Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane

The double A-side single “Strawberry Fields Forever” / “Penny Lane” was released by The Beatles on February 13, 1967. Despite being one of the few Beatles singles not to reach #1 in the UK (it only reached #2) - I believe it is the greatest single of all time.

It’s hard to imagine hearing more creativity from two songs than the combination of “Strawberry Fields Forever” & “Penny Lane.” The former being John Lennon’s masterpiece and the latter being Paul McCartney’s.

“Strawberry Fields Forever” is arguably The Beatles pinnacle as far as psychedelic pop music goes. The song’s arrangement & instrumentation are highly unusual. Among the unusual sounds heard on the recording are Paul McCartney’s Mellotron, George Harrison’s swarmandel (Indian harp also used on “Within You Without You”), and backwards tapes (backwards cymbols and mellotron.)

The Beatles made promotional videos for both songs as their way of “touring” since they had recently decided they no longer wished to tour.

“Strawberry Fields Forever”

“Penny Lane”

Both songs were later included on the Magical Mystery Tour album (released in November ‘67) after The Beatles decided not to included them on Sgt Pepper (since they were already released as singles.)

1967, The Beatles

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