suburban skies"), yet at the same time it is raining ("the fireman rushes in from the pouring rain") and approaching winter ("selling poppies from a tray" implies Remembrance Day, 11 November). Ian MacDonald has stated: "Seemingly naturalistic, the lyric scene is actually kaleidoscopic. As well as raining and shining at the same time, it is simultaneously summer and winter." Macdonald suggests an LSD influence, and that the lyrical imagery points to McCartney first taking LSD in late 1966. However, he also cites a different story, which dates McCartney's first LSD trip to 21 March 1967. Macdonald finishes with the comment: "Despite its seeming innocence, there are few more LSD-redolent phrases in the Beatles' output than the line… in which the Nurse 'feels as if she's in a play'… and 'is anyway'."

Production –

Production began in Studio 2 at Abbey Road on 29 December 1966 with piano as the main instrument. On 17 January 1967, trumpet player David Mason recorded the piccolo trumpet solo. The solo, inspired by a performance of Bach's 2nd Brandenburg Concerto, is in a mock-Baroque style for which the piccolo trumpet (a small instrument built about one octave higher than the standard instrument) is particularly suited, having a clean and clear sound which penetrates well through thicker midrange textures. Mason was paid 27 pounds and 10 shillings for his performance on the recording. Penny Lane production effects include percussion effects, piano through a Vox guitar amplifier with added reverb.

The original US promo single mix of "Penny Lane" had an additional flourish of piccolo trumpet notes at the end of the song. This mix was quickly superseded by one without the last trumpet passage, but not before a handful of copies had been pressed and sent to radio stations. These recordings are among the rarest and most valuable Beatles collectibles. A stereo mix of the song with the additional trumpet added back in was included on the US Rarities compilation and the UK album: The Beatles Box in 1980, and is included on an alternate take of the song released on Anthology 2 in 1996.

Context –

The 'shelter in the middle of the roundabout' refers to the old bus shelter, later developed into a cafe/restaurant with a Beatles theme, but now derelict and abandoned, despite its popularity as a tourist attraction. This is also Penny Lane Bus Terminus, where the Nos 46 (Penny Lane to Walton) and 99 (Penny Lane to Old Swan) buses terminated and is officially on Smithdown Place.

The mysterious lyrics "Four of fish and finger pies" are British slang. "A four of fish" refers to fourpenny worth of fish and chips, while "finger pie" is sexual slang of the time, apparently referring to intimate fondlings between teenagers in the shelter, which was a familiar meeting place. The combination of "fish and finger" also puns on fish fingers. The lyrics as printed on the compilation album The Beatles: 1967–1970 (aka the "Blue Album"), however, are "Full of fish and finger pies" which are incorrect. In the re-mastered version, the lyrics read as "For a fish and finger pies," which is also incorrect.

Takes: 9

Personnel –

John Lennon – Harmony vocals, pianos (Alfred E. Knight), congas, harmonium, tambourine

Paul McCartney – Lead vocal, bass guitar (1964 Rickenbacker 4001S), pianos (Alfred E. Knight), harmonium, tambourine
George Harrison – Conga drum, firebell
Ringo Starr – Drums (Ludwig), bells
George Martin – Piano (Alfred E. Knight)
Frank Clarke – Arco acoustic string bass
David Mason – Piccolo trumpet solo
Ray Swinfield, P. Goody, Manny Winters, Dennis Walton – Flute, piccolo
Leon Calvert, Freddy Clayton, Bert Courtley, Duncan Campbell – Trumpet, flugelhorn

Promotional film –

This is the "shelter in the middle of the roundabout." As of March 2008, it is in quite a state of disrepair.

The promotional film for "Penny Lane" was, together with the video for "Strawberry Fields Forever", one of the first examples of what later became known as a music video. The music video for the song was not filmed at Penny Lane, as the Beatles were reluctant to travel to Liverpool. Street scenes were filmed in and around Angel Lane in London's East End. The broken sequence of Lennon walking alone was filmed on the King's Road (at Markham Square) in Chelsea. The outdoor scenes were filmed at Knole Park in Sevenoaks on 30 January 1967. The promotional film for "Strawberry Fields Forever" was also shot at the same location, during the same visit (during The Beatles stay in Sevenoaks, Lennon wandered into an antiques gallery and purchased the poster for Pablo Fanque's Circus Royal that would inspire the song, "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"). Both films—directed by the Swede Peter Goldmann—were selected by New York's MoMA to be among the most influential promotional music films of the late 1960s. Film of "Penny Lane" was included - with some scenes of green Liverpool buses and a brief overhead view of the 'shelter in the middle of the roundabout', but none of the Beatles attended.

Penny Lane today –

A view down Penny Lane at the opposite end from the roundabout, approaching the junction with Greenbank Road near to Sefton Park.

Tony Slavin (the white building on the corner) now occupies the location of the original Bioletti's barbershop mentioned in the song as "barber showing photographs / of every head he's had the pleasure to have known".

Prior to securing international fame, Penny Lane's chief renown was as the terminus for the No 46 and No 99 bus routes to Walton, Old Swan and the city center. The terminus included a purpose-built bus shelter, with waiting room and toilets for waiting passengers. The shelter is located on its own "island" which is the mentioned "shelter on the roundabout" in the Beatles song. In the 1980s, the shelter was bought privately and converted to the Sergeant Pepper's Bistro, though it has since closed and now stands in the middle of its roundabout looking in a very sorry state. The shelter is actually situated in Smithdown Place, though the terminus was named Penny Lane because of its proximity to Penny Lane.

Towards the end of the 1970s, businesses in Penny Lane included Penny Lane Records and a wine bar known in the early years as Harper's Bizarre, now called Penny Lane Wine Bar (this was actually a Doctors' Surgery, previously Drs Walton, Endbinder and Partners); the practice moved to Smithdown Place in the 1980s. Following privatization, the Merseyside Passenger Transport Executive bus depot, slightly up the hill past Bioletti's, was demolished and replaced with a shopping precinct complete with a supermarket and a public house.

Since then, the general Penny Lane area has acquired a distinct trendiness and desirability. The "alternative" businesses (wholefood outlets, charity shops), the now expanded array of cafés, bars, bistros, and takeaway food emporiums, as well as handily located traditional businesses (WH Smiths and Clarke's cake shop), make the neighborhood the most sought-after among Liverpool's large student population. Though the song refers to the "Penny Lane junction" on Smithdown Road, the street itself also leads down at the other end to the University of Liverpool's student halls of residence, near Sefton Park.

In July 2006, a Liverpool Councillor proposed renaming certain streets because their names were linked to the slave trade. It was soon discovered that Penny Lane, named after James Penny, a wealthy 18th-century slave ship owner and strong opponent of abolitionism, was one of these streets. Ultimately, city officials decided to forgo the name change and re-evaluate the entire renaming process. On 10 July 2006, it was revealed that Liverpool officials said they would modify the proposal to exclude Penny Lane.

The fireman and fire engine referred to in the lyrics are based upon the fire station at Mather Avenue. This is some distance, "about half a mile down the road", from Penny Lane. The station is still in use today.

Trivia –

Although it shares a single with "Strawberry Fields Forever," the original double-a side was meant to be Paul's "When I'm Sixty Four," the second song after SFF to be recorded for the historic Sgt. Pepper sessions. Paul, realizing "Penny Lane" was the more commercial song, selected it instead.

Along with SFF, this was the first single sent out as a promo to DJs in England. It was also the first Beatles single not to reach Number One in the UK since 1963's "Please Please Me"  – breaking a streak of eleven straight chart-toppers!

There is indeed a bank in the real-life roundabout mentioned in "Penny Lane," as well as a barbershop, run by one Roger Bioletti, who has claimed to have cut John, Paul, and George's hair as children. The fire station mentioned in the song exists, though slightly off the Penny Lane road itself; the "shelter," a covered bus stop, was turned into a trendy restaurant called "Sgt. Pepper's Bistro," and is, as of this writing, abandoned. The area itself, however, has become quite trendy among college students, not to mention tourists.

Penny Lane was named for 18th-century slave trader James Penny; when, in 2006, the Liverpool town council proposed to rename all such streets named after slavers, this disconcerting fact came up. Penny Lane was left as it was.

"Penny Lane" road signs were stolen as souvenirs for years until the Liverpool government decided to simply paint the signs on area walls. In 2007 a new theft-proof sign was introduced... which was promptly stolen.

The trumpet that David Jones plays on this track was sold at Sotheby's in 1987 for the equivalent of nearly eleven thousand US dollars.

A number of businesses have adopted the Penny Lane name, as well as characters in the films Wonderwall (1968; score by George Harrison) and 2000's Almost Famous, and the TV show Daria. Adult film star Penny Flame credits her name to her love of the song -- and her love for marijuana.

The single was released following the success of the double A-side "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby", when Brian Epstein inquired if the band had any new material available. Since the Beatles usually did not include songs released as singles on their British albums, both songs were left off the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album, a decision Martin later regretted.

This was also the first single by the Beatles to be sold with a picture sleeve in the UK, a practice rarely used there at that time, but common in the US and various other countries (such as Japan).

Today in Beatles History (From The Internet Beatles Album) March 9 –

1963 – Concert at the Granada, East Ham; two performances. 

– Start of the Chris Montez and Tommy Roe Tour, Second Beatles British tour.

1964 – NEMS Enterprises moves location to Sutherland House, 5-6 Argyll Street, 5th floor, London.

– Shooting of scenes for A Hard Day's Night, on board a train leaving from Paddington Station.

1966 – Rubber Soul, 14th week in the Top 10 (UK New Musical Express chart).

1967 – Studio 2. 7.00pm-3.30am. Recording: "Getting Better" (takes 1-7, tape reduction take 7 into takes 8-12). Producer: George Martin; Engineer: Malcolm Addey/Ken Townsend; 2nd Engineer: Graham Kirkby. 

– 11.00pm approx. Ringo is the first Beatle arriving at the studio.
– 1.00am approx. Work starts.

1968 – Sgt, Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band is awarded 4 Grammys.

1969 – John and Yoko leave the London Clinic.

1982 – Startling Studios. Recording basic tracks for LP Old Wave. Producer: Jim Nipar.

1990 – Paul's concert in Tokyo (Get Back Tour).