Recorded - December 29 and 30, 1966 & January 4-6, 9,10,12 and 17, 1967.
Released - February 13, 1967 (US), February 17, 1967 (UK)
#1 for week of March 18, 1967.
In the late 1966/early 1967 time period, as far as the teen-pop crowd was concerned, The Beatles were finished. With The Monkees making their popularity peak in this same time period, and with their show initially modeled after the style of A Hard Day's Night, the teenyboppers found a new group to scream over. Little did they know that The Beatles not only weren't finished, they were about to transform the popular music scene once again.
After a disastrous summer 1966 tour, plagued by people burning their records, and numerous death threats, The Beatles decided never to tour again. They spent three months pursuing their own separate interests: John made his solo film debut, and George studied sitar in India with Ravi Shankar. When the four reconvened at Abbey Road studios on November 24, 1966, they had no future tours or TV appearances to worry about. This new album was going to be made without any pressure or deadlines. That album, turned out to be Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, and to many, it is their greatest work.
The first few songs recorded for the album all deal with themes of nostalgia. These three songs were John's "Strawberry Fields Forever", and Paul's "When I'm Sixty-Four" and "Penny Lane". When their record label demanded a single release due to such a long period of inactivity, the first and last of those three songs were hesitantly released as a Double A-sided single instead of going on the Pepper album, much to producer George Martin's dismay. Few were prepared for this radical new sound or image by the former happy go lucky moptops. And few double sided single have ever been this strong.
In the UK, the double A-sided single was kept off the top spot by British easy-listening singer Engelbert Humperdink's cover of "Release Me". In America, this double A-sided format still wasn't taken into account. "Strawberry Fields Forever" managed to reach an impressive #8 while "Penny Lane" reached #1. While I think the former song is more impressive and innovative, "Penny Lane" is still one of the band's most complex Pepper-era recordings.
"Penny Lane" ended up taking nine separate days to record, the most for any Beatles song. It was started at the tail end of '66 by Paul alone, with a wide array of keyboard and piano parts, and a solitary lead vocal. Drums, bass, more vocals, and the woodwind/brass parts were all added on later. In 1964, it had taken The Beatles nine separate days to record all of the songs on the Hard Day's Night album. Now, in 1967, that was the amount of sessions it was taking for one song!
Musically, the numerous piano tracks are the most prominent instrument. There is no guitar in "Penny Lane", and as a result, George Harrison's contributions are backing vocals, handclaps, and the handbell heard during the final verse. The backing vocals have been admitted by Paul to being inspired by the "Clean Sounds" of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds album.
Due to the numerous flute, trumpet, and oboe parts, "Penny Lane" can be considered Baroque-pop. This is especially enforced by the piccolo trumpet solo by classical musician David Mason, (Not to be confused with Traffic guitarist Dave Mason). Mason reportedly brought nine different trumpets with him to the session and it was the piccolo trumpet that Paul chose to have him play on the song. It was certainly a drastic change from a simple guitar or piano solo, and it shows just how much The Beatles had evolved musically.
While no other singles were extracted from the Sgt. Pepper album, "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane" are both products of the long five month period when the album was recorded, and thus, should be considered cannon with the album. Upon its release on June 1, 1967, Sgt. Pepper became a massive hit, both commercially and culturally. Those who had assumed The Beatles were finished were forced to eat their words. Countless bands, both amateur and professional now tried to imitate the sound of Sgt. Pepper.
I'd also highly recommend watching the music video for "Penny Lane" (And "Strawberry Fields" for that matter). The Penny Lane one in particular visualizes the lyrics, and shows the listener the sights and people that inspired Paul to compose the song. The video is also the first that showcases The Beatles' new image. Near the end of the video, the four are on horseback and are shown riding past a stage with their instruments and the classic Beatles drums on display. It was a way of saying, the days of matching suits, moptops, and She Loves You's were over.
Final Verdict - "Penny Lane" is a thrilling soundscape that showcases nostalgia with musical maturity. For all of the effort The Beatles put into changing their direction, I'd certainly say that this song was a well-deserved #1.
Coming Up Next - "Happy Together" by The Turtles.
Until Next Time - I'm Dr. Rock and Penny Lane is in my ears and in my eyes -
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