On This Day in 1967, the Beatles Started a 15-Week Run at No. 1 with One of the Most

They had the whole music world waiting for what they’d do next. Yet amidst those myriad expectations, it’s safe to say that The Beatles’ release of the single “Strawberry Fields Forever”/”Penny Lane” in 1967 was something that no one saw, or heard, coming.

These two songs represented just how far the band was pushing the limits in the studio, since they no longer had to worry about touring. And it was just the first taste of the incredible music that the group was about to foist upon the world in that magical year.

The Beatles’ momentous decision to quit touring shook up their fandom. Was it a sign that they were considering breaking up? Even George Harrison wondered about their future as the band left their final gig in San Francisco in August 1966.

Once the shock of the decision wore off, and they had taken some time away, The Beatles filed back into Abbey Road studios in November 1966 to get back to work. They had some vague ideas about what they wanted to do once they started. And they had written a few songs that they wanted to try.

There was some talk about doing an album where all the songs would be based on the childhood experiences of the group. Although that never came to pass, each of the two songs that they chose for their first single of 1967 could have fit that concept. Those two songs also shared a sense of fearlessness. Especially when it came to what the band was cooking up in the studio.
Dual Masterpieces

The Beatles’ John Lennon based the title of “Strawberry Fields Forever” on the grounds of a Salvation Army children’s home near where he grew up. His imagination ran wild from there with stream-of-consciousness lyrics that expressed feelings of confusion and self-doubt. The music, starting with a woozy Mellotron and continuing through passages that alternated between crackling rock and pomp-filled classical music, was hallucinatory.

Paul McCartney followed suit in “Penny Lane” in terms of looking back to places of his youth. If McCartney’s tale was a bit more straightforward, the lyrics were still startlingly accomplished. And the music, chugging along brightly and set apart by a piccolo trumpet, kept pace in terms of invention.

Even as advanced as the songs from Revolver, their previous album, had been, “Strawberry Fields Forever” and “Penny Lane”, released as a double A-sided single in February 1967, represented a huge leap forward. It was impossible to categorize these songs or try to pin them down. But their brilliance was undeniable.

Source: americansongwriter.com/Jim Beviglia

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