It’s hard to believe, but by the end of 1966, the Beatles were already beginning to drift apart. They wouldn’t officially break up until April 10, 1970. That was the date of the formal break up, although John Lennon had left the group (privately) seven months earlier in September, 1969. It is believed that Yoko Ono was the catalyst for John’s leaving, but I believe it is more complicated than that.

1967 saw the release of the iconic album, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. The first three songs recorded for the album were “Penny Lane,” “Strawberry Fields Forever,” and “When I’m Sixty-Four.” As the album progressed and the concept became clearer and clearer, it was decided to drop the first two songs from the album and release them as a single. (They were later released in America as part of the album Magical Mystery Tour.) So, on February 13, 1967, the two songs were released on what is called a “double A-side” record. That means that both sides were A-sides, there was no B-side. They expected both sides to be hits and, of course, they were. “Penny Lane peaked at number one and “Strawberry Fields Forever” got up to number eight. Both titles are actual locations in London and you can go there today and say that you have walked on “Penny Lane.” During the Sixties, Penny Lane was a bus terminus for several bus routes and well known in the city.

“Penny Lane,” the song, was written by Paul McCartney, but created to the Lennon-McCartney pair as were most Beatles songs. Paul sings lead on the song and, their manager, George Martin, plays conga on the recording. Also, the London Symphony Orchestra is heard. A few promotional copies which were sent out to disk jockeys have extra few notes at the end of the record of a piccolo trumpet which was played by David Mason. The recording which was released to the public did not have these final notes and so, the promotional copies are among the rarest of Beatles music and worth quite a bit to collectors. However, the recording that is included on the album Magical Mystery Tour which was released in November of 1967 did have the extra notes.

Some of the lyrics of “Penny Lane” have been questioned by people who study this sort of thing. “Four of fish and finger pie” is 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. It is rumored that there are references to LSD in the song as well. Only Paul knows for sure.

At the end of song, John is reported to say “Cranberry Sauce” although I have listed to it several times and cannot hear those words. Some claim that John is really saying “I bury Paul” which fed the rumors that Paul was dead during this period. We all know today, that he wasn’t dead, and still isn’t.

“Penny Lane” entered the pop charts in America on March 4, 1967 and spent one week at number one.