I missed getting this post done in time for Mother’s Day, but here it is anyway. The “double A-side” single “Strawberry Fields Forever/Penny Lane” was a familiar sound in my house in 1967. Not only was it played frequently on Musicradio 77WABC, one of my sisters had the record. The world had changed quite a lot in the short three years since the Beatles first appeared on the Ed Sullivan Show!
One time when I was playing the record (without permission), my mother stopped and listened. Then she said, “This is the most original and creative music I have ever heard.” Her offhand comment has always stayed with me as a favorite memory. Six months later she threw out my comic books, which is my least favorite memory!
Audio from the original Capitol mono single that my mother heard is below, followed by the restored music videos that were released in HD a couple of years ago.
Here’s something to consider. This is the Strawberry Field Manor that was a fixture for John Lennon when growing up.
Thanks to his Aunt Mimi taking him in after he was abandoned by his parents, John did not have to live there, as it was an orphanage that began accepting boys in the 1950’s. Here is the Dakota Building, where John spent his final years, and where Yoko still lives.
Kind of incredible the similarities between SF Manor and the Dakota! But prob not so much on the inside.
I’m tired of the ads that Facebook keeps throwing at me, especially the “celebrity click-bait” variety. So I’ve been staying away from FB.
Not related, but news just broke on CNN about the billion dollar suit Stan Lee has filed. Didn’t want to query you about that on FB. I’m sure you’ll post here.
P.S. Mom liked my Carpenters records, too, especially the quality of Karen’s voice. Of course, I, too, have some bad memories to counterpoint that. Still, I like to think I got I got my intellect from Dad and my creativity from Mom. Molly most certainly got her incredible art ability from her side.
Here’s a question: Which song do you like better? The very McCartney “Penny Lane” or the darker Lennonesque “Strawberry Fields?” I lean toward toward the latter, since I’m not an upbeat person. But to this day, I still hear that ghost seven-note piccollo trumpet ending on the original version of “Lane” that WABC alternated with “Fields” every 15 monutes on the February (I believe) weekend they came out.