Like all true Beatles fans, we just had to visit Penny Lane when we were in Liverpool recently.
The street is in the Mossley Hill suburb in south Liverpool.
Back in the late fifties and early sixties when the Beatles were growing up its Smithdown Road end was a major bus terminus which John Lennon, Paul McCartney and George Harrison frequently used.
It was obviously a place they did not forget so when John Lennon wrote nostalgia based “Strawberry Fields Forever”, Paul naturally thought likewise and put together “Penny Lane” with John contributing to the lyrics.
The two songs featured on what was called a double A side single (usually one side was the A side and the other the B). It was released in February 1967. The band featured in what would now be called a music video to promote the song. This, together with a picture sleeve were innovative marketing techniques.
Surprisingly the double A single was the first Beatles single not to reach number one since “Please, Please Me” in 1963.
The two songs are now, of course, immortalised with Penny Lane and the Salvation Army site at Stawberry Fields.
Images from Penny Lane;
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